In a unique endeavour, the State Fisheries Development Corporation (SFDC) will organise a special meal on the occasion of Bhai Phonta on Friday at the restaurant of Nalban Food Park.

The women staff of SFDC will also welcome the guests with a thali in their hands which would rest durba, sandalwood paste, paddy, diyas, adhering to the rituals of the festival that celebrates the love between a brother and a sister. The initiative promises happy memories, especially to the ones who work in the IT sector at Salt Lake Sector-V and Rajarhat who don’t have the option to go home for lunch.

Not only will the facility be limited to Nalban Food Park, but one can also purchase the special dishes for the occasion through the SFDC app from the comfort of their homes. Prompt services will be available at Howrah, Kolkata, New Town and Bidhannagar for those customers for the ones who book fish items through the SFDC app.

Talking to The Statesman on Thursday, managing director of the State Fisheries Development Corporation (SFDC) Soumyajit Das said that Bhai Phonta is not restricted to only West Bengal, but people of other states also celebrate the day in various names ~ Bhai Dooj and Bhai Tika. He said that the normal thali has been priced at Rs 400 and for the first time, dishes with fishes like Boroli, Amur and marine crab, have been introduced.

SFDC will introduce, for the first time, several mouth-watering fish recipes of states like Assam, Tripura, Kerala besides that of our neighbouring country Nepal at Nalban Food Park on Friday.

The restaurant can host at least 80 people at one point of time and it will remain open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Talking to The Statesman, Mr Das said that every year a special menu is organised on the occasion of Bhai Phonta at Nalban Food Park. But this time, “we have geared up to serve the fish dishes served on Bhai Dooj in various other parts of the country”, he said.

“This year, we will prepare bora munda curry (which we call as bhetki in Bengal). It is special dish of the south Indian states. Chettinad fish, which is cooked with curry leaves and mustard paste mainly in states like Kerala will also be served. Even the aar fish or boneless fish served in Nepal will be made available,” Mr Das added.

There will be attractive discounts on the occasion as well. SFDC has announced a flat 15 per cent discount on dishes for brothers and sisters who come together, senior citizens, and physically challenged people. SFDC has registered huge profits during the Durga Puja festival this year.

“In the 26 stalls set up around Durga Puja pandals in Kolkata, Salt Lake and in New Town, we have registered a sale of over Rs 33.50 lakh, while the regular restaurants and app-oriented sale was around Rs 10 lakh. These amount to a total sale of Rs 43.50 lakh, which has further encouraged the SFDC to organise the Bhai Phonta festival with renewed vigour and new innovative concepts,” Mr Das added.