Kolkata street food: the six things to eat and where they are best

Kolkata's street food is the best argument the city makes, and it rewards eating in a specific order rather than at random.

Start with puchka in the late afternoon, when the stalls set up. Kolkata's version is sharper and more tamarind-forward than the golgappa of the north, and the correct way to eat it is standing at the stall, one at a time, until you stop. The vendor decides the pace, not you.

Move to telebhaja next — the fritters, sold from mid-afternoon, at their best in the half hour after they come out of the oil. Beguni and phuluri are the ones to start with.

Ghugni is the substantial one, a dried-pea curry served with onion and lime, and it bridges the gap between snack and dinner.

The kathi roll is Kolkata's genuine invention and the reason the city's name appears on menus in three continents. Nizam's is the traditional claim on its origin; the version you will actually eat most often comes from a hundred small counters across the city, and the good ones are recognisable by how much time the paratha spends on the griddle.

Jhalmuri is the walking food — puffed rice tossed to order with mustard oil and green chilli — and the chop, deep-fried and filled, is the evening one.

One piece of advice that applies to all of it: eat where the queue is local and the turnover is fast. In Kolkata that is not a compromise, it is the whole method.