Of Nahoum’s, Kolkata’s oldest Jewish bakery, difference between puff and patty, and a chicken patty recipe

The only Jewish confectionery in the city since DGama’s shutting, Nahoum’s is also one of the first bakeries in Calcutta. It is famous for some of the most delightful baked goods, made fresh every day. It was started by a Baghdadi Jew, Nahoum Israel Mordecai, in 1902, who baked and sold wares door-to-door. The shop in New Market was established in 1916.

New Market is a melting pot of communities, stores, and remnants of all the foreign traders who came to East India and made Kolkata their home. From Tibetan jewellery to clothes to Chinese handmade shoes to the best cuts of fresh beef and duck and the fanciest vegetables, you can buy everything here. You can also stop by age-old bookshops and edify yourself – all under one massive roof.

Nahoum’s is no fancy air-conditioned patisserie. Teak tables are heaving under baked goods and the walls are glass cases where you can see trays of freshly baked cheese patties, marzipan, roman rings, rum balls, garlic bread, Jewish challah bread, pizza puffs, chicken patties – and of course, the Christmas cake, which people line up patiently for, weeks in advance (and is an article for another day). The charm of Nahoum’s is that it has introduced Bengalis, Marwaris and Punjabis––who would never have taken to baked confectioneries––to staples from European and Middle Eastern kitchens.

If you have been thinking chicken patties are simply chicken burger patties placed inside bread, you’re mistaken. When multiple people, including skilled cooks, asked me why a puff is called a patty in Calcutta, I realised that what Calcuttans–– and even some bakeries in Mumbai and Delhi––refer to as patties are actually puffs, short for puff pastry.

So, what is a patty as we know it in Calcutta? It’s essentially a mixture of chicken, meat, vegetable or cheese, grated or chopped with some flavouring, and then encased in a puff pastry. The puff was introduced by the British to India, and I believe the term “patty” is a corruption of the word “pasty,” similar to the British Cornish pasty, which dates back to 1300 AD. However, it’s not only the British who might have introduced this baking method to India. The French are known for their exquisite puff pastry, and the patty also bears a resemblance to the Portuguese empanada, the Malay curry puff, and of course, Jewish pasties and sambouseks.

OG Variar & Sons (better known as Variar Bakery) in Bengaluru also serves puffs and an article I came across quoted the owner as saying, “Although Variar Bakery was started in the 1950s, puffs weren’t a part of the menu till the 1980s. It was eventually added thanks to the influence of the visitors we had from Mumbai (then Bombay) who were fond of it and asked us to start making them.”

This is a very simple history of the Jewish influence on cooking in India and of the wonder of the patty. As children from Calcutta, we’ve all grown up eating these delicacies, which we didn’t realise were special or unique to the country.

Given below is a recipe for Chicken Patties, which I’d encourage you to try.

CHICKEN PATTIES

One sheet of store-bought puff pastry (keep it in the fridge)
200 gms chicken thighs
Salt and Pepper to taste
½ teaspoon of ginger juice
100 gms of breadcrumbs
1 onion – finely chopped
Boil the chicken with bay leaf and whole peppercorns.

When done, remove chicken from stock, shred finely, and keep aside.

Then in hot oil, add the chopped onions and fry till the onion turns pale yellow then add the shredded chicken to it and mix well over fire.

Add the juice of ground ginger, mix well, and add salt and enough pepper to it. Mix again.

Lastly, add fine breadcrumbs and mix well and keep aside.

Roll out the flaky puff pastry dough thin, cut out round pieces, and put the chicken mixture in small balls on the pastry and cover it with a slightly bigger round pastry dough circle, which has been wet on the ends, to seal it on top of the mixture (chicken).

Before baking them, you have to brush the covering well with beaten egg on top and then bake in the oven at 180 degree Celsius till it turns golden brown.

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Pachadi: Relish this South Indian pickle that has been around for over 1,500 years

From taboo to tradition, how paneer found a place in Indian cuisine

Garam masala: Bringing a little heat into the kitchen and your dishes

Is vegetable biryani just dolled up pulao? Which came first?

Cutting chai to Earl Grey tea: Journey of the Chinese hot beverage to India via Britain

‘Ande ka funda’: A deep dive into the history and popularity of eggs in India

Next week, I’ll be writing about the important role that food played in the Independence movement – from chapatis to tiranga barfis.