- [Trevor] Coming up for all you Food Rangers,
we're going deep into the local markets of Kolkata
for breakfast and finding some incredible
street food specialties.
And then we got incredibly lucky to get invited
from our friend Aditya to a huge family lunch feast.
So make sure to watch until the end
'cause you're not gonna wanna miss these.
Check it out, guys.
This is Trevor James.
We are in Kolkata, India,
and today we are going for a full on street food tour
and we're going to get a local, home-cooked meal.
I am really excited and we are in a classic
yellow cab here in Kolkata.
It's gonna be a great day.
We're on our way to get some nice breakfast.
This is the fun of India,
exploring for food wherever you go.
And it doesn't matter where.
There will always be something new to try
around every corner.
But before having an amazingly flavorful lunch
at our friend, Aditya's house with his family,
we hit the street for some breakfast in Kolkata,
and found ourselves deep in the back alleyways
with tons of street food, chai,
and a bustling atmosphere like no other.
India truly is a street food heaven.
We are in the Burrabazar area
and we're looking for some food to start the day
before our big, homemade lunch coming up.
Should be good, and this area is just packed
with people working.
There's street food everywhere.
We're gonna find something tasty.
Look at this.
Chai.
Look what we found here, guys, fresh chai tea.
This is the best way to start any day in India for me.
You get a nice chai in the morning,
spiced, frothy, creamy.
It is so good.
Thank you.
Beautiful.
In a clay cup.
Looks good.
Look at this, guys.
We just got a chai to start the day.
Masala tea.
- [Man] Masala chai, it's tea.
- [Trevor] And it's busy right in the morning.
(man speaking indistinctly)
Oh, it's good, it's sweet.
Sweet, yeah.
Mmm, it's good.
Yeah, it's very good.
(laughing)
Wow, it's busy here.
And this is just what you gotta do
to start your day here, in Kolkata.
Before you hit the streets, you grab a chai.
- You is just like a hero.
(both laughing)
- Fantastic.
- Fantastic, yeah.
Thank you.
Oh yeah.
(both laughing)
After waking up with a hot spiced chai,
we walked around the corner and found an amazing
sweet shop and a wok full of fried gram flour,
a beautiful find.
Looks like we found a little sweet shop here.
Lots of sweets.
Beautiful.
(man speaking indistinctly)
All types, oh Gujurati dishes.
Oh.
Beautiful.
And right over here, look at this.
There is a massive wok, a pot of boiling delight.
What is this called?
- What this?
- What is this called, the name?
- The name of the gathiya, it's called gathiya.
It's a Gujurati dish.
- [Trevor] Gujurati dish.
- [Man] It's a Gujurati dish.
- [Trevor] Wow, and it is made with gram flour?
- [Man] Gram flour, ground nuts.
- [Trevor] Ground nut?
- [Man] With pine oil.
- [Trevor] Oh, pine oil.
Oh, nice.
We're gonna have to try one of these.
Look at this, so we just found gram flour
stuffed with fennel and cumin and they are frying it
in the oil here.
We're gonna have to try that out.
Oh, look at this, we can try it.
Thank you.
Gathiya.
Gathiya, awesome.
Stuffed with fennel and cumin.
And they're just, they're just spreading it out there.
Thank you.
So we just found this awesome sweet shop.
They have tons of Indian sweets.
They've got it all here.
Lots of stuff with edible silver on it
and we just ordered up because we saw them making it
in the back there.
This is that fried gram flour and pickled papaya and chili.
Let's try that out.
Mmm.
Oh, it's good.
Thank you.
Oh wow.
Oh you can really taste that fennel.
The fennel seeds and that papaya.
It's very fresh.
It's actually not too sour,
it just has a nice freshness to it.
And that gram flour, oh it feels like an upgraded
whole wheat flour.
It feels extra healthy.
And we're just so deep in the Barrabazar market.
This is just one of so many amazing sweet shops
and you can see it is just full of action and life.
We're gonna go see what else we can get.
Thank you.
After a quick walk through Barrabazar,
we found a classic south Indian street food joint,
serving up some masala dosas, kind of like a French crepe
or a Chinese jianbing,
loaded with spiced mashed potatoes
and served with savory rice cakes and vada fritters
in a nice spiced tomato sauce.
This is true heaven.
Hi.
Oh.
(speaking in foreign language)
Vada, vada.
Oh, vada with sambar.
Oh, and dosa.
Awesome.
Wow.
We're gonna have to get a dosa to start the day off.
(speaking in foreign language)
Awesome.
We're getting a masala dosa,
which is like a,
oh, like a crepe stuffed with potato mash,
masala spices, cheese, tomato, peas and chili.
And a lot of spice in there.
That looks beautiful.
(man speaking in foreign language)
We just got the masala dosa,
which is like a crepe stuffed with masala potatoes,
and they give you a coconut chutney,
and it looks like a vegetable gravy as well.
And then we have a vada,
which is like a legumes donut almost.
They take the legumes and they make it with water
and it turns into a fried donut.
And it's topped with that same vegetable soup
and that white stuff, I believe, is a coconut chutney.
Let's take a look.
Oh yeah, look at that.
Oh look at that dosa.
It's just stuffed.
Wow, it's just stuffed with ingredients,
stuffed with that potato masala, onions, fennel.
It looks so beautiful.
And then you can actually, I'm just gonna,
since I only have one hand,
I'm just gonna pour that coconut chutney over top.
Oh.
Mmm.
Wow.
Mmm.
To me, it doesn't matter where you are in India,
you can always get a beautiful masala dosa.
And I can taste, I can actually taste
those curry leaves in there.
It's actually quite peppery as well.
And that coconut chutney, I think,
is actually a little sour.
There is something nice and sour in there.
What a great start to the day.
Nice south Indian breakfast.
We're gonna make our way out of this Barrabazar area
and go meet my buddy, Aditya,
who has invited us for a home cooked Kolkatan lunch.
Should be really good.
Hey, buddy. - Hi.
- Aditya, thanks for inviting us.
Yeah, so we're going to have a home cooked meal.
- Yeah.
- Should be good.
Bengali style.
- No, it will be a mix of everything.
- A mix of everything.
- Yeah. - Awesome.
Should be good, so we're just gonna get a taxi
and make our way to your place, right?
Okay, let's check it out.
- Yeah so we are going to my home for a home cooked dinner.
Let's check it out.
- Alright, let's check it out, awesome.
Thank you.
Okay, what are we?
Should I ...
Oh.
Thank you.
(women speaking indistinctly)
Oh great, what are we ...
- This is called tilak.
- Tilak.
Very nice.
Tilak, so this is ...
White rice.
- Yeah, that is rice.
- [Trevor] Oh.
- [Man] Unbroken rice.
- Unbroken rice.
- Because it means that your life is unbreakable.
- Oh, very nice.
Oh, thank you.
Beautiful.
Nice to meet you, thanks.
- Myself is Shreya.
Shreya.
- Shreya, nice to meet both of you.
- Shukal.
- Nice to meet you.
- Also S, Snika, Shreya, Shukal.
- Okay, perfect.
Awesome, we're gonna go take a look at the kitchen here.
Nice.
Wow, lots here.
- This is prawn in malai curry.
- Prawn in malai curry.
- Yes, prawn in malai curry.
- [Trevor] Oh, so prawn and malai curry,
it looks quite creamy.
- [Snika] Yes, it's very creamy because cream, milk,
that is the ingredients.
Green chili.
- [Trevor] Green chili, garam masala, bay leaves.
- [Snika] Yeah, bay leaves.
- Oh, that looks beautiful.
What's this?
- [Snika] Chicken ashrafi, leg pieces, in spices.
- [Trevor] Oh, that smells amazing.
With curd.
Chicken ...
Oh, I think I smell some cinnamon in there.
- [Snika] Yes, cinnamon, darjeeling.
- Wow, that smells so good.
After chatting a bit more in the kitchen,
Aditya's generous family started bringing out
all the dishes to the table.
True delicacies that you can relish the flavor of
on each bite.
We were truly lucky to have this incredible experience
not only through delicious food,
but to meet such great people on our trip.
This just looks amazing.
So much food.
There's so much here, it looks amazing.
What do we have here today?
- [Snika] This is luchi.
- [Trevor] Luchi.
- [Snika] Fried dough ball, we have it with the gravy.
It is like accompanying.
- [Trevor] Oh it looks beautiful,
and is it stuffed with fennel seeds?
- Yeah, it is stuffed with jeera.
- Jeera.
Amazing, what else do we have here?
- [Snika] This is chingri malai curry.
It is shrimp in cream.
- [Trevor] Oh, shrimp in cream.
It looks so fragrant.
- [Snika] Yeah, it has the rich aroma
of the bay leaves, cinnamon.
- [Trevor] Oh wow, bay leaves and cinnamon.
Yeah, you can see all the spices in there.
- [Snika] This is plain rice with kaju.
(man speaking indistinctly)
- [Trevor] So this is plain rice, basmati rice,
in ghee and bay leaves?
- Yes, bay leaves is kaju.
- Wow.
- This is a salad, which we have here.
- Beautiful.
This is, I'm overwhelmed.
So many curries, we have so many curries here, too.
- This is mutton casa.
Mutton is prepared like keeping it on flame
for three to four hours.
(family members speaking indistinctly)
- [Trevor] Three hours, and it looks like it's packed with,
it looks like cinnamon in there.
- [Snika] Yes, cinnamon, bay leaves, other spices.
- This is like a once in a lifetime experience for me.
- And for us, a first for us.
- [Trevor] Chicken achari.
- [Snika] Chicken was marinated in the ghee.
And then it was prepared in spices.
This is the varishna sevaiyan.
- [Woman] Vermicelli.
- [Trevor] Vermicelli, in a ...
- [Woman] Milk.
- [Trevor] Vermicelli in a condensed milk.
(family members speaking indistinctly)
Rajasthani desert.
This is potato, aloo dum.
- Aloo dum.
- Aloo dum, nice.
Tomato, coriander, onion, gravy.
(family speaking foreign language)
Ooh, lentil curry.
Lentil curry.
These flavors were insanely delicious,
starting with the amazing potato dum.
But the real joy was in the flavor
we were about to experience with the upcoming chicken.
There were just so many amazing flavors here on the table.
And that's what's amazing about these feasts.
You can taste dish after dish of joy.
Oh look at that gravy.
That is so thick.
This is like my dream.
I think I've had this in a dream before,
just looks so good.
This is what dreams are made of right here,
delicious food.
Oh the chicken achaar.
I can just eat it like this?
Look at that.
Okay.
Okay, okay.
Yeah.
Mmm.
Oh.
Wow.
That is amazing.
- Thank you.
- My sister is the cook.
- That is so good.
Oh you can taste the cinnamon.
Is there star anise in there?
- Yes, all the spices, cinnamon.
- So many spices.
- Spices are a speciality in India.
You have so many spices.
- The main dish is of the ghee, the curd.
- It was marinated in.
- Oh, marinated in curd.
It's so juicy.
And that cinnamon is just ...
That cinnamon, there are so many spices in there.
You can taste that it's marinated in that curd.
That is unbelievable.
That is unbelievable chicken.
It's like a rich cinnamon star anise cardamom gravy.
And you can just dip your puri in there
and it is pure heaven.
So nice.
We're gonna try the shrimp curry on the puri.
Incredible.
That one looks quite creamy.
- [Shreya] Yeah, it's creamy.
Malai means cream.
- [Trevor] Malai means cream.
- It means prawn in cream.
- Prawn in cream.
Mmm.
I have never tasted flavors like these before.
Incredible food.
It's so creamy.
It's like a creamy, milky, slightly spicy, juicy shrimp.
Oh, this is the mutton curry, right?
Oh wow, this is too nice.
This is just too nice.
That gravy looks to die for.
Thank you.
- You're welcome.
- [Trevor] Look at that.
That just looks to die for,
over top of the ghee rice with the bay leaves.
Oh yeah, look at that.
Mmm.
Oh, oh that's amazing.
Thank you.
Eating here with Aditya and his family
made me realize just how amazing friendly
people are in India.
And after getting full on delicious food
and amazing desserts packed with spices, sugar
and cardamom, we went back to rest at our hotel,
absolutely stuffed from delicious food.
Thank you so much, Aditya, for having us over.
That was just once in a lifetime experience.
- You're welcome.
- It was just amazing.
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Thank you so much for watching.