Skip to content
Home » Blog » Is The Lady With A Ladle Worth A Try?

Is The Lady With A Ladle Worth A Try?

lady with a ladle logo

About The Author

Hello! From Chuchura (in Hooghly District) and a foodie, I created this blog with a mission to preserve the food of the land; with a message to encourage and promote clean and real food. I hope you enjoy and gain out of this blog, happy reading!

Looking forward to read and hear your feedback.

I returned home deciding to try some of the restaurants and home delivery services that have recently popped up in the city Chinsurah.

And the first on my list was this home kitchen called ‘The Lady With a Ladle‘ run by Chef Tithi Dutta. She has been doing this for more than a couple of years aided by a very lean team of all-women staff.

Disclaimer: I discovered 3-4 months ago that our families have known each other for a long time. This is a non-sponsored post, aimed at sharing my views with the food home-delivered by the service.

One Sunday, just as Durga Pujo was knocking at the door, I decided to give this a try. The family was informed and my mother was told to not cook lunch or dinner.

My idea was to have the lunch delivered from her while we can all decide for dinner.

A family of four, we ordered the following.

  • Sunday Special Non Veg Combo [1 Plate] at ₹400
    • Mangsher Chop [2 pieces]
    • Ghee Bhaat
    • Machher Kalia [2 pieces]
    • Railway Canteen Chicken Curry [3 pieces]
    • Peper Chutney
    • Ghee Pantua [1 piece]
  • Basanti Pulao and Chicken Kosha Combo [2 Plates] at ₹250 each
    • Basanti Pulao
    • Chicken Kosha [3 pieces]
  • Ala-carte Items
    • Ghee Pantua [3 pieces] at ₹20 each
    • Ghee Bhaat [1 plate] at ₹100
All Orders Lady With a Ladle

Basic mathematics, the total came to ₹1060 and although she offered a discount, I declined. This would be a free delivery because the delivery address was in the same city and the bill was above the minimum amount of ₹500.

Delivery, Packaging & Labelling

Rating

I had previously informed her that I would pick it up from her kitchen, however, at the last moment got caught up and could only ping and inform her about my inability to pick it up. I requested her to home deliver.

The delivery was made on time.

All the food ordered came in these 5 reusable, recyclable bags. These are quite sturdy and you can wash and reuse them for your grocery and vegetable shopping.

It is good to see that plastic carry bags were not used.

Home Delivery Packaging Chinsurah

The hungry me soon got the containers out. They were all food-grade plastics except one that contained the Mangsher Chop.

Each box was labelled with the logo, brand name, contact number and a hand-written name on what’s inside.

The Mangsher Chop came in an aluminium foil box, and it made complete sense. Had it been packaged in a food-grade plastic container, the heat from the chop would evaporate, condense and make the food soggy.

Labelling and Packaging by Lady With a Ladle

Very cleverly done! Full marks on packaging!

Food Review at The Lady With a Ladle

Rating

This is an overall rating based on quantity, quality, taste, authenticity, and value for money.

Mangsher Chop

Rating

Minced chicken was cooked in spices and made into chops with a layer of breadcrumbs on the outside.

The meat was not finely minced. This gave the dish a body and you could feel the texture once you take a bite.

The spice was optimum, it did not burn your mouth nor was bland. It had a hint of sweetness, perhaps from the cinnamon that blended in beautifully with the spices.

Mangsher Chop

Unlike what I have faced during many home deliveries at other locations, the mangsher chop still had a crunch thanks to the clever packaging. And it did not have an over-stuffing of potatoes which is a norm at many places to cut down on the costs!

These came with a salad and kasundhi (Bengali mustard sauce).

Full marks and a great start to the lunch!

Ghee Bhaat

Rating

Ghee Bhaat can literally translate to two types of dishes. One is a normally cooked rice with a drizzle of ghee that is accompanied with mashed potatoes (alu bhaate). This is a frugal dish across many homes in Bengal.

This was however of the second type. A young cousin and cross breed of Bengali Pulao and Fried Rice, this entails tossing the rice very lightly with ghee and veggies like carrot and cashews and raisins.

Ghee Bhaat

The challenge lies in ensuring that the rice does not get browned in the heat. And that was taken care of.

Long grain rice (non-basmati), seasoned properly with a subtle aroma of the ghee and occasional bite on the veggies made for a lovely main course.

I would have loved the rice to be cooked for another minute though. The rice had a bite and I know people who would love their rice this way. So, it all boils down to personal preference.

Macher Kalia

Rating

As soon as I opened the container, I remembered the macher kalia served during ‘anushthan bari’ dining. Trust me, the aroma was so perfect.

And both the pieces served were huge. I guess, each would weight almost 75 to 80 grams, if not more! The gravy had a hint of sweetness that blended with the spiciness of the dish.

Fish Kalia Chinsurah Home Delivery

I would have thoroughly enjoyed if the container contained more gravy – however, since this was served with Ghee Rice, it made little sense.

This was near perfect.

Railway Canteen Chicken Curry

Rating

There is no single recipe that can describe Railway Canteen Chicken Curry because when the recipe is cooked in Railway canteens, the staff does not follow fixed proportions, and ingredients are added as per wish and availability.

There was a thick layer of oil floating on the top while the chicken and potatoes peeped through. The chicken pieces were quite big in size (around 60 grams each).

Railway Chicken Curry Home Delivery

This was a chicken curry made extraordinary by the distinct aroma of the green chilies. The dish came with two pieces of potatoes that were cooked thoroughly.

I enjoyed the grease as much as I did the gravy.

Well done Tithi!

Peper Chatni

Rating

A month ago, I had tried this papaya chutney for my blog and it turned out so worthless that I had to discard the entire batch, with a promise that I would try again.

The Lady With a Ladle, however, did an excellent job with the dish. There are a couple of variation to this dish – one is very sweet, while the other balances the flavors with sweetness and a tang.

This was sugary sweet and I liked it. I could taste ginger in there and the flavor had jelled wonderfully with the papaya that had lost its form but maintained a body.

I missed the cashews and raisins in there. Or may be I don’t exactly remember!

Note that the quantity was sufficient for 2 persons.

Desserts Chinsurah Home Delivery
(Top to Bottom) Ghee er Pantua, Peper Chaatni

Ghee er Pantua

Rating

Everyone at home remarked – “This pantua is made at home?” to which I nodded my head in affirmative.

Each of these had a perfect round shape and there were no creases or cracks on them.

I have a sweet tooth and this was very sweet. The pantua had a light brown color and I could even make out a couple of saffron strands in the sugar syrup in my container.

It was warm and gave me a heavenly feeling biting into the syrupy ball!

This was perfect!

Basanti Pulao

Rating

Made with gobindobhog rice as is the norm, the Basanti Pulao had separate grains toasted in ghee along with cashew nuts and raisins.

What surprised me was the sprinkle of garam masala which did not have overpowering flavors but imparted the sweetness from the ground cinnamon.

Basanti Pulao and Chiken Kosha

The rice-based dish had the right amount of sweetness!

Very nicely done!

I would have preferred the rice to cook for another minute, just like the Ghee Bhaat.

Chicken Kosha

Rating

I was lucky enough to receive a leg piece! Yay!

These chicken pieces were equally large (60 to 70 grams each). The chicken kosha was very nice cooked.

Each plate contained two pieces of potatoes.

I could make out from one look, that the spices were sauteed properly for a long time. The gravy thus had a brown texture. There was a lot of oil oozing out from the gravy which is how a kosha should be.

Mixing the rice along with the oil and gravy made for a splendid Sunday afternoon!

However, I felt the dish had more red chili powder than necessary as I could feel it down the throat. Trust me, there are people who love this feeling and there are people who does not.

Taste is always personal and chefs always have a hard time!

Final Thoughts on The Lady With A Ladle

It is beyond doubt that our Sunday afternoon lunch was celebratory and ticked the right boxes. I had ordered the meal for four individuals, however, it was sufficient for six individuals with medium appetite.

While most restaurants have a basic onion-tomato gravy for every non-veg dish, this was not the case here. I could easily make out the hard work and dedication that went into preparing each dish. Each of them had a distinct and unique flavor.

You can surely order from this place if you stay in and around Chinsurah when you feel like not moving out but your heart craves for some delicious restaurant-like food.

The pricing looks good and is value for money.

However, there is always a scope of improvement and The Lady With a Ladle can further work to improvise on the offerings – make smaller servings, reduce the pricing to suit the pocket of the local population.

Have you tried The Lady With a Ladle? Share your review in the comments section. If there is any other home delivery service you would want me to try, what would that be? Write in the comments section and let me know!

1 thought on “Is The Lady With A Ladle Worth A Try?”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *