कोलकाता की सरसों वाली रसोई में पहाड़ के सरसों तेल वाले अचार।
A Kolkata kitchen already runs on mustard oil, so Pahadi food will feel familiar sooner than you expect. Hill achaar is set in the same pungent oil, and jakhiya does in a Kumaoni tadka roughly what panch phoron does in a Bengali one: a small spoon of seeds crackling in hot fat before the vegetables go in.
The things you will not find in the bazaar are the hill staples themselves: gahat, bhatt, jambu, madua and pisyu loon. Here you order them from the family shops in Uttarakhand that make them, and each shop packs and sends its own parcel. Each product page says whether the item is sent to your PIN and whether cash on delivery is available.
In Kolkata, Makar Sankranti is Poush Sankranti, the day of pithe and puli made with rice, coconut and nolen gur. In Kumaon the same day is Ghughutiya, when ghughute fried from flour and jaggery are strung into garlands for the children. Two kitchens, both turning out jaggery sweets for the same winter festival.
Kolkata's humidity is the main thing to plan for. Loon, spices and jambu should go into airtight glass jars straight away, or they will cake and lose their smell. Keep flour in the fridge for most of the year. Ghee is fine at room temperature and pickles keep well under their oil.