Kolkata

With a long history of cultural diversity, West Bengal cuisine has absorbed the flavours of many ethnicities. The British, Christian and Jewish communities brought with them the traditions of tea and baked goods. Sweets are an important part of the Bengali diet and bakeries selling Jewish style treats are very popular with local Kolkatans. While Kolkata may be a big city with lavish restaurants and fast food chains, eating at food stalls remains a significant tradition. Cultural diversity spills into the streets with stalls not only featuring Indian foods like samosas (pastry stuffed with meat and vegetables) and jhal muri (puffed rice mixed with sweet or savoury ingredients) but Tibetan snacks such as momos (dumplings) and thukpa (Tibetan noodle soup) and Chinese dishes like chowmein are now commonplace as well. Deckers Lane has a reputation as being one of the safer food stall areas of the city. For Kolkata’s signature fast food, try a hot tathi roll (meat kebabs wrapped in dough) or battered eggplant slices known as Beguni. When it comes to restaurant menu-picks, try machher johl, a spicy Bengali fish stew or cholar dal, which is a lentil dish with coconut and garam masala. For dessert, traditional sweets such as roshogolla (a type of cottage cheese simmered in sugar syrup) or sandesh (cottage cheese coated in sugar and cooked over a low heat).