Street Food

Chai: Bharer Chaa:Tea served in clay pots. At the Maidan, from shining brass vessels on a rainy day. This is also good at Calcutta Stock Exchange street (Lyon's range). Boudir Lebu Cha (Deshapriya Park): This is the evergreen Lemon tea. Here's the Must-have dessert list: Mishti Doi & Rosogolla from Mithai (Beckbagan) Sandesh (all types) from Balaram (Bhowanipur) (Naram pak & Ice cream sandesh), Nakur’s at Shimle. Bhim Nag in Boubazar. Pantua from Bancharam Indrani from Ganguram Rabri from Ganguram Darbesh & Kheer er chop from Sen Mahasay in Shyambazar. Amritti from Bhim Nag/Ganguram, Maniktala (Jalebis are no match) Patishapta - A delicate crepe with a filling of coconut and gur at Puntiram. Chhanar payesh - Better than rabdi anyday and does not weigh your stomach down, at Putiram (College Street) Miscellaneous: Alukabli - Another must try at Vivekananda Park or opposite Menoka Cinema. This is a chat like stuff with boiled potatoes, germinated choleys, ginger juliennes etc. with juice of lemon. I had to wipe my mouth while writing about it. Kuler achar - the best outside Gariahat market. This is a chutney made with a particular berry which is available in the winter. Try this along with Aloo Posto, hot rice & Urad dal. Shukno mashla makha tetul - Available with the churanwalas outside all schools, much to the delight of the students and dismay of the parents, it is made with tamarind. Bikrampurer kashundi - Mustard just pales next to this, available in most Bengali grocery shops. Bhetci macher fry with sliced onions & Kashundi. Dijon take a back seat here. Aamer morobba - the best outside Gariahat market, this is a mango preserve. Mochar chop - A delight even for the staunchest non vegetarians, banana flower stuffing in a potato cover braided with bread crumbs & deep fried, at the Tele bhaja shops in Baghbajar & Shyam bazaar. Plucking out the small florets is a big job so most ladies today simply don’t cook it at home these days, of course in my home there is a slave called me who has to do this if he has to eat this stuff. Kumro phul bhaja - In tiny little food joints around Chittaranjan Avenue. These are pakoras made with the fresh yellow flowers of Pumpkin. We often eat them with hot rice to which gawa ghee has been added. Dulaler tal mishri- Candies made from the juice sapped from Palmyra trees. Tasty & good for cough & cold. These were all the medicines we took as a child when noses began to run. Ujjala's Chanachur ( no comparison anywhere): Even Haldiram's don't any where come Close to it. Dab er sarbat at Paradise at College street. One of the young managers used to practice tabla sitting there & it was great to hear him play while sipping the Sarbat on a summer afternoon. Cakes, pastries & patties at Nahum’s in new Market. I still can visualize the shop during X-Mass time, ginger loaves, marzipans, cinnamon rolls, plum cakes, mince pies & for us who had ordered months in advance with full payment bottles of resin wine, the excise department just kept their eyes closed during this period & no one ever complained. Baked beans on toasts at Flury’s. Simply delicious: Kasha mangsho- a mutton curry at the Golbari at Shyambazar. Quarter of a plate used to be enough for one person. Even with a lot of research I haven’t yet cracked the trick I must admit. Although it is referred as Punjabi food in Kolkata I haven’t found it anywhere in Punjab. Muri ghonto - Defies description, this one is rice cooked with rohu fish heads. Check out at Suruchi Elliot road. Daab Chingri from Kewpies (Elgin Lane): This is Prawn cooked in coconut. Chicken Cutlet near Samur (Bhowanipur) Moghlai Parota from Anadi Cabin (S N Banerjee Road). This is a crisp paratha with egg & mince filling. Chelo Kabab from Peter Cat: This can't be explained..... Double Egg Chicken Roll from Kusum (Park Street ) Steak at Oly pub (with beer!!): This joint is also at Park Street. Champ & Biriyani at Royal hotel in Chitpoor. Close competition for Karims in Delhi although the menu is different. Kochuri & Tarkari from Tasty Corner (Mandeville Gardens) & various tele bhaja shops at residential localities. Last time I went to Kolkata I took my daughters to taste this. The Aloo Pumpkin tarkari was served in a bowl made of dried leaves. A part of the gravy oozes out through the joints. I stopped them in time before they were about to ask for tissues which would have been a most outrageous thing to do at such establishments. I told them to lick it off, I did but they didn’t, half the fun gone! Kabiraji Cutlet from Regent (S N Banerjee Road). The speciality of this dish is the fluffy & crunchy wrapping made with egg whites. Thanks to a Bengali lady who has dared to open a Bengali restaurant where we live in Delhi & has imported some good cooks from Kolkata. We get to eat this stuff now! Bijoli Grill's Fish Roll. Phulkopir Singara from Mrityunjoy (Lansdowne), small Samosa’s with cauliflower filling. Best enjoyed with a steaming cup of good Darjeeling tea. Pabda Paramaditya, a delicate fish cooked in a very tasty gravy at Aheli. Bread & hot mutton stew at Dekker’s lane at lunch time on working days only. Roti & mutton curry at Aminia. What a treat after a film at one of the many theaters near by or after a tiring shopping at the New Market.. Pulao & mutton rezalla at Shiraz. Drinking: The country liquor bar at Khalashi tala, in our time writers, film makers, ad men, actors would sit & discuss various things over the drinks, there would also be groups of smugglers & wagon breakers, thieves plotting out the night’s activities, harassed men pouring out their woes to patient listeners. Fights would break out once in while but a word like “Poolish asche..” would calm down the people. Rickshaw pullers who is to hang around were experts in guessing the level of inebriation and quoted accordingly. I really miss the sound of their bells at night.

Singara, Jilpi" and "Alur Chop

Singara, Jilpi" and "Alur Chop". "Khichdi" is another great wonder of Bengal's culinary world. Usually this recipe is consumed along with fried vegetable that is popularly known as "Labra" in Kolkata.

Other highly-preferred food items of Kolkata people include "alu posto", "begun bhaja", "alu bhaja" and "dim bhaja". There are several eateries where pure Bengali foods are available. Among them Bhajahari Manna (in Ekdalia Park, Salt Lake), Aaheli, Suruchi (in the Peerless Inn hotel), Kewpies (in 2 Elgin Lane , South Kolkata) and Aradhana (in 205 A.P.C. Road) are very popular for offering traditional Bengali cuisines.

Apart from all these, multi-cuisine restaurants are also there to cater to your appetite. In those eateries, Chinese, South Indian, Muglai, Punjabi, Mexican as well as Thai recipes remain available. Added to this, a large number of Pizza huts are spread all over the city.

Food of Kolkata reflects the taste and food habit of the city dwellers. Dining in Kolkata is indeed a delightful experience in itself. During a trip to Calcutta, one can enjoy various types of mouth-watering cuisines. From vegetarian to non vegetarian dishes, soups to deserts and appetizers to sweet dishes, all are relished equally by the city dwellers, as well as by the international visitors.

Mainly, rice with fish curry is considered to be the main dish of the people of Kolkata. "Luchi tarkari" is another favorite dish of the residents of Calcutta. On the other hand, among sweets, "Roshogolla", "Chomchom", "Shondesh", "Rajbhog", "Pantua","Pithe" and "Payesh" are indeed the most frequently consumed ones. If you are fond of snacks, you can have "Kachuri",

Streets of Kolkata

New Market is a market in Kolkata. New Market, is situated on Lindsay Street. Technically, it referred to an enclosed market but today in local parlance the entire Lindsay Street shopping area is often known as New Market.

History

Some of the earliest English quarters were in an area known then as Dalhousie Square. Terretti and Lal Bazar nearby were customary marketing haunts of the British gentry. Later settlements were in Kashaitola, Dharmatala and Chowringhee.

As Calcutta entered the 1850s and British colonies became the order of the day, the Britishers overtly displayed their contempt to brush shoulders with “natives” at the bazaars. In 1871, swayed by an orchestrated cry from English residents, a committee of the Calcutta Corporation contemplated a market which would be the prize preserve of Calcutta’s British citizens. Spurred by the committee’s deliberations, the Corporation promptly purchased Lindsay Street. The East India Railway Company executed the designs and with a renowned architect R. Bayney, pitching, an architecturally Gothic market-complex crystallized in 1873. Bayney was honoured with a 1000 rupee award , arguably a large sum in the 1870s for his achievements. News of Calcutta’s first municipal market spread rapidly. Affluent Englishmen shopped at exclusive retailers like Rankin and Company (dressmakers), Cuthbertson and Harper (shoe-merchants) and R.W. Newman or Thacker Spink, the famous stationers and book-dealers.

New Market was thrown open with fanfare to the English populace on January 1, 1874. New Market was formally christened Sir Stuart Hogg Market on December 2, 1903. Sir Stuart then Calcutta Corporation’s chairman, had tenaciously supported the plans for building New Market. To this day, a painting of Sir Stuart Hogg adorns Calcutta Corporation’s portrait gallery.This name was later shortened to Hogg Market. Bengali society, in the British Raj era, called it as Hogg Saheber Bazaar.

New Market’s growth kept pace with the city’s urbanization endeavours until World War II. The northern portion of the market came up in 1909 at an expense of 6 lakh rupees. Finally, beneath the gathering clouds of World War II, an extension on the south flanks was engineered. A finale to these structural expansions in the 1930s was the installation of New Market’s historic clock-tower.

Mirza Ghalib Street, previously known as Free School Street, is a street that joins S. N. Banerjee Road with Park Street in Central Kolkata.

Intersections

Lindsay Street and Sudder Street are some of the important streets that cross the Free School Street.

Attractions

The Mirza Ghalib Street-Sudder Street area is famous for cheap hotels and eateries. Many foreign visitors reside in these cheap yet reliable hotels. The used book and record shops sport an eclectic collection due to trade with generations of budget travellers the world over. The street also has the house William Makepeace Thackeray was born in, the West Bengal Fire Services headquarters, and one of the best places to buy cold cuts is at Kalman's, a shop of Hungarian origin.

Mirza Ghalib Street dining can be eclectic, with Shamiana - offering cheap Mughlai cuisine, Prince and Princess cheap Bengali cuisine, and Mocambo upscale continental dining, to name a few.

Sudder Street

Sudder Street runs off Chowringhee Road at the Indian Museum. It's the tourist and budget-hotel center of Calcutta. Because Sudder is a tourist street, it has many more beggars than the rest of Calcutta. Some beggars are professionals, others are just poor kids. It's best not to give money when on your way to or from your hotel because you'll be remembered and you won't be able to come or go in peace again. If you want to give, don't do it too near your hotel.
Kolkata offers a number of cheap hotels for the budget traveler. Kolkata Cheap Hotels cater both to the average back-packer tourist and also to the businessman who closely monitors his (or her) hard earned money.

For the backpacker, Kolkata Cheap Hotels provide more bangs for the buck.

Kolkata Cheap Hotels offer only basic accommodation- the hotel room has only a bed, a cupboard and a small en-suite bathroom or washstand.

There can even be a television set in the rooms. Phone calls-local, national and international can be accessed from the lobby.

Aayash - DD-24A, Sector 1, Salt Lake City

Akashdeep - 48, Circus Avenue

Bauddha Dharmankur Sabha - 1, Buddhist Temple Road

Broadway Hotel - 27A, Ganesh Chandra Avenue

Capital Guest House - 118 Chowringhee Lane

Central Guest House - 18, Prafulla Sarkar Street

Centrepoint Guest House - 20, Mirza Ghalib Street

Classic Hotel - 6/1 A, Dr M Ishaque Road

Gujral Guest House - 88, Lindsay Street

Gulistan Guest House - 30 F, Mirza Ghalib Street

Hotel East End - 9/1, Dr M Ishaque Road

Hotel Galaxy - 3, Stuart Lane

Hotel Hilson - 4, Sudder Street

Hotel Maria - 5/1, Sudder Street

Hotel Neelam - 11, Dr M Ishaque Road

Hotel Palace - 13, Chowringhee Lane

Hotel Royal Palace - 30 F, Mirza Ghalib Street

Lindsay Hotel - 8A & 8B, Lindsay Street

Modern Lodge - 1, Stuart Lane Kolkata

North Star Hotel - 66 /1, Dum Dum Road

Paragon Hotel - 2, Stuart Lane

Rail Yatri Niwas - Howrah Railway Station, Howrah

Royal Garden -163 A, Park Street

Salvation Army Guest House - 2, Sudder Street

Shalimar Hotel - 3A S N Banerjee Road

Shilton Hotel - 5 A, Sudder Street

Sonali Guest House - 21 A, Mirza Ghalib Street

Sourya Continental - 233/3, Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Road

Timestar Hotel - 2, Tottie Lane

Tourist Inn - 4/1, Sudder Street

YMCA - 25, Chowringhee Road & 42, SN Banerjee Road

YWCA - 1, Middleton Row Kolkata

Batanagar

Batanagar (Bengali: বাটানগর) is a city in South 24 Parganas district in the state of West Bengal, India. It is a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority.^[1]It is one of the places named after the multinational shoe company Bata. There is a plant of the Bata company here. The employees mostly reside in Batanagar.

History

Batanagar was established to start the first shoe factory in India by Czech industrialist Thomas Bata. The Bata brand was established on August 24, 1894 in Zlín, Czech Republic. The company first established itself in India in 1931 and commenced manufacturing shoes in Batanagar in 1936, the first Indian operation having been established in Konnagar, West Bengal.

Later Batanagar became one of the bigger sub-urban towns near Kolkata.

Geography

Batanagar lies near the river Ganges. Nungi or Nangi, the nearest rail station, is 23 km from Sealdah on the Sealdah-Budge Budge section of Eastern Railway.

Economy

Not only the Bata India Shoe factory, another very remarkable feature of Batanagar, is that shoe-making is a pre-dominant cottage industry in Batanagar. Countless houses and families are dedicated to manufacturing shoes of various makes - leather, PVC, jute, etc for some of the leading shoe brands in India. For example - Khadim's, SreeLeathers, Liberty which are some of the most renowned shoe makers in India, have outsourced a major portion of their shoe making process to the various entities in Batanagar. Every alternate home in Batanagar houses a small unit which is manufacturing shoes.

This feature was born out of necessity, as most of the families residing in Batanagar are dependent on the Bata factory for their livelihood, hence whenever the factory gets locked-out, these families are very severely affected. Hence shoe making from their homes has given them an alternate source of earning.

Education

There are several higher secondary level schools including the Bata Boys' School, Bata Girls' School, Nangi Boys' School and Nangi Girls' School in Batanagar area. There are no college in Batanagar, the nearest colleges are Maheshtala college and Budgebudge college. Mahestala College was accredtated by NAAC in May 2004.It has Computer Science as Honours course affiliated by Calutta University. UGC funded Career Oriented Vocational courses like Journalism & Video Production, Communicative English are fast gaining popularity among students. In XI Plant one more corse on Fashion Technology will be started in 2008

Sports

The place has also given to India some of the greatest footballers, like Sankar Banerjee (ex-India International and Mohun Bagan coach), Prasun Mukherjee, Shanti Majumdar, Manas Bhattacharya to name a few.

Esplanade

If anyone would like to feel the British Kolkata, he/she must visit Esplanade, Kolkata during his tour to this City of Palaces. Located a little distance from the western banks of Hooghly River, Esplanade comprises the heart of Kolkata city. Being one of the busiest destinations in the city, this area is home to various buildings that reflect the British architecture. Besides, in every way, this locale puts forth the kind and character of the city.

Presently along with being the booming commercial centre, Esplanade, Kolkata houses some of the best attractions in the region, for which travelers from all over the globe have been coming to this city for years, rather to be more exact, for centuries. With a great number of enterprises and institutes located in the precincts, the Esplanade is without any doubt the hub of commercial activities in the city.

The major establishments of Kolkata city by which the city can be depicted or represented are set up on the territorial lands of Esplanade. The place brings forth the lofty sketch of the Kolkata metropolis. The region is crowded with trade enterprises, vital administrative offices, hotels, banks, shopping arcades and more.

The region is adorned with some of the best and classy hotels of Kolkata. Moreover, this vivacious place has a tram car service that will take you across the well-known tourist places of Maidan in Kolkata. The Maidan is full of a number of well-liked attractions including the Shahid Minar and the Polo Grounds. Shahid Minar, standing to a height of about 48 metres from the ground, was before famed as Ochterloney Monument. This is a variation of Qutub Minar in Delhi.

Being one of the central townships of the city, Esplanade, Kolkata houses the metro station as the smartest means of commutations in the region. Besides, the railway station, in closeness to Esplanade, is the one at Eden Gardens. However, the domestic and international airports are 9 kms and 12 kms far from this destination.

Esplanade is situated a little distance from the western banks of Hooghly river. Esplanade constitutes the heart of Kolkata city. It is one of the busiest destinations in the city. Esplanade in every way reflects the kind and character of the city. The place is a booming commercial centre and houses some of the best attractions in the region. With a great number of enterprises and institutes located in the precincts, the Esplanade is without any doubt the hub of commercial activities in the city.

The key establishments of Kolkata city stand on the territorial lands of Esplanade. The place presents the high profile of the Kolkata metropolis. The region is packed with business enterprises, important government offices, hotels, banks, shopping arcades and more. The region is provided with some of the best hotels of Kolkata. Besides business organizations and hotels the place has a tram car service that takes across famous tourist place of Kolkata, Maidan. The Maidan supports a number of popular attractions including the Shahid Minar and the Polo Grounds. Shahid Minar, previously famous as Ochterloney Monument is a variant of Qutub Minar and stands to a height of about 48 metres from the ground.

Accessibility

• Esplanade is one of the central townships of Kolkata city. The metro station at Esplanade provides the commutations in the region.
• The railway station, in proximity to Esplanade, is the one at Eden Gardens.
• The domestc and international airports are 9 kms and 12 kms far from the city suburbs.

Areas Under Esplanade

• Park Street
• Eden Gardens
• Maidan

Places to Stay .. Oberoi Grand .. The Park .. The Kenilworth .. Hotel Peerless Inn		.. Lytton Hotel .. Hotel Rutt Deen .. Paying Guests .. Service Apartments		Places to See .. Saheed Minar .. Asiatic Society .. Victoria Memorial .. M.P. Birla Planetarium
Food & Dining .. Restaurants .. Pubs/Bars .. Coffee/Cafes		Recreation .. Amusement Parks .. Art Galleries .. Auditoriums .. Cinemas		Careers .. Colleges .. Institutions .. Schools .. Play Schools
Health .. Blood Banks .. Diagnostics Centers .. Doctors .. Health Clubs .. Hospitals .. 24hr Chemists		Shopping & Services .. Beauty Parlours .. Courier Services .. Departmental Stores .. Estate Agents .. Florists .. Housekeeping Services		.. Packers & Movers .. Places to Shop .. Shopping Malls .. Taxi & Cabs .. Tailors

Economy of Kolkata

Kolkata is the main business, commercial and financial hub of eastern India and the main port of communication for the North-East Indian states.Kolkata is home to India's second-largest bourse The Calcutta Stock Exchange, a major port, an international airport and many high quality colleges aimed at supplying a highly-skilled work force.

Kolkata is home to many industrial units, of large Indian corporations, whose product range is varied and includes - engineering products, electronics, electrical equipment, cables, steel, leather, textiles, jewellery, frigates, automobiles, railway coaches, wagons, tea, paper, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, tobacco, food products, jute products etc. Some notable companies headquartered in Kolkata include ITC Limited, Bata India, Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd., Birla Corporation, Merlin projects Ltd., Bengal Peerless, Orient fans, Exide, Berger Paints, Coal India Limited, and National Insurance Company. However, only a few banks — among them Uco Bank and United Bank of India — have their home offices in Kolkata; Standard Chartered Bank has a major branch in Kolkata.

Most of the slum dwellers participate in the informal economy ^[4] and work in laundering, housecleaning, sweeping, plastic salvaging, plumbing, furniture making, electrical wiring, TV repair, masonry, messaging, hawking, rickshaw pulling, hair design, folk medicine, music and art, tailoring, leather work, shoe making, and food selling.Until recently, flexible production had always been the norm in Kolkata, and the informal sector has comprised more than forty percent of the labor force. For example, hawkers in Kolkata, numbering 275,000 generated business worth Rs. 8,772 crore (around 2 billion U.S. dollars) in 2005.

Kolkata witnessed an economic decline from the sixties till the late nineties. The partition, along with the massive migrant refugee, the predominance of the trade-unions, lack of capital, the Bangladesh war, the Naxal liberation movement, frequent strikes, the collapse of the jute industry, and the breakdown of infrastructure and management served to nearly destroy the economy of Kolkata. In the 1980s, owing to this generalised depressed economy, Kolkata earned yet another sobriquet — the "dying city".^[7]. Since then, the city's fortunes have improved, coinciding with the liberalization of the Indian economy. Several industrial estates like Taratolla, Kalyani, Uluberia, Dankuni, Kasba, Howrah are spread throughout the urban agglomeration. A huge leather complex has come up at Bantolla. An export processing zone has been set up in Falta. Specialized setups like the country's first Toy Park, and a Gem and Jewellery Park have also been established.

The state of West Bengal has promoted foreign direct investment, which has mostly come in the software and electronics field.^[8] Kolkata is also becoming a major hub for the IT (Information Technology) industry. With construction underway of New Town at Rajarhat and extension of Salt Lake's Sector-V, Kolkata is rapidly turning into a preferred IT/BPO destination.^[9] More and more businesses are coming to Kolkata to set up their offices, including multinationals such as IBM, HSBC and ABN AMRO Bank. Leading the way in growth have been the Kolkata based companies such as SkyTECH, TEL I.T. NETWORK, WDC, Great Media Technologies, Vision Comptech and Polaris Networks amongst numerous others. This apart, other big Indian software firms are choosing to make Kolkata their hub of operations. Of these Wipro, TCS, MBT, Cognizant are leading the way. Owing to the recent boom in the economy of Kolkata and also the state as a whole, West Bengal is now the third fastest growing economy in the country ^[10] and the city's IT sector is growing at a rate of 70% per year — twice the national average.^[11] With the proposed cable landing station in the coastal West Bengal in the offing, the city is going to offer even better infrastructure for I.T.