A Chartered Accountant by profession, Deepali Ray moved to Singapore from Kolkata in 1998. While working in the corporate world, her passion for food led her to explore the island city’s exotic culinary landscape. Soon she discovered the absence of typical Kolkata style food, which in addition to dal, bhat, shukto and macher jhol, includes other items that reflect touches from China, Central Asia, and Europe.
This led her entrepreneurial mindset to start in 2006 an Indo-Chinese eatery called Tangra Chinese Restaurant, serving Chinese dishes that came out of Tangra, a Kolkata suburb, once home to tanneries owned by Hakka Chinese immigrants.
The cuisine from there is a distinct variety of traditional Hakka Chinese food adapted to the Bengali palate, maintaining the essence of the original ingredients while introducing regional spices and flavours.
Deepali did not stop there. Sometime ago, she opened Kolkata Beckons to connect Singapore with authentic Bengali cuisine, so that lovers of Kolkata food do not miss anything from chilli chicken and hakka noodles to mochar chop, shorshe ilish, and mutton biriyani loaded with an egg and a potato.
Both the restaurants are located almost next to each other at the Race Course Road inside culturally explosive Little India, one of the most tourist-frequented quarters in Singapore.
Little India is a buzzing historical area that shows off the best of Singapore’s time-honoured Indian community — from vibrant cultural goods and incredible human scenes to endless shopping and spicy food adventures.
Located not far from the glamorous Orchard Road and Raffle City precinct, Little India stretches a couple of kilometres on both sides of Serangoon Road between Little India and Farrer Park MRT Stations.
Like colourful saris and glittering gold ornaments, Indian cuisine is an important aspect of this neighbourhood. By virtue of its evolution with people from South Indian background, the menu has been traditionally influenced by South Indian style.
There are some North Indian and Mughlai eateries as well, but there was never a place in Little India and beyond in Singapore to fulfil the craving of a Bengali with authentic Kolkata-style Bengali dishes.
The menu at Kolkata Beacons includes both vegetarian and non-vegetarian items alongside a long list of sweet dishes.
Instagram: kolkatabeckons
Instagram: kolkatabeckons
“We bring together the diverse flavours of original Bengali cuisine with a touch of Mughal heritage and European sophistication,” said Deepali, speaking to writer and journalist Sandip Hor, during his visit to Singapore.
“At Kolkata Beckons, we honour this rich heritage by incorporating modern cooking technologies. Our use of air frying, sous vide, and steaming replaces traditional deep frying and microwave heating, ensuring a healthier yet flavourful dining experience. We pride ourselves on home-blended spices and herbs that infuse each dish with a unique and authentic flavour profile,” she added.
Most Bengali favourites are available there, from luchi , matar shutir kachori, mangsher chop, kathi rolls and fish fry to chholar dal with narkel, shukto, kanch kolar kofta and pabda fish, rui kalia , dab chingri, shorshe ilish, and kasha mangsho.
As one can imagine, it would require several visits to the restaurant, to taste all the items. Each dish sampled by the interviewer was very well presented and displayed character and abundance of flavour. The ending with Malpoa and Patishapta, both served with Kheer, was awesome.
This article has been published on Connected to India as part of a content-sharing arrangement with the travel website Notintown.net. Sandip Hor is a Sydney-based travel writer. He can be reached at sandiphor@hotmail.com.
