Due to a rule with regard to tiffins at one of Kolkata’s prestigious institutions, we refused to enrol Tugga there. Since admission to this esteemed institution is highly sought after, we were overjoyed when Tugga passed the entrance interview. However, one of the requirements for admittance was that his school would give his tiffin, which will be vegetarian. Since we carefully adhere to the non-vegetarian diet, Tugga has shown symptoms since a young age that the fruit hasn’t fallen too far from the tree. But the problem wasn’t the vegetarian food; instead, it was the school’s tiffin.
Tiffin as an identity and differentiator
Remember the beautiful movie LunchBox where a romance blossoms over a goof-up of Mumbai Dabbawallahs? I am hopelessly romantic about tiffins. For me when friends/ colleagues meet over lunch and each opens their tiffin boxes, it’s a slice of their kitchen and also their homes. In my school days, I knew the Bihari friend will bring various rotis and delicious seasonal achars. The Bengalis in the class will have ruti, luchi, torkari , veg polao or even noodles or chowmein. While at school, the tiffin remained simple and basic and none of us were interested in spending much time on the food but to go out and soak in the sun and play.
Things changed when later in the office. Before marriage when I used to travel from Chandannagore to Kolkata, my schedule meant leaving home early in the morning. So again like school, it used to be bread and butter, and now I had the liberty of ordering in with earnings. The office assistant would take so much pleasure in taking the orders and getting the food. This was before the Swiggy Zomato era.
When Tugga was a kid we had made these colourful cookies for him – Link
The Surprise elements in the tiffin box
In school, there were days beyond bread and butter too. Like the birthdays or the days when Ma could manage some time to make specials. What was special in yesteryears is normal now and most of Gen Z won’t even relate to the same. One of the most shining memories of my tiffin was when Ma used to give these Bread Bombs or Pauruti bombs. Two large-sized bread balls with tomato ketchup used to adorn like jewels in the tiffin box. When we posted the recipe on Instagram, a lot of people from a particular generation came up reminiscing the memories. Some even remembered the bread pakoda with this.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CsNc7fDt9JB/
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Pauruti Bombs and Evolution
The society at large has evolved since then, These days my 5-year-old daughter also knows what is KFC and Domino’s Pizza. There is a tetra pack now which gives us enough mobility to the drinks, leaving aside the delivery aggregators which will deliver literally anything anywhere. But, the essence of the love and care with which Ma made those Pauruti Bombs and the surprise element I had with them remains unparallel.
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Pauruti Bombs | Bread Chops
Ingredients
- 4-5 nos boiled potatoes
- 2-3 tsp mustard oil
- 1 tsp chopped ginger
- 1 tsp chopped garlic
- 1 tsp chopped green chilli
- 1 large onion finely chopped
- 1 tsp bhaja moshla see recipe link in the text
- 6-8 bread slices
- 1 cup bread crumbs
- oil for deep frying
Instructions
- Boil 4-5 nos potatoes and peel the skin and set them aside.
- In a frying pan, heat 1-2 tsp of mustard oil and add 1 tsp of chopped ginger and 1 tsp of chopped garlic.
- After 8-10 seconds, add 1 large onion finely chopped.
- Sauté these till the onions have softened and all the raw smell from the garlic has also gone.
- Sauté these till the onions have softened and all the raw smell from the garlic has also gone.
- Stir this for a couple of minutes and then take this off the heat and transfer to a bowl. Mash this with the back of a spoon in a smooth dough and let it cool down too.
- Now cut the edges of the bread slices. Take one slice and dip it in a bowl of water and instantly take it out or else the bread will disintegrate and fall in the water.
- Squeeze out the excess water by pressing both your palms and then add a small lemon size ball of the potato mix in the center.
- Cover it with the bread and smoothen and seal the edges. Since the bread is wet, you can easily do this.
- Now you can simply fry this or coat it with bread crumb and then deep fry. Personally, I think it holds a better shape and takes in less oil when coated with bread crumbs.
- Deep fry till golden brown and take it out on a paper towel. Serve with ketchup or a dip of your choice
Pikturenama is a blog about our travel and food escapades along with stories to share through photography. 
