Food Blog Mohamushkil-a bong foodie's quest about best foods in India
  • Home
  • About
  • Food
  • Travel
  • Media Mentions
  • অং -বং -চং
  • Guest Blogging

Food Blog Mohamushkil-a bong foodie's quest about best foods in India

  • Home
  • About
  • Food
  • Travel
  • Media Mentions
  • অং -বং -চং
  • Guest Blogging
"kolkata foodscape"bengali restaurantcollege addaExperiencefood historyFoodwalkheritage foodjointhidden gemkolkatastreetfoodLost cuisinenostalgia

Mutton pantheras- Baruas

written by Indrajit Lahiri March 16, 2020

Kolkata is a gastronomic melting pot of multiple communities. Many have come here, got settled and in turn, enriched our own cuisine. And in this quest, many new items got created. Few of them stood the test of time, while few items lost the battle. We can find them in a handful of eateries in the old part of the city- in a few sloppy food joints. This story is about one such item. It exists as an urban legend. Many have heard about it, but few have tasted in reality. Pantheras- the flagbearer of colonial tea-time snacks- this blogpost is on you. 

About Pantheras

Firstly, let me try to explain Pantheras in layman’s language. Imagine a simple crepe, stuffed with cooked mutton keema (with typical Indian spices), coated in breadcrumb and deep-fried. Well, ladies and gentlemen, this is Mutton Pantheras for you. It looks like a Chinese Spring-roll, but the recipe and making process is vastly different

This dish is said to have originated when the mog cooks (from the Chittagong region in Bangladesh) got trained by the British cooks from Kolkata. Britishers took their 4 PM afternoon tea quite seriously and many of today’s popular snack dishes got created then. The mog cooks had a superpower. They could taste an item and had the ability to recreate the same, customized to the local palate. Raja Nabakrishna Deb was from the royal family of Sovabazar and he had an extremely good relationship with Britishers. In fact, when after 1757, the Britishers were rejoicing the win of the battle of Plassey, a party was hosted at the Sovabazar Rajbari. 

This royal family introduced the Mog cooks to the Calcutta culinary scene from their native, Chittagong. The reason, primarily, was the legendary skillset for recreating Anglo-Indian dishes. One of the cooks from the mog community was Mr. Barua, who also worked in the Great Eastern Hotel and the “Theta-Feta Club” for new-age Bengalis. Gradually, club culture started dying and in 1934, Mr. Barua started his own business. After him, his son Mr. Bidhubhushan Barua continued the business with his partner Mr. Phatik ch. Dey. And today, the only shop making a good Pantheras is Barua & Dey Fast Food Center. 

Somehow, us Bengalis, are never really known to be great marketers. And we take pride in keeping our skillset/ finesse, exclusive to a selected few. And, it’s the usual sad story here. The place is tucked inside a sleepy lane, opposite to the Manindra Chandra College and near to the Shyambazar Metro, gate no 5. The shop starts its operations from 5 in the evening and operates till 9 PM. Finding the place is slightly difficult, so please refer to the Google location. Or ask any local for  Mama-r Dokan (Late Bidhubhushan Barua was locally called as Mama) or Barua Pantheras shop. 

Please check the Google location here

Reach the place and even before you have a look at the menu,  please order for their Mutton Pantheras. On a good day, it gets over by 7 PM. But after the Tala Bridge fiasco, business is a bit down. Though Pantheras is a must-have at 40/- a piece, I’d also recommend their Mutton Cutlet. 

About the food now

If you’re not a regular, the shop owners are not really very friendly or talkative. There’s is no sitting facility, barring a few rickety plastic tools. But the food is superb- especially the Pantheras. The deep-fried outer coat is fantastic- crispy and comes with that perfect snapping noise. The inside is a soft thin pancake, stuffed with slightly spicy dry mutton mince filling. Though with changing time, the mutton is getting replaced by breadcrumb and god knows what- taste is simply sexy. And honestly, at 40/- a piece, you can’t really expect much. The kasundi is said to be their specialty, but honestly, I never bothered to check the taste. 

My personal take

These are among the hidden gems in Kolkata, which are dying. The food is sexy, the place is not. Pricing is extremely pocket-friendly, and maybe that’s one of the reasons, they couldn’t invest in better infrastructure. I know, they make Pantheras in a few other places, but for me, this is my go-to place for this particular dish.

You might like to check my experience on my food walk around Shyam Bazar below. 

Shyambazar to sovabazar- a walk to remember

for the story part, I’ve taken help from the below blog posts:

  • Pantheras recipe
  • Writeup by Mr. Arindam Sarkar

Bon apetit !!!

I can be reached at 9903528225 / indrajit.lahiri@ymail.com

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...

Related

barua and deyBarua and dey cabinBarua and Dey cabin Kolkatabarua and dey manindra chandra collegebarua pantherasbaruasBest mutton pantherasBest mutton panthers KolkataBest pantherasBest Pantheras Barua and DeyBest pantheras in KolkataCabin culture of kolkatacabins of KolkataKolkata cabin cultureKolkata cabinsKolkata snacksMahindra Chandra CollegemohamushkilMutton cutletsmutton pantherasmutton pantheras Kolkatamutton pantheras shyambazarpantharasPantheras in shyambazarpantheruspoantheras
7 comments
2
Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest
Indrajit Lahiri

Storyteller IT entrepreneur Retails sales channel partner Published author Food blogger Litfest Panelist Youtuber

previous post
Best chicken tikka biryani in Kolkata
next post
Phuchka story in Kolkata

You may also like

Books for me in Coronavirus lockdown

April 8, 2020

Wine stomping at Vedic Village

February 19, 2022

Aaheli- first bengali fine dining restaurant in India

March 14, 2019

Kashmiri Wazwan food festival in Guchhi, Hyatt Regency

August 7, 2017

Regional variations in Tamil Cuisine

September 4, 2018

Enchanting Tamilnadu Part 2

November 1, 2021

The Italian food festival from a dummy’s point...

November 27, 2016

August 2016- Ilish ishtyle

August 16, 2016

Saldanha Bakery- A slice of colonial Calcuta

March 26, 2016

Calcutta Coffee house….. and on its coffee

April 25, 2015

7 comments

ritospeak March 17, 2020 - 10:50 am

Enjoyed the post!

Reply
Indrajit Lahiri March 19, 2020 - 4:28 am

Thanks

Reply
Abhronil Mukherjee May 6, 2020 - 6:09 am

Love the post. Will try at barua’s after lockdown gets lifted

Reply
Indrajit Lahiri May 6, 2020 - 11:04 am

Surely

Reply
Indrani Mukherjee May 21, 2020 - 3:16 pm

Excellent. Staying in Central Calcutta have got the opportunity to taste many anglo Indian dishes among them the pantheras. Hope you remember Nahouns of new market. Food was a culture and a great part in my family. I am also a great foodie, taster and was into food contest as judge. Was associated with country’s famous edible oil.

Reply
Indrajit Lahiri May 25, 2020 - 6:30 am

It’s great to get connected …

Reply
Suman Nag September 4, 2020 - 6:39 am

Try Mutton Pantheras in South Kolkata. The Fry Garia. Their Fish Fry is also made from Pure Kolkata Vetki.
https://youtu.be/zjY-x0_DKGU

Reply

How did you like this post ?Cancel reply

About Me

About Me

I, Indrajit Lahiri, am an entrepreneur by profession. After heading the Education BU of one of the largest OEMs globally, in 2012, I felt like starting something on my own and thus formed Pickle Solutions Pvt Ltd (http://picklesolutions.in/ ), which in turn became one of the leading IT roll-out firms, mostly working in the North-East part of India.

Keep in touch

Facebook Twitter Instagram Pinterest Linkedin Flickr Tumblr Youtube

Categories

Recent Posts

  • Foodwalk at Metiabruz

    March 18, 2025
  • Non-Veg Bhog at Kalighat: Myth, Faith & Rituals

    February 27, 2025
  • Best food in Imphal Manipur

    February 17, 2025

Subscribe

Subscribe my Newsletter for new blog posts, tips & new photos. Let's stay updated!

My Facebook Page

Facebook

Find me on Zomato

View my food journey on Zomato!

Blogadda

Visit blogadda.com to discover Indian blogs

I am on IndiBlogger as well

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Linkedin
  • Flickr
  • Tumblr
  • Youtube

Copyright © 2018 moha-mushkil. Powered by q2success.com | All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy


Back To Top
%d