How Chelo Kebab, Iran's National Dish Became Beloved in Kolkata

Peter Cat, a restaurant in Kolkata sells 35,000 plates of Chelo Kebab a month. Satarupa Mitra investigates how the national dish of Iran came to gain a cult following in Kolkata.

There is no one in the city of Kolkata who hasn't eaten chelo kebab. Fodor Travel describes it: “The chelo kebab here—a simple dish plated to resemble a cello on buttered saffron rice, a fried egg, two pieces of mutton (goat) kebabs, and one chicken kebab—is wildly popular in Kolkata for reasons best known to the loyals.” Every homecoming ritual in Kolkata is identical: A visit to Peter Cat. Dim lighting, red lampshades like tulips, close seating around satin-dressed tables and chairs, white-gloved waiters, and the family's eyes trained on their food. By 1 pm, the restaurant fills to capacity and those with a window seat can see the long line of patrons waiting outside. Over the years it has become a phenomenally popular Kolkata institution, best known for its chelo kebab.

Locals ally with chelo kebab for more than for its subtle flavours. To understand the popularity of this Iranian dish, one has to dig deep into the socio-political fabric of the society that shaped the golden era of the city’s dining — a time when Kolkata was Calcutta. 

The Unexpected Origins of Chelo Kebab

If you imagine chelo to be a typical Indian kebab, borrowed from royal courts and now a best seller at streetside kebab stalls, you are mistaken. Chelo kebab, the national dish of Iran, found its way to India and to the streets of Kolkata through the city’s most beloved gastronomic institution, Peter Cat. Siddharth Kothari, owner of Peter Cat, tell the story. “My father tasted the original chelo kebab during his travels to Tehran. He loved the concept of rice and kebabs. Traditionally, we in India have always associated kebabs with paratha or roti (flatbreads). This was something different and delicious.” The long lines outside his restaurant, through every kind of weather, testify to his vision.

Inside Kolkata’s Peter Cat

The plate contains seekh, made of minced lamb, ground with chopped onions, dusted with spice, then skilfully molded on skewers and smoked over a grill. Unlike Mughlai food, Iranian cuisine is subtle without the headiness of shahi masalas. Before you can grab a bite, the meat falls apart into tiny morsels. The other skewer, hot, off the charcoal grill, is jujeh, chunks of chicken, cooked to perfection. And there is more: roasted tomatoes, capsicum, buttered basmati rice, and a fried egg on top.

Chelo Kebab has been a favourite since the restaurant opened in the 70s, and what diners return for is Peter Cat’s unbeatable consistency. What started as a dozen plates per month has turned into 35,000 plates a month, and more. How, over time, an Iranian dish made a home in the hearts of Kolkata’s residents is a mystery with deep-rooted answers.

How the War Changed the Kolkata’s Appetite

According to The Calcutta CookBook, written by Minakshie Dasgupta, Bunny Gupta, and Jaya Chaliha, Kolkata was a cauldron of bubbling nationalism pre-Independence. It was after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour in 1942, that World War 2 came close to British India. Army trucks snaked their way to the front lines. An invasion of British and American soldiers changed the temperament of Calcutta. But restaurant owners and their hired cooks remained immune to the war presence as they catered to both US and British soldiers. 

Along with British menus, American staples showed up on dinner tables. Night clubs mushroomed with Las Vegas-inspired names like Ace of Spades, King of Clubs, and Club 60. The city bade goodbye to the ‘propah’ style of dining. The marriage of breakfast and lunch produced a hearty brunch, and ladies known for laying elaborate tables whipped up bohemian menus. 18th-century traveller, Eliza Faye, described new menus of brain cutlets, sausages and bacon, an assortment of baked crumpets, croissants, brioches and bagels, and freshly brewed coffee and Darjeeling tea. 

The winds of change crept into Calcutta homes as well. Women stepped out to fill the spaces when men marched off to war. With new home appliances from the West available for the first time, the burden of domestic chores eased. The upper middle class indulged in long lunches; their palate grew experimental with exotic dishes like sizzlers, chicken ala Kiev, and in the year 1973 when the iconic Kolkata-based restaurant Peter Cat presented its own twist in the national dish of Iran, it worked magic on the hearts of generations of Calcuttans.  

Vir Sanghvi, an Indian journalist and food columnist says, Kolkata in the 70's was regarded as the centre of the universe, with places like Moulin Rouge, Peter Cat, Blue Fox,  Mocambo, and Sky Room serving multi-cuisine dishes, in the truest sense of the word. The flavours of European food served in these restaurants were dictated by the cooks, most of whom were Gomes (Portuguese descent) cooks from Calcutta who designed menus for the British Clubs.

Chef Shaun Kenworthy of Kolkata’s Glenburn Penthouse explains that continental fare had already touched the palate of fish-curry lovers, with the onset of Flurry’s and Trincas, Kolkata’s first confectionery & tearoom back in the 1920s. 1960s Trincas was full of magic — dinner, jazz, and dancing, and mornings spent over coffee and conversation. Peter Cat’s other arm, Mocambo, was one of the first nightclubs in 1950s, a daily haunt for the city’s well-heeled, who loved music and good food. Antonio Prandhe, an Italian, was the first chef-manager for Mocambo, and dishes like Chicken Sicilian, Fish Florentine, Chateaubriand beef steak, soon became favourites with Bengali diners.

Calcutta had been honing its appetite for world cuisine when chelo kebab arrived at the glorious era of city dining in the 70s. It was embraced with full applause.  

The cooks who grilled chelo in charcoal tandoors churned a delicate meat marinade. The meat in the kebabs picked up a smokiness that balanced exquisitely with its secret spice mix. The rice below was not the golden crusty tahdig — instead, it is baked with saffron and yogurt into a golden-crusted cake, topped with dried barberries. Peter Cat’s version is a serving of long-grained basmati blushing in saffron and butter. Crowing over, is a perfectly cooked egg, sunny side up.

They say all comfort food is homespun, but to people living in Kolkata, chelo kebab is that spun of nostalgia.

Satarupa Datta’s work has appeared in Whetstone Magazine, Outlook, and Natgeo Traveller. You can follow her work here.

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