Waiting in a serpentine queue on a rain-soaked Sunday, an umbrella barely generous to protect the two of us from the nagging drizzle, isn’t my idea of a blissful weekend morning.
I would have rather been home, I crib, savouring Maas murgir khichuri, begunis and Ilish maachh bhaja.
The man smiles.
He doesn’t counter.
We are patiently queued up in front of Kolkata’s iconic Peter Cat on Park Street. The desultory drizzle continues unabated.
A young couple, possibly on their first date, buy red roses from the teenage boys at the traffic junction. A mother frowns as her daughter gleefully jumps on a puddle splashing slush all over her designer dress. A zealous hawker desperately tries to sell a garish scarf to two elderly Caucasian tourists, much to their bemusement.
And in between checking the time every minute or so and lamenting the decision to ever have agreed to come here for lunch, an annoyed me asks S if he had ever wondered what could have inspired the name Peter Cat.
He nods his head.
We finally get in.
What greets us is a lively haunt, reminiscent of the 80s, red upholstered sofas commanded by red pendant lamps, liveried waiters in their pompous Rajasthani attire, cacophonous chatter and boisterous laughter, clinking pewter tankards and sizzling hot plates, the alluring aroma emanating from the tandoor and the seductive smoke from mixed grill sizzlers.
Our olfactory nerves are in bliss as we sink into the sofa.
What do you want to have ? S quizzes.
After all the years of hearing about the legendary Chelo Kebab, I respond with a chuckle, do you think I really have a choice ?
S smiles. I am sure any other answer would have surprised him.
We wait for the Chelo Kebab to arrive.
S wallows in sweet nostalgia, recollecting the afternoon when two of his college friends, visiting Kolkata for the first time, and he had shared a single plate of Chelo Kebab. Those were days of spartan austerity, subsisting on a shoe-string budget. And yet we were so contented. And there was such an overload of happiness.
The Chelo Kebab finally arrives.
Exactly as S had described a million times over.
Buttered rice. Chicken and lamb skewers. A perfect sunny side up. Cold butter on the rice.
A couple of bites and I am a convert.
This is divine and suddenly it all seems worth that agonising wait.
My smile speaks it all.
I told you, S signs off, you wouldn’t be disappointed.
Chelo Kebab
Ingredients
For the Butter Rice
- 1 cup gobindobhog rice
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 tsp black pepper powder freshly crushed
- salt to taste
For the Mutton Kebab
- 250 g minced mutton
- 2 onions minced
- 1 tsp garlic minced
- 1 tsp ginger juice
- 2 tsp green chillies minced
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp coriander leaves finely chopped
- 1/2 tsp red chilli powder
- 1/2 tsp coriander powder
- 1/2 tsp cumin powder
- 2 tbsp roasted bengal gram powder
- 1 egg
- salt to taste
- oil for cooking
For the Chicken Kebab
- 300 g boneless chicken thigh cut into bite size pieces
- 3 tbsp yogurt whipped
- 2 tbsp fresh cream
- 2 tbsp onion juice
- 1/4 tsp garlic paste
- 1/2 tsp green chili paste
- 1/2 tsp kashmiri red chili powder
- 1 capsicum cut into bite size pieces
- 1 big onion cut into bite size pieces
- oil for cooking
For the Grilled Tomatoes
- 2 tomatoes
- 1 tsp butter
- salt to taste
- sprinkle of black pepper powder
To assemble Chelo Kebab
- few slices of fresh cucumber
- 2-3 cubes of butter cold
- 2-3 eggs
- oil for cooking
- salt to taste
Instructions
For the Butter Rice
- Soak the rice for 20 odd minutes . Drain from water, keep aside.
- Boil water, add a little salt and little oil. Add the rice, cook till 70% done. Drain the water, keep aside.
- Melt the butter in a heated pan, now add the rice. Gently mix, add a sprinkle of salt and freshly crushed black pepper, cook till the rice is perfectly done. Keep aside.
For the Mutton Kebab
- Take all the ingredients other than oil listed under mutton kebab in a food processor, blitz till ground to a smooth paste.
- Transfer to a bowl, refrigerate for 3-4 hours, overnight works even better.
- Take a medium sized ball from the ground mutton, with a wet hand, gently shape to a sausage-like kebab while pressing it onto a skewer. Keep aside. Repeat the process for rest of the mutton mix.
- Heat a tawa, grease with oil, place the skewers and cook over a low flame.
- Once the mutton kebabs are brown, turn the skewers over. Cook till uniformly brown. Do not overcook. Keep aside.
For the Chicken Kebab
- Wash the chicken pieces and pat dry. Marinate the chicken with onion juice, green chili paste, ginger-garlic paste, yogurt, cream, red chili powder and salt to taste.
- Add the bell pepper and onion pieces. Refrigerate for 3-4 hours, overnight works even better.
- Arrange the chicken, onion and bell pepper pieces alternatively on a skewer.
- Heat a non stick tawa, grease with a little oil, place the skewers and cook over a low flame.
- Once the chicken pieces are slightly brown, turn the skewers over.
- Cook till uniformly brown and a skewer inserted into the chicken comes out clean. Keep aside.
For the Grilled Tomatoes
- Halve the tomatoes. Sprinkle a little salt and pepper.
- Heat a pan, add the butter and tomato halves, cook for 2 minutes, flip the tomatoes over and cook for a further 2 minutes.
To assemble the Chelo Kebab
- Place the buttered rice in the middle of a dinner plate. Arrange the mutton and chicken kebabs, grilled tomatoes and cucumber slices on the plate.
- Top the rice with a sunny side up and two cubes of cold butter. Serve hot.
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