It’s one of those perfect, savory snacks that should be enjoyed with your loved ones over a cup of evening tea or coffee. It can also be served as a finger food in a cocktail party with some spicy dip of your choice.
I was not born or brought up in Kolkata. We moved there a few years back and that’s how it’s my home now 🙂 When we lived in Shillong, Kolkata used to be our yearly winter vacation spot and one of the main reasons was because it’s my Mom’s hometown. My lil’ brother and I used to always look forward to this trip, make plans to meet up with all our cousins and get pampered by the love and attention from uncles and aunties. Mom has a huge family and when we all meet, it’s like a party at home!
When there is a party, there ought to be food and Kolkata is famous for that. Aunties and Ma would cook various courses of meal the entire day along with non-stop chit chatting, uncles and Dad would sit by the couch and debate on topics related finance or politics. And, we cousins would play in the backyard the entire time.
After a heavy lunch and few hours of rest, the home would get busy again and this time for evening tea which would be served with different snacks like chops, samosas and even sweets. Beet chop was a must(specially for me) and it is usually served with some chopped red onions and fresh cucumber! These chops were hardly prepared at home because it tastes best from roadside shops.. or at-least that’s what we kids thought 🙂
Those were such golden days that we still try to re-live those moments whenever we catch up and beet chop is still a part of our evening snacks! I am not sure what are the ingredients or method used by the roadside shops. So, I just improvised and added some of my own twist to it. It actually tastes pretty good and since it’s so easy to make, it’s one of our common evening snacks these days.
