Observer Food Monthly joins the Cinnamon Club chef on a Diwali tour of India with recipes – from Kolkata fish curry to Hyderabadi mutton biryani – inspired by his childhood
It is Kali Puja in Kolkata and we are crossing a narrow footbridge to the river. Later today, hundreds of skull-garlanded deities will be immersed in the sacred water. For now, everyone is here to buy marigolds, tuberose and jasmine for family shrines at home. There is a sea of bright colours and fragrance, people in a hurry gently touch us to pass by. The light is still soft, almost magical.
We watch the morning bathers on the ghats, small children scavenge the river bank, someone fishes for metal with a magnet. A pilgrim prostrates in the mud on slow progress to the temple one body length at a time. Our next stop is the Jaggu Bazar fish market, then to a society grandee’s kitchen where Vivek Singh is cooking a Bengali fish curry with mustard for Diwali.
Related: A trip to India with chef Vivek Singh - in pictures
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