Telebhaja
Telebhaja (fritter) is one of the most popular snack items in Eastern India. And if we are talking about Kolkata / Calcutta, the undisputed Telebhaja capital would be Bagbazar Street. There is an unbelievable number of Telebhajar dokan from Rabindra Sarani/Chitpore to Bidhan Sarani/Bagbazar Bata. Apart from the permanent ones, there are quite a few makeshift ones. Despite the competition, they all make brisk business. Such is the popularity of Telebhaja in and around this area.
Potoler Dokan / Potol Babur Dokan
Potoler Dokan / Potol Babur Dokan is one of the better-known places on Bagbazar Street. Located opposite Union Bank of India, Bagbazar branch, the shop remains open from 7:30 in the morning till 12:30 noon and again from around 4:45 PM to 8:30 PM. But if you want variety, try to visit in the afternoon.
The owner frying the items while people wait eagerly
People queue for their Kochuris in the morning and Radhaballavis later in the day. But my personal favourites here are the Telebhajas. To start with, what I love the most here is the Potoler Chop (Pointed gourd croquettes). If you know what a Dolma is, this is similar to a veg dolma crumb fried. In most places, potoler chops are batter-fried potol. This crumb-fried one is a far better version and a must-try here.
Potoler Chop – the inside
The Mochar Chop (Banana flower croquette) is also good. But you will get similar quality at some of the other shops too. Banana flowers mixed with a spiced potato mash and crumb fried.
Mochar Chop – the inside
Another must-try item here is the Dhoka or the deep-fried spiced lentil cubes. It’s one of the best dhokas I have had. The outer crust is crunchy, and the inside is a soft paste of well-seasoned lentils. And it’s full of fried lentils in between to give you that crunchy feel. The best parts? Not dry, well-cooked, yet soft and moist inside, and seasoned to perfection.
Dhoka
The soft inside of the Dhoka
Before coming to their Radhaballavi, let’s go through something else. I read a book which said if you hold the Radhaballavi and hang it straight, all the fillings will drop to the bottom. So the filling must not stick to the outer layer and must be dry enough to respond to the forces of gravity. That’s what happens with the Radhaballavi at Potoler Dokan. The filling’s dry, loose, and tasty. The potato curry looks more like an Alur Dom but is much mildly spiced and goes well with the Radhaballavi by not overpowering it.
Radhaballavi
They have other types of telebhajas too, which also are tasty. If you are around Bagbazar street during the morning/afternoon, it will be a sin to give Potoler Dokan a miss.
Radhaballivis being prepared
nice food collections
Thank you 🙂
I am not a fan of telebhaja but I would like to try the dhoka as it won’t give me ‘dhoka’ going by this post. I also love vegetable chop in winter. I believe they make it.
Yes they do. Do try and let us know how you find it 😀
The way every items are described,I think a special thanks should be given to you to enrich their taste.
I am not from Kolkata but of course I will give all the above a try whenever I will be there.
Out of all these Indian food, the Dhoka intrigued me the most. I wish I could travel to India to get the real thing but I would try it out in one of the Indian restaurants here first.
This is super amazing. What a perfect ideal and mouth watering collection of food pictures. Yum Yum Yum
I love dolma we make it here too. I would love to have a taste of this even if it’s fried. I usually don’t eat fried food.
wow you have confirmed with your article that kolkata is not about fish and mishtidoi…it’s so much more
Street food is the best! And Kolkata seems to have some great options. Well, if and when I am there I will have to try this place.
Wow! These look so tempting! I have never tried any of these or heard about these but it makes me go to my kitchen and make something equally tempting for myself! #preggocravings 😀 :p