Nayana Afroz: A chef winning hearts with Bangladeshi cuisine
Chef, culinary expert and menu curator Nayana Afroz talks about how she developed her passion for cooking, and how she is promoting Bangladeshi cuisine abroad
In the late 1940s or early 1950s, Nayana's maternal grandfather used to work in a British company. When his colleagues were invited over to his house, his wife would cook the most amazing dishes, such as yakhni pulao.
"There was no such thing as the internet those days, yet she knew how to cook so many international dishes! It is unbelievable," said Nayana.
Everyone in her family is a talented cook, she said. Her mother's mashi, or maternal aunt, used to make a different afternoon snack for her husband every single day.
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Nayana believes that it runs in her family — the talent, love and passion for cooking. Both women and men cooked, and they still do.
"You could say it is a genetic gift. My boro mama [maternal uncle] was in Oman for a long time. He was the Diwan of Royal Court for 23 years. Every time there was a khana, he would easily cook for 70-80 people. You see, for a chef, it is not the quality that only matters, it is the quantity too."
So, it was no wonder that Nayana Afroz became a chef, culinary expert and menu curator when she grew up in Kolkata. After all, all her family members are no less than chefs themselves.
After marrying her husband, who is from Bangladesh, Nayana came to live here in the mid-1990s. Once she discovered the beauty and uniqueness of Bangladeshi cuisine, she wanted to make sure her friends and family members in India knew of it too and appreciate it as much as her.
What sets Nayana apart from other chefs is her earnest will to put Bangladeshi food on the same pedestal as other cuisines of the world. "Many people think Bangladeshis only eat meat and hilsa, but they don't know the variety of dishes available here."
Although she started out as a home chef based in Dhaka, now she regularly takes part in food festivals in India and other countries where Bangladeshi dishes with simple ingredients win the hearts of an international audience.
She is also known as the 'bhorta queen' for introducing Kolkata to a number of unique bhortas (boiled or roasted vegetables, legumes, shrimp etc mashed into a coarse paste) of Bangladesh.
Over the years, she has worked with five-star hotels and famous restaurants in India at a number of grand events. Through her work, she wants people to know "what Bangladeshi food is, what it entails and how it tastes."
Like any other modern chef, Nayana also likes to experiment with flavours and spices. And every time she works on a fusion dish, it turns out into something truly unique and beautiful. There are times too when she faces different challenges.
"Once at a food festival in Mumbai, a little boy asked me, 'Aunty, can I get Jain (Followers of Jainism usually eat food void of onions and garlic) food?' Although I was perplexed at first, I quickly whipped up a dish with ginger, cloves and coconut milk. The boy had it with some luchi (fried flatbread) and he was so happy," she recalled.
She shared yet another story from a time when she was cooking an enormous quantity of payesh for a five-star hotel. She had to continuously stir 30-litres of milk and it made her incredibly dizzy at one point. Just as she was about to collapse, two people caught her from both sides.
But Nayana's energy and passion are enviable, and she quickly got up on her feet and finished cooking.
Last year, Nayana completed a professional chef course because she felt it would add more to her repertoire. She also speaks highly of 'Ranna, Khaddyo, Pushti' the cookbook by Bangladeshi nutritionist and television host Siddika Kabir. At the beginning of her cooking journey, she cooked many items from the book.
How Nayana's culinary journey began
"I have loved cooking since I was a child. I was in class five or six maybe when I started frequenting the kitchen. I have a younger sister so, in my mother's absence, I was somewhat in charge of her afternoon snacks. My sister absolutely loved what I cooked and I loved the experience."
Like others, Nayana's parents were also not very keen on sending her to the kitchen due to safety concerns. She began to cook regularly after coming to Bangladesh in 1996 and settling down here with her husband. "There was a need [to cook], but also a freedom to cook whatever and however I wanted."
The young couple lived in Chattogram where Nayana learned the ABCs of Bangladeshi cooking from their land lady.
"She mainly wanted to give me company since I was a young bride in a different country and all alone. She took me under her wings and mentored me not only in cooking, but she also got me acquainted with Bangladeshi culture and practices.
"Her kitchen could be seen from our bedroom window and in the mornings, after my husband left for work, she would call me to her kitchen to show me what she was cooking that day," Nayana said.
When the couple shifted to Dhaka, Nayana began working as an interpreter/translator for different development partners. She had to visit villages around Bangladesh, talking to rural women who would be doing household chores like cooking in front of her.
Utilising this opportunity, she would ask for the recipes, note them down and try to cook the dishes once she went back home. Nayana has collected recipes from almost all of the 61 districts she visited during this time. She has a trunk full of them and often brings them out to look for new ideas.
"If I was at the Circuit House in Nilphamari having dinner, I would ask the baburchi (cook) how he cooked the deshi chicken curry and he would gladly share the process with me. When I went to Sajek, I saw biryani being cooked inside a bamboo and started asking so many questions that they eventually told me, Apa, since you are so interested in it, why don't you cook it!"
At a recent festival in Kolkata, Nayana presented food from eight divisions of Bangladesh. "I started from Khulna (one of the most common routes for people to travel between Bangladesh and India), then went to Rajshahi, Rangpur, Barishal etc."
The guests were in awe of the Bangladeshi dishes. "They went gaga over pati pulao cooked with coconut milk, a dish from Khulna. I also cooked teel er kheer (sesame and milk pudding) from Satkhira."
Among the unique dishes were also ilish malai, which Nayana said was an heirloom recipe from a Zamindar family where the hilsa is topped with dudher shor or malai at the end.
From home chef to culinary expert
Nayana loved to cook for her family and her in-laws. And they loved everything she made for them. She was also doing food delivery on a small scale through Cookups, a food delivery platform for home cooks.
From 2010, she began to create a few social media posts about the items she cooked. Soon, Pritha Sen, a famous food historian from Kolkata, reached out to her.
"She is my other mentor. She told me, 'You cook such wonderful things, why don't you cook for more people on a larger scale?' She even included me in her food group."
Her bhortas began to gain popularity as she would post their pictures along with the recipes.
"In 2014, Pritha Di presented an event called 'Bhorta Kahon' in Kolkata where I made 12 different types of bhorta. There were 156 guests who came to attend it and they all bought tickets for it.
"You could say bhorta gained popularity in Kolkata after the event. I am actually known as the bhorta queen," she added.
"In 2017, Pritha Di and I did a festival in Mumbai called 'Flavours of undivided Bengal'. She cooked Hindu-Bangla food, and I cooked contemporary Muslim cuisine."
The event was attended by the then Bangladeshi Deputy High Commissioner who thoroughly enjoyed the food and requested Nayana to cook for a Victory Day dinner.
She was eventually asked to cook for other prestigious events held at Bombay Gymkhana Club and the Taj Hotels. Since then, she has also cooked for festivals in Gujarat, South India etc. Most months, she is busy travelling between Bangladesh and India.
Nayana said that she needs around 17-21 days to prepare for a festival. At first, she curates a menu of her own, keeping multiple options for the organisers to choose from.
Savoury over sweet, anytime
The chef who cooks for everyone and makes everyone happy with her brilliant cooking, what does she like to eat?
Nayana said she always prefers savoury over sweet and likes anything that tastes good.
"You could say I am a finicky eater because if something does not taste good, high chances are that I won't eat it. But I absolutely adore my mother's cooking. Her prawn cocktail, koraishutir chop (peas chop), phulkopir shingara (deep fried cauliflower), awadhi biryani — everything is to die for."
