Rolls, Phuchka & Street Food in Kolkata

The kathi roll was invented at Nizam’s in New Market, some time in the 1930s or 40s: kebabs were taken off the skewer — the kathi — and wrapped in a paratha so that office clerks could eat them without a plate and without greasy hands. Egg was added to the paratha later. It is now sold in London and New York, still under the Kolkata name.

Phuchka is the other one. It is sharper and more tamarind-forward than the Mumbai pani puri, the filling is spiced mashed potato rather than chickpea, and the last one is given free and called the fau.

Name	Where	What it is known for
Nizam’s1932	New Market, Hogg Street	Where the kathi roll was invented. The rolls are still the reason to go.
Badshah1970s	New Market	The other New Market roll counter; many prefer it.
Kusum Rolls1970s	Park Street	The Park Street roll standard; double egg double mutton.
Hot Kati Roll	Park Street	Long-running roll counter.
Campari	Park Street	Rolls and kebabs.
Dacres Lane	off BBD Bagh	An office-lunch lane; chow, stew, chops, tea.
Territti Bazar morning stalls	Territti Bazar	Chinese breakfast on the street, 6am to 8am.

Name	Where	What it is known for
Vivekananda Park phuchka stalls	Southern Avenue	The phuchka the city argues about.
Maddox Square	Ballygunge	Phuchka and street food; transformed during Durga Puja.
Deshapriya Park stalls	Deshapriya Park	Evening street food.
Gariahat street stalls	Gariahat crossing	Rolls, phuchka, ghugni, chow.
Lake Market telebhaja	Lake Market	Fritters from a pavement pan.

Name	Where	What it is known for
Lakshmi Narayan Shaw & Sons1918	Sovabazar-Sutanuti	Telebhaja; aamer chop and soybean chop are the specialities.
Kalika Telebhaja1960s	Surya Sen Street, College Street	Fritters, and a student institution.
Shyambazar street stalls	Shyambazar More	Rolls, chops and phuchka.

Name	Where	What it is known for
Salt Lake and Sector V stalls	Salt Lake, Sector V	Office-hours rolls and chow for the IT crowd.

What to order

• The fau — the free last phuchka, dry and stuffed. Ask for it; it is traditional.
• A double egg double mutton roll, which is the standard order
• Jhalmuri made in front of you in a tin, shaken rather than stirred
• Ghugni with chopped onion and a squeeze of lime
• Telebhaja in the rain, from a pavement pan

Other kinds of eating

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