Dhrimal Dao Calcutta
89, Elliot Road, Calcutta City. The only woman-run restaurant ‘Suruchi’ is located here. When you go to eat at this restaurant in the city, you will feel like you are eating authentic Bengali food at home.
Women do everything from marketing to cooking in this restaurant. Like serving food, keeping bills, washing dishes.
Before this Suruchi restaurant, there used to be Annapurna Sweets store. This restaurant was opened in 1952. This is the only restaurant in Kolkata that specializes in Bengali cuisine.
This Suruchi restaurant is run by the All Bengal Women’s Union. This restaurant was established to rehabilitate women affected after partition.
Suruchi is open for lunch only. Bengali’s favorite Karaisuti kachuri is sometimes accompanied by chickpeas and potato steam. If one wants dal puri it is also available here. Along with this, you will get Bengali’s favorite hilsa vapa with fish and rice, along with a lot of hilsa head and a little banana mocha ghant or mocha shrimp if you want. The restaurant is popular for all kinds of Bengali delicacies like Vetki fish Paturi, Sarse Parse, Patal Dorma, Chital Fish Peti or Chital Fish Muitha. Rice and dal, fish broth is always eaten, Khasi or chicken meat broth is also available here for a little change of taste. Crabs or prawns are also available here.
Papia Chowdhury, who has been working in this institution for 15 years, said that our institution was started in 1952. At that time there was Annapurna Sweets Store here. Then it progresses slowly. During the partition of the country, refugees from Bangladesh in Kolkata started coming here. Those who were in All Bengal Women’s Union management started this organization with those refugees. Gradually this institution improved, later in 1972 or 1973 this institution was named Suruchi.
He said, earlier we had 36 women in this institution, but after the lockdown, now we have 13 women associated with this institution. Earlier, people used to stand in line to eat here. But still not very few customers come to eat here.
This institution was initially run by women and still remains so. We have all kinds of Bengali food available here. No food other than Bengali food is available.
The restaurant opens at 10 a.m. and stays open until 4 p.m. as customers thin out. If business is as usual, the establishment will be kept open a little longer.
Papia Chowdhury said, tourists especially from Bangladesh come to eat more in our establishment. Apart from tourists from East India, tourists from Meghalaya, Assam, Shillong, Nepal, Bhutan also come to eat Bengali food. They especially come to eat hilsa fish steamed. But Bangladeshi tourists do not eat hilsa fish when they come here because their hilsa fish tastes much better than our hilsa fish. That’s why Bangladeshi tourists prefer chital fish muitha, chital peti or vetki paturi.
Bhaskar Sardar, who came to eat at the restaurant, said that he has been eating and drinking here for 12 years. It is mainly famous for Bengali food. The restaurant was initially started by a few Bengali women from Barisal. First there was a sweet shop here. That sweet shop gradually turned into a fancy restaurant.
Shakil Abedin who came to eat said, I don’t come here all the time. My house is exactly one kilometer away from this institution. Still I come here occasionally to taste the homely Bengali food. very good food
MSM/MS
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