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A‘roll’icking delight
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Kamla Nagar’s 34 Chowringhee sells some very nice rolls and they are reasonably priced too, says RAHUL VERMA
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When you think of Kolkata, you think of rolls. I know the eastern city has turned into some kind of a gourmet’s delight, but there was a time when it was most famous for its rolls. If you had travelled to Kolkata and not eaten a roll at Nizam&#
8217;s, you had not lived. Those were, of course, the days when other cities — such as an overgrown village called Delhi — thought a roll was something you did when you fell off a hill. Now that Delhi is trying to assert itself as the food capital of India, it knows all about rolls — single egg, double chicken, with onions, without onions, and so on.
Food hub
The most famous roll maker in Delhi is also called Nizam’s. But in the last few years, a great many small roll outlets have cropped up in different parts of the city. Chittaranjan Park, for instance, has a few, and for some of my healthy friends living there, the rolls make for wonderful teatime snacks before a heavy dinner. But Kamla Nagar, which is in the neighbourhood of a great many colleges, is fast turning into a food hub, too. And since Kolkatans throng Delhi to join the University, rolls are now being sold with considerable élan in this area.
I went there some days ago after a friend who lives in Mall Road recommended a place to me. It’s called 34 Chowringhee (no, don’t ask me why) and is located at 18, UB Jawahar Nagar. This is the lane behind Bungalow Road where you can find a line of little dhabas — selling everything from momos to chholey bhaturey.
I had one of the rolls and got some packed. It was rather nice. The rolls were made with flour but were thick and soft, and the filling was not too spicy. The chicken pieces, wrapped around an omelette, were tender. The rates are very reasonable. An egg roll is for Rs.15, a double egg roll for Rs.20, a chicken roll is for Rs.30 and a chicken and egg roll is for Rs.35. A double egg mutton roll is for Rs.40, while an aloo roll is for Rs.15.
It also sells paneer and vegetables rolls. It is a small place, with a table and stools for those who like to sit there and eat their rolls straight off the tawa. The work is all done in a small kitchen behind the sitting area. I could see someone whisking an egg, while somebody else was chopping chicken. A beaten egg is added to the tawa for those who like their rolls suitably eggy. Then come the rings of onions, and a chutney. The same roll — with a few variations here and there — is sold for a lot more elsewhere once it has been renamed a ‘wrap’. I like rolls; they are easy to eat, and for a light eater, one roll is a meal in itself. Of course, they are heavy, what with all the eggs, oil and refined flour. But as somebody said, the best things of life are either sinful — or fattening.
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