Apanjan

 

The Sadananda Road store was opened in 1982 by Prabhas Ghosh and has remained there ever since, Though their present menu boasts of a series of dishes, Apanjan started off as a radhaballavi and vegetable chop shop. 

"The fish items were first started in 1985 and as time went by we added more items," says Ghosh with a smile. 

Recalling the olden days, Bimal Mondal, a regular customer says, "We could eat four radhaballavis and four pieces of aloo-r dum for five Ruprees when the started was started initially...it was that cheap." 

"But what stands out is the quality...they have never tinkered with that," he adds. While I fact-checked and found that ought to be accurate, Apanjan is nothing close to what it used to be in terms of pricing. 

"Look, I never compromise with the quality...and if you have to keep up with that standard, you have got to go with the prevailing prices of raw meat...be it fish or chicken or mutton. If the market price is high, the prices change here too and if it comes down, I bring it down too." Enough about radhaballavis already...let's now talk about the real deal, the dish that earned that some mileage...Fish Fry.

Fish Fry from Apanjan

Talk about Fish Fry and Apnajan will crop up. (More than willing to bet on it) But they don't come cheap. The store sells at least three variants of the aforementioned dish (L/M/S), priced at INR 150, 130 and 110 respectively. 

Since I have tried them all, what really differs across the price range is the portion...the quality remains intact. If Fish Fry is the champion from the Apanjan stable, Egg Devil is their most understated performer (and personally my favorite!) 

At INR 40 a piece, this mutton-coated half-egg preparation is a mouthful of goodness. Apart from the fish and egg preparation (and there's plenty) is meat. 

You can also try a plate of Chicken Pakoda or go for a mutton Kabijari or a Mutton stuffed Mughlai Paratha. 

Deep-fried snacks hold an almost reverent place in the hearts of Calcuttans. If it is the quintessential bhetki fish fry, then that attains almost holy status. A hole-in-the-wall eatery in Kalighat has been making some of the best fish fry in the city since the 1980s. Thick filets of bhetki marinated in aromatics are crumb coated and fried to crisp perfection, and it takes only a few minutes before your steaming fish fry is right in front of you.

At Apanjan, service is superfast and time is of the essence. Seated on a little stool in his little eatery, the cook deftly dishes out crispy goodies and in a matter of hours, he’s all sold out. A little puff of steam escapes as you break the crunchy crumb to reveal perfectly cooked flaky fish. It’s no wonder people queue up here. There is, of course, a side of crunchy salad and zingy kasundi, to complete the delicious snack.

Bengali cuisine of today has many British influences like batter fried fish, orly, chops, cutlets, fries , kabiraji, dimer devil etc. 

By the way, Kabiraji is the Bengalification of the English word ‘Coverage’ since the fish/chicken is deep fried after covering it with a whipped egg. ‘Dimer Devil’ is the Bengali version of ‘Devilled Egg.’ It is called ‘Devilled’ coz the original yolk of the egg is replaced by minced meat/potato filling.

The delicacies of Apanjan will rest assured to win your heart if you are looking forward to tasting the authentic snacks, Bengali style.

Post snacks, let us take you to a historical sweet place of Calcutta, Girish Ch Nandy & Nakul Ch Nandy.