Too busy (or bored) to cook? Enter to the rescue a bunch of spirited amateur and trained home chefs, who are dishing out a delectable variety and making regional Indian cuisine as well as gourmet dishes more accessible than ever. Here’s our pick of those who are leading the charge in Kolkata.
Order In From These Top Home Chefs In the City Who Are Cooking Up A Storm
Devil's Lure by Laila Malik
The Devil's Lure is all about desserts that will transport you to your happy place in a jiffy. Think butterscotch cake with toffee drizzle, coffee chiffon cake with kahlua glaze or almond & orange syrup cake with dark chocolate and cognac frosting. If that wasn't enough, Laila has ventured into curated weekend three-course specials. Pick the cuisine of your choice and let her flavours work their magic on your palate.
Kirti Bhoutika
Kirti Bhoutika is a self-taught home baker and Master Chef India winner. Sugarplum Cakery is her baby and their dessert menu is positively sinful. Be prepared to be spoilt for choice. Buzz her for exotic numbers such as ginger cheesecake with chocolate soil and blue berry compote, and black sesame mousse served with yoghurt sorbet which were also from among her top creations on the show.
Brown's by Vaneeta Tondon
Vaneeta started Brown’s from her home’s kitchen in Queen’s Park, Ballygunge. Invite your friends over and treat them to Brown’s savory specialties like cream & mushroom quiches, zucchini roll ups, Vietnamese rice paper rolls and some lipsmacking desserts, such as devil’s food cake with fresh cream and ganache dip or Bailey’s cheesecake brownies.
Exotic Eats by Mridula Agarwal
Call Mridula Agarwal for all types of vegetarian food from various regions. Think Korean, Chinese, Mexican, Thai, Lebanese, Mongolian and Indian. Three layer spaghetti bake, lasagne, mexican rice and chilli potatoes, or more native stuff like paneer butter masala, pindi chole and biryani are must-try items from her menu. Don’t miss the desserts on offer, especially the mango rasgulla pudding and boondi rabdi.
Geetika's Goodies by Geetika Seth
Want home bakes that are an instant crowd-pleasers and doesn’t break your bank? Make home chef Geetika Seth your go-to person for that. Her banofee pie looks beyond divine. Nutella for me is an emotion so I just had to try the Nutella Cheesecake. It was everything I had expected and more! This 'no bake, only chilled' cheesecake is positively sinful and addictive, you were warned!
Trufire Kitchen by Madhavi Puri
Fresh gourmet meals from Madhavi's home to yours. Trufire does all your regular dishes, be it mutton yakhni pulao or chicken tetrazini or stew with appams. I would recommend you try the chicken chettinad she makes. The flavours explode in your mouth with each bite. I tried the shepherd's pie and while I have tried this dish on a number of occasions before, this one was just the right amount of moist with a solid but fluffy top layer.
Sima's Kitchen Secrets by Sima Ahmed
For several years now, Sima (who is from Lucknow) has been serving up delicious Awadhi biryani, made from nawabi recipes that have been passed down through generations of her family. All the spices are freshly ground. The rice is long-grained and fragrant, the meat perfectly succulent. Apart from the biryani, she also makes a decadent variety of kebabs, chaap and halim.