When I say home, I mean Kolkata: once India’s capital under British rule, a metropolitan area of almost 16 million on West Bengal’s Hooghly River. Its people are devoted to eating well. Kolkata’s food scene encompasses everything from streetside snacks to lavish restaurant spreads. It is roasted corn with lime and salt; the noodles of the city’s Chinese community, which dates to the 18th century; and fish meunière, a recipe that came all the way from Normandy.

When I moved to the United States almost 20 years ago, I was surprised to find that the cuisine of Kolkata only faintly registered in the American idea of Indian food—particularly given that Kolkata is perhaps the most food-crazed city in India. In July 2023, I went back with my husband and young son after three years away.…