Kolkata-Based Iti Misra's Pop Up At The Bengaluru Oota Company Is For The Homesick Bengali

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If you love your shukto, macher jhal & mangsher jhol, just like me, then you will love Iti Misra’s Bengali pop up — Bangla Bhojon —coming soon to you, course by course, over two days at the Bengaluru Oota Company.

Correcting Course

If you have ever eaten a full on Bengali feast in your life, you will know that Bengalis like to attack food course by course. The food is served starting with stir fries, going on to vegetarian dishes, and then you can have a fish, meat or chicken main, followed by chutney and sweets, of course. Kolkata-based Iti Misra, a home chef and foodie has just such an elaborate meal all ready for you at her two-day pop-up. We went to eat a preview lunch one work afternoon, and came back stuffed to the gills.

We started our meal with shukto to be eaten with the aromatic Gobindo Bhog rice {a Bengal specialty}, and a drizzle of ghee. All of Iti’s ingredients have been sourced from Kolkata {except for the meat and fish}, including gondhoraj limes {the pride and joy of Bengalis}, the said rice, and even the ghee. The shukto came with a hint of mustard and was a delicate affair with five kinds of vegetables mixing in sweet, savoury and bitter flavours. Up next was Lau Ghonto, which is bottle gourd cooked in milk and topped with crushed, fried bodis {a kind of sun dried dumplings}. The Torkari Diye Dal {roasted moong dal with cauliflower and peas} was lovely with a squeeze of lime, and crunchy Narkoler Boda {deep fried coconut fritters} — something I got to eat after years.

Meat & Greet

The Macher Jhuri Bhaja aka scrambled fish stir fried with onions, garlic and peanuts was the star of the show. The savoury, crunchy, umami fish dish is best had with copious amounts of rice.

There were two more vegetarian mains — one was the Doi Begun {brinjals cooked in a tangy yoghurt sauce}, and the Dhokar Dalna {a very painstakingly made spicy lentil cake dish}. Iti likes to call this faux meat. The largely vegetarian course done, now it was time to bring out the big boys & girls of Bengali cuisine.

I loved the Bhetki Kasundi, a familiar fish curry, but which came with the Bengali Kasundi, a mango-flavoured bottled mustard sauce, rather than just regular mustard. The kasundi added a great tang to the dish and is apparently a family recipe twist of Iti’s. The crowning glory was the good old Mangshor Jhol {exactly like your mom makes on Sunday, Bengali peeps}, which we mopped up with the rice and extra servings of potato.

A special shout out goes to the Plastic Chutney, a green papaya chutney. Go figure why it is called plastic and the Nolen Gurer Payesh, a rice kheer drizzled with smokey, sweet date palm jaggery.

So, We're Saying...

While most of the cooking reminded me of home and mom-made food {I am a homesick Bengali too}, it was Iti’s special family recipes and touches to the dish that won me over. The Macher Jhuri Bhaja and Bhetki Kasundi was genius, and we hear there’s also going to be a Chingri Cutlet Curry, another Misra family special, on the menu.

The pop-up is going to be a community-style dining. Prior reservation is required.

When: Saturday, September 2, 1pm onwards {for lunch} and 8pm onwards {for dinner}; Sunday, September 3, 1pm onwards {for lunch}

Price: INR 1,700 per person plus tax.

Contact: +91 9448302628 or check out the Bengaluru Oota Company’s website here to book online.