Singara, Samosa and beyond...

- Knock knock…

- Who is that? Leave. I’m not home.

- So you are the famous Supari-killer? I have a job to offer…to bump ***** off. 

- That’s tough…

- That’s why it’s you. Fee? 

- Total One lakh ‘gorom’[warm] Singaras to be supplied every Saturday exactly at 9 in the morning without fail over next five years! You do the math. Agreed?

- Agreed.

That’s the talent of Singara…the finest of it can make one kill. 

Singara lets a child be an elder as generously as it affords elders occasions to whine. Glimpse of a golden one – a savoury mash of potatoes, spices, love, peas, ginger and often cauliflowers encased in dough and fried brown – with corners chicly broken and blunted and served on a sunny Saturday morning is indeed an ode to the eclectic spirit of Kolkata. Unlike many of its kind, Singaras ring nostalgia that we all adore so differently, deservedly earning a kinship having stood by Bengal through thick and thin – be it love, hate or rebellion! ‘Singara’ - daintier, mystical and, to me, superior in flavour, and ‘Samosa’ together rule the city’s discriminating palate. A keen bite of it calls up a host of conjectures around a fascinatingly simple taste. For the rookie, winding alleys of North Kolkata churn the yummiest of them known to mankind. So, would the ‘Samosas’ go unsung today? A lazy morning walk in Burrabazar neighbourhood may land a seeker, keen on the ‘Napoleon of Samosa’, before Tewari’s. Samosas characteristically carry a dark stuffing of potatoes evenly mashed and roasted in a big wok before being laced with garam masala adding the blackness. The mix then is stuffed into a dough, shaped carefully with nimble fingers and deep-fried in ghee. So, Samosas taste richer, crispier and spicier by construct - and heavenly with tamarind 'Chatni'. Possibly, it’s the bounce that would take Singaras notches up if pitted against sharper Samosas.

Enough about the Raga! How about the time to sing? Singaras fare unusually better over weekends to the refined accompaniment of tea, in earthen tea-pot, and elements as diverse as politics, music, art and what not, thus remaining forever a delicious rebel without a pause!