Calcutta street food festival at Chourangi

Chourangi, at London’s Marble Arch, known for its authentic Bengali cuisine is running its own Calcutta street food festival.

Calcutta (Kolkota), which served as capital of the British Raj between 1772 and 1911, is known for its unique food offer – an intricate blend of Bengali, British, Mogul, and Chinese culinary influences and its vibrant street food food scene. This diverse street food has been shaped by generations of vendors, neighbourhoods, and everyday urban life. The city’s food dlivers both simplicity and richness.

Chourangi, which features alfresco dining just off Oxford Street, is aiming to share a small glimpse of this unique food culture, bringing it alive not just as a menu, but with stories from the streets of Calcutta.

Dishes will include iconic Kathi Rolls, a portable meal of skewered kebabs wrapped in paratha found widely bustling lanes around North Calcutta, comforting plates of Luchi and Alur Dom often found in morning street-side eateries; Tele Bhaja — fritters made from seasonal vegetables; Indo-Chinese classics like Chilli Chicken and Fried Rice found in the Tangra ‘China town’ district, tell a story of cultural fusion; delicacies such as Mochar Chop, Fish Fry, and Prawn Cutlet represent the city’s deep relationship with seafood and snack culture, often found in old coffee houses and roadside stalls.

Another highlight within this vast landscape of flavours is Jhal Muri, arguably one of the purest expressions of Calcutta’s street food philosophy, “Not built on technique or presentation, but on instinct and rhythm.” Puffed rice is mixed with mustard oil, onions, green chillies, coriander, spices, and a squeeze of lime always freshly tossed, and slightly different each serving.

For locals, Jhal Muri is not just its ingredients, it is its setting – clattering sound of local trains and evening picnics at the Maidan, the vast 1,000 acre park known as the “lungs of Calcutta” amid improptu cricket matches.

 Chourangi | Unexplored Flavours of India