10 Item Pure Veg Food Carnival For Durga Puja 2018 @ Gokul Shree Sweets & Snacks, AJC Bose Road, Kolkata ☺

Duration: 13 – 21 Oct 2018

Timing: Lunch – Midnight

Bengali or non Bengali, 4-5 days of merry making during Durga Puja has now become a cultural norm with all Kolkata based households, which involves eating out everyday, or at least a couple of times during the festive period.

While almost all small and big diners serve a range of Puja specific non veg items or thalis, very few diners serve Puja specific veg items or thalis. Even so, this norm is almost non-existant amongst pure veg diners. Thus a lot of vegetarians, specially the elder people don’t get to enjoy specialized meals during the Pujas.

Thankfully, this trend is on a change since last few years. So, this year Gokul Shree, the age old and popular sweets and snacks shop cum restaurant has come out with a well curated all veg and kind of all inclusive a 10 item Durga Puja special menu that comprises of – soup, starters, full meal combos and dessert.

A couple of days back they sent me a sumptuous food hamper along with a set of sturdy clay utensils for tasting and review.

The hamper comprised of the following items –

– Sangar Ka Kabab With Kachar Ka Chatni (Rs. 250/-): It comprised of 4 pieces of Sangar Ka Kababs which kind of looked two shades darker than the usual Hara Bhara Kababs (also present in the menu), a bowl of Kachar Ka Chutney and some salad juliennes made of primarily cabbage and some carrot.

These Kebabs were kind of new to me and thus seemed interesting. They were infused with a melange of spices like the usual Sangar Ki Sabji. The presence of salt was slightly high.

The Chutney had the look of the usual Garlic Chutney and it expectantly tasted little sour. This Chutney is not readily available in the city and I was happy to get my hands on some. It tasted good and also paired well with the Dal-Bati combo (mentioned below).

Clockwise Bowls – Paneer Chap, Dal Makhani, Mixed Vegetables, Chettinad Paneer; Clockwise On Plate: Malabar Paratha, Sangar Ka Kabab With Kachar Ka Chatni

– Roasted Bati With Panchmela Dal And Choorma (Rs. 300/-): 2 pieces of laddoo shaped Batis and 2 pieces of tikiya shaped Batis came packed with a big bowl of mixed Pulses and half a big bowl of Choorma.

The round Batis were stuffed with a spicy besan mixture and the flattened Batis were sans any stuffing i.e. plain Batis.

Normally, the Bati stuffing comprises of a sattu mixture, so this besan aka gram flour stuffing was new to me, but the taste was familiar, as similar stuffing is used in Besan Ka Parathas in our and many other households.

The Batis were well roasted and crumbly in texture. The Dal had the the right proportion of assorted pulses. The Choorma was flavorsome, had some chopped nuts and thankfully it was not too sweet.

The entire combo could easily suffice two people and it tasted excellent.

Roasted Bati With Panchmela Dal And Choorma

– Handi Biryani (Rs. 200/-): A big clay handi came sealed with flour dough around it’s lid. It was infused with fried onions, carrots, beans and some canned cherries.

The quantity present was good enough for 2-3 people. It tasted nice.

– Paneer Chap With Lachcha Paratha (Rs. 300/-): It comprised of a medium sized bowl of big paneer chunks in a non-spicy white gravy and 2 soft and flaky Lachcha Parathas.

The gravy had an extra presence of sabut kali mirch aka peppercorns, which caused a slight disturbance while eating. On the whole, the dish tasted good.

– Malabar Paratha With Chettinad Paneer (Rs. 300/-): It comprised of 2 Malabar Parathas carefully cut into a total of 4 halves and a big bowl of Chettinad Paneer.

Chettinad Paneer is a spicy and flavourful South-Indian dish. Made with a unique spice blend this curry is very different in taste from other paneer curries that we typically make in the North. It comprised of small paneer cubes submerged in a spicy and thick curry. The curry tasted good.

The Parathas were well cooked in enough oil, slightly thick and flaky. They tasted so good that they seemed good enough to be consumed on their own i.e. without any accompanying curry!

– Dal Makhani and Mixed Vegetables: Big bowls of these additional Dal and Sabji were sent as extras from the other combos. Both the items tasted nice.

If you are fussy about dining in only pure veg diners and if you hold a perpetual grudge for not getting enough unusual choices during the Pujas, then Gokul Shree is the place for you to be.

Even if you are a non fussy vegetarian or a non vegetarian, feel free to try out their well prepared dishes.

Happy Durga Puja 2018 to ALL ☺

Note: The food was plated and served at home.