Kolkata - Cocktail Party

I took a walk by myself this morning and along with seeing more of the little markets, I walked through a cemetery. Most of the graves are little mounds covered with a cloth. Others are rectangular raised concrete boxes. There were also some larger buildings I’m guessing are either shrines or mausoleums.

We took a little trip to a place called College Street, which has hundreds of little bookstores. They’re mostly textbooks and study guides, but some vendors had English novels as well. The stacks of books form walls between the different vendors, and they’re often tied together in a big block to move easier. There were easily a hundred of these little shops for blocks and blocks.

We finally had the courage to try some of the street food and it was delicious. The first thing we tried was some fried, breaded chicken with an amazing spicy sauce. This one was served on a banana leaf with a plate underneath. No need to wash the plates that way.

Next were some fried bread, chickpea, and potato meals. The chili peppers are about habanero heat level, but a little acrid.

Tonight’s activity is a cocktail party at the Bengal Club. We met a bunch of the extended family, there was dancing, including most of the family getting up on stage.

There was a huge buffet and drinks. I really liked the Bira White beer, but that ran out, so I was mostly drinking Johnny Walker. Once again, the food was delicious, and this time I actually have the full menu, which I’ll share here because usually even if people tell me what something is, it’s so hard to remember or know how to spell it.

• Cream of Broccoli & Emmental Soup
• Garlic Toast
• Bhapa Beckti
• Chicken Stroganoff
• Roast Mutton – Mint & Jelly
• Spinach Cannelloni – Orange & Bell Pepper
• Roast Gobi Green Peas & Potato
• Shahi Paneer
• Cholar Dal – Narkol & Kismis
• Luchi
• Parsley Buttered Rice
• Assorted Bread Basket
• Crunchy Salad
• Raita | Papad
• Mango Chutney / Khejur Tomato
• Chutney
• Blueberry Cheese Cake
• Baked Alaska