The big bong lunch ❤️
Sundays are special but this one was super special.
It was my birthday weekend and we were invited to dine with Joy and family.
Joyadrita (Joy) is a home chef who cooks up authentic Bengali food with recipes from her mom and grandma. Chennai is indeed lucky to have someone like her in the city. Joy has done couple of pop ups and food festivals in Chennai as well as mumbai.
How can we start a Lunch without the spirit? Joy’s husband Ragav makes excellent mojito I was told and mojito it was, must say the best that I have had so far!
The lunch was an elaborate affair. Started with the Bengali chicken cutlet, my eyes opened wider as I saw the cutlet puff up like a Puri when fried.
Bhetki Jhaal diye/Sea bass in mustard gravy, being a fish lover was my favourite. The fish was super fresh and the preparation was subtle yet so yummy!
Chingri Bati Chorchori/Freshwater shrimps in a spicy mishmash. The prawns were soft and sweet and the masala was perfect!
Robibarer Laal Manghsher Jhol/Sunday Mutton Curry. With my boys who love mutton this sure was a perfect sunday treat. Bongs make the best mutton I say, the flavour of the musturd oil compliments the flavour of the meat.
Off course we had to have some vegetables too. Phoolkopir Rosha/Cauliflower florets in a silken, flavorful gravy.
Sobji diye ghee bhaat/Bengali Style ghee rice with seasonal vegetables. The flavour of the ghee was intense and perfect combo for the mutton curry!
The sweet chutney was more like a dessert, seasoned with the onion seeds the flavour was tangy yet sweet. Traditional this chutney is relished with papad and we had it the traditional way. This reminded me of how few people in the south have a combo of payasam and papadam. After all we Indians have so much similarity in our food habits irrespective of which part of India we belong too!
Lucky to have had this meal during the season of nolen Gur. Nolen Gur is date jaggery that is available in Bengal only during winter and is the best jaggery with loads of health benefits. We got to gorge on the nolen Gur rosgulla!
And the story does not end there, we Love people who love our food and we want to give them more food. That’s exactly what happened to us. We had some take aways too. Must confess the most environment friendly packing, every small detail was taken into consideration when Joy thought of starting her home cooked food service. Her husband has been a pillar of support with fabulous packaging ideas.
I really think that we are so blessed to have home chefs like Joy who spread happiness and joy through food!
A point to note, most of the Home chef’s are passionate about what they do, they don’t do it only for the monetary benefits. The ingredients that most of them use are from their home kitchen and are always hand picked with care and yes hence they do work a bit expensive. But the Joy that you get from the food that comes out of their kitchen is soul satisfying. Show them love and affection ❤️
For authentic Bengali Home cooked food in Chennai reach out to Joy on +91 84520 98701 Instagram handle https://instagram.com/foodofjoyflavoursofbengal?igshid=16z0nkx5yj5xx
yogitauchil 