The Bengalis are great food lovers and take pride in their cuisine. In fact so obsessed are they about food, that the man of the house goes to the market daily to buy a fresh supply of fish which is a must in their daily menu. The most common variety of fish that the Bengalis eat are the Hilsa, Bekti, Rohu and among the shell fish the Prawns. The medium of cooking is mustard oil which adds on its own pungency. Another very important item of Bengali cuisine is the variety of sweets or mishti as they call them. Most of them are milk based and are prepared from chaana (paneer as it is popularly known). The most popular among the Bengali sweets are the Rosogolla, Sandesh, Pantua and Mishti Doi and these four sweets are a must at every wedding besides some other sweets, which may vary as per individual choice. A meal, for the Bengali, is a ritual in itself even if it only boiled rice and lentils (dal bhat), with of course a little fish. Bengalis, like the French, spend not only the great deal of time thinking about the food but also on its preparation and eating. Quips like “Bengalis live to eat” and “Bengalis spend most of their income on food” are not exactly exaggerated. The early morning shopping for fresh vegetables, fish etc. is the prerogative of the head of the family, even in affluent household, because he feels that he alone can pick up the best at a bargain price. The Bengalis are very particular about the way and the order in which the food should be served. Each dish is to be eaten separately with a little rice so that the individual flavors can be enjoyed. The first item served may be a little ghee which is poured over a small portion of rice and eaten with a pinch of salt. Then come the bitter preparation, shukto, followed by lentils or dals, together with roasted or fried vegetables (bhaja or bharta). Next come the vegetable dishes, the lightly spiced vegetables, chenchki, chokka, followed by the most heavily spiced dalna, ghonto and those cooked with fish. Finally the chicken or mutton, if this being served at all. Chaatni comes to clear the palate together with crisp savory wafers, papor. Dessert is usually sweet yogurt (mishti doi). The meal is finally concluded with the handing out of betel leaf (paan), which is considered to be an aid to digestion and an astringent. Traditionally the people here eat seated on the floor, where individual pieces of carpet, called asans, are spread for each person to sit on and the meal is served on a large gun-metal or silver plate (thala) and the various items of food are placed in bowls (batis) around the top of the thala, running from right to left. Rice is mounded and placed on the middle of the thala, with a little salt, chilies and lime placed on the upper right hand corner. They eat with the fingers of the right hand and strict etiquette is observed with regard to this. The typical Bengali fare includes a certain sequence of food - somewhat like the courses of Western dining. Two sequences are commonly followed, one for ceremonial dinners such as a wedding and the day-to-day sequence. Both sequences have regional variations, and sometimes there are significant differences in a particular course between West Bengal and Bangladesh.
At home, Bengalis traditionally ate without silverware: kaţa (forks), chamoch (spoons), and chhuri (knives) gradually finding use on Bengali tables in urban areas. Most Bengalis eat with their right hand, mashing small portions of meat and vegetable dishes with rice and in some cases, lentils. In rural areas, Bengalis traditionally eat, sitting on the floor with a large banana or plantain leaf serving as the plate or plates made from sal leaves sown together and dried.
The elaborate dining habits of the Bengalis were a reflection of the attention the Bengali housewife paid to the kitchen. In modern times, thanks to Western influence, this is rarely followed anymore. Courses are frequently skipped or combined with everyday meals. Meals were usually served course by course to the diners by the youngest housewives, but increasing influence of nuclear families and urbanization has replaced this. It is now common to place everything on platters in the centre of the table, and each diner serves him/herself. Ceremonial occasions such as weddings used to have elaborate serving rituals, but professional catering and buffet-style dining is now commonplace. The traditions are far from dead, though; large family occasions and the more lavish ceremonial feasts still make sure that these rituals are observed.
The foods of a daily meal are usually simpler, geared to balanced nutrition and makes extensive use of vegetables. The courses progress broadly from lighter to richer and heavier and goes through various tastes and taste cleansers. Rice remains common throughout the meal and is the main constituent of the meal, until the chaţni (chutney) course.
The starting course is made from bitter vegetables or herbs, often deep fried in oil or steamed with cubed potatoes. Portions are usually tiny - a spoonful or so to be had with rice - and this course is considered to be both a palate-cleanser and of great medicinal value. The ingredients used for this course change seasonally, but commonly used ones are kôrolla oruchhe(forms of bitter gourd) which are available nearly all year round, or tender nim leaves in spring.
In West Bengal, a thick soupy mixture of vegetables in a ginger-mustard sauce called shukto usually follows the bitter starting course, but sometimes replaces it as a starter altogether. Eaten in much bigger portions, Shukto is usually eaten in summer. It is a complex dish, featuring a fine balance of many different tastes and textures and is often a critical measure of a Bengali housewife's abilities in the kitchen. However, it is not particularly popular in Bangladesh.
The first course is then followed by shaak (leafy vegetables) such as spinach, palong chard, methi fenugreek, oramaranth. The shaak can be steamed or cooked in oil with other vegetables such as begun (eggplant). Steamedshaak is sometimes accompanied by a sharp paste of mustard and raw mango pulp called Kasundi.
The đal course is usually the most substantial course, especially in West Bengal. It is eaten with a generous portion of rice and a number of accompaniments. Common accompaniments to đal are aaloo bhaate (potatoes mashed with mustard oil), and bhaja (fritters). Bhajaliterally means 'deep-fried'; most vegetables are good candidates but begun(aubergines), kumro (pumpkins), or alu (potatoes) like French fries, or shredded and fried, uchhe, potol pointed gourdare common. Machh bhaja (fried fish) is also common, especially rui (rohu) and ilish(hilsa) fishes. Bhaja is sometimes coated in a beshon (chickpea flour) and posto (poppyseed) batter. A close cousin of bhaja is bôra or deep-fried savoury balls usually made from posto (poppyseed) paste or coconut mince. Another variant is fried pointed gourd as potoler dorma with roe stuffing. Cholar Dal is often eaten with luchis.
Another accompaniment is a vegetable preparation usually made of multiple vegetables stewed slowly together without any added water.Labra, chorchori, ghonto, or chanchra are all traditional cooking styles. There also are a host of other preparations that do not come under any of these categories and are simply called tôrkari - the word merely means 'vegetable' in Bengali. Sometimes these preparations may have spare pieces of fish such as bits of the head or gills, or spare portions of meat. A charchari is a vegetable dish that is cooked without stirring, just to the point of charring.
Pickles such as raw mangoes pickled in mustard oil and spices or sweet and tangy tamarind picckles are also served with the dal course.
The next course is the fish course. Generally you would have to go through one fish course a day, because Bengalis do tend to eat fish and generally derive the necessary protein intake from fish and dal. Meat till the 1990s was a once-a-week affair, but now with changing culture, meat is served more often in the household. Generally the most common fish dish is the Jhol, where a thin jus of fish is made with ginger, turmeric, chili and cumin (the basic group of spices), and fish and sometimes potato or other vegetable.
of course Bengalis fame in cooking fish, both dried fish called "ShNutki" (more present in East Bengal, or Bangaal households) as well as fresh fish. Prawn is also considered to be a kind of fish, and Crabs are also a favorite of the Bengalis. Apart from it, goat meat and chicken feature big time in Non-vegetarian menu, while the vegetarian menu contains homemade paneer, gram flour "dhoka" (a cousin to the gatta of the Marwari/Gujrati food group).
Generally one or two pieces of fish or meat is served during lunch, with rice, to balance out the meal.
Then comes the meat course. The divide among the Bengalis of Bangladesh and West Bengal is most evident when it comes to the meat course. Meat is readily consumed in urban parts of Bangladesh and some consider it the meal's main course. Beef in particular is very popular in Bangladesh, and it is a must in most of the feasts and banquets across the country. Because the consumption of beef is prohibited among Bengali Hindu communities, Khashi muttonor goat meat is traditionally the meat of choice in West Bengal, but murgichicken and đim eggs are also commonly consumed. At the time of Partition, it was rare for caste Hindus to eat chicken or even eggs from hens, choosing rather duck eggs if eggs were to be consumed. Although it is debatable as to whether chicken is more popular thankhashi in West Bengal today, the proliferation of poultry farms and hatcheries makes chicken the cheaper alternative.
Next comes the chutney course, which is typically tangy and sweet; the chutney is usually made of am mangoes,tomatoes, anarôsh pineapple, tetul tamarind, pepe papaya, or just a combination of fruits and dry fruits. The chutney is also the move towards the sweeter part of the meal and acts also as a palate cleanser, similar to the practice of serving sorbet in some Western cuisines.
Papoŗ (papadum), a type of wafer, thin and flaky, is often made of đal or potatoes or shabu (tapioca) and is a usual accompaniment to the chutneys.
In Bangladesh, chutney is usually eaten during the đal course, and no separate course is dedicated to chutney.
The last item before the sweets is Doi or yoghurt.It is generally of two varieties, either natural flavour and taste orMishti Doi - sweet yoghurt, typically sweetened with charred sugar. This brings about a brown colour and a distinct flavour. Like the fish or sweets mishti doi is typically identified with Bengali cuisine.
In a daily meal it is likely that some of the courses might get missed, for instance the 'Shak',the additional course, Chutney and Papor. In some cases, the dessert might be given a miss as well. The courses overall are the same at home or at a social function (e.g. marriage fest). Rice, which is the staple across the meal gets replaced by 'loochi'or 'radhaballavi' i.e., loochi stuffed with dal or mashed green peas. Interesting thing to note is that the replacement is a relatively recent phenomenon and has been seen in practice only from about early 20th century.
Sweets occupy an important place in the diet of Bengalis and at their social ceremonies. It is an ancient custom among both Hindu and Muslim Bengalis to distribute sweets during festivities. The confectionery industry has flourished because of its close association with social and religious ceremonies. Competition and changing tastes have helped to create many new sweets, and today this industry has grown within the country as well as all over the world.
The sweets of Bengal are generally made of sweetened cottage cheese (chhana), unlike the use of khoa (reduced solidified milk) in Northern India. Additionally, flours of different cerealsand pulses are used as well. Some important sweets of Bengal are:
Made from sweetened, finely ground fresh chhana (cottage cheese), shôndesh in all its variants is among the most popular Bengali sweets. The basic shôndesh has been considerably enhanced by the many famous confectioners of Bengal, and now a few hundred different varieties exist, from the simplekachagolla to the complicated abar khabo,jôlbhôra or indrani. Another variant is the kôrapak or hard mixture, which blends rice flour with the paneer to form a shell-like dough that last much longer. Note that Shondesh is also the name of a sweet pancake-like snack eaten inBangladesh and West Bengal (where it is called malpua). What West Bengal call "shondesh" is a type of halwa in Bangladesh. Shondesh also means "news" in Hindi.
Rôshogolla is one of the most widely consumed sweets. The basic version has many regional variations. Though this sweet has been primarily borrowed fromOrissa, Nabin Chandra Das is considered to have "invented" it in Bengal. Rôshogolla is one of the three most prominent trademark of Bengali culture (along with Rabindranath Tagore and the festival of Durga Puja) and probably the face of Bengali cuisine to people outside Bengal (along with fish and stereotypical posto or poppyseed).
Laddu is a very common sweet in Bangladesh and West Bengal, especially during celebrations and festivities.
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PantuaPantua is somewhat similar to the rôshogolla, except that the cottage cheese balls are fried in either ghee (clarified butter) or oil until golden or deep brown before being put in syrup. There are similar tasting, but differently shaped versions of the Pantua e.g. Langcha (cylindrical) or Ledikeni. Interestingly, the latter was created in honour ofCountess Charlotte Canning (wife of the then Governor General to India Charles Canning) by Bhim Nag, a renowned sweets maker in Kolkata.
Chômchôm, (চমচম) (originally from Porabari, Tangail District in Bangladesh) goes back about 150 years. The modern version of this oval-shaped sweet is reddish brown in colour and has a denser texture than the rôshogolla. It can also be preserved longer. Granules of maoa or dried milk can also be sprinkled over chômchôm.
In both Bangladesh and West Bengal, the tradition of making different kinds of pan-fried, steamed or boiled sweets, lovingly known as piţhe or the "pitha", still flourishes. These little balls of heaven symbolizes the coming of winter, and the arrival of a season where rich food can be included in the otherwise mild diet of the Bengalis... the richness lie in the creamy silkiness of the milk which is mixed often with molasses, or jaggery made of either date palm or sugarcane, and sometimes sugar. They are mostly divided into different categories based on the way they are created. Generally rice flour goes into making the pithe.
They are usually fried or steamed; the most common forms of these cakes include bhapa piţha (steamed), pakan piţha (fried), and puli piţha(dumplings), among others. The other common pithas are chandrapuli, gokul, pati shapta,chitai piţha, aski pithe, muger puli and dudh puli.
The Pati Shapta variety is basically a thin-layered rice-flour crepes with a milk-custard creme-filling, very weirdly similar to the hoppers or appams of South India, or the French crepes. In urban areas of Bangladesh and West Bengal most houses hold Pitha-festivals sometime during the winter months. The celebration of the Piţha as a traditional sweet is the time for the Winter Harvest festival in rural Bangladesh and West Bengal. The harvest is known as 'Nabanno' -- (literally 'new sustenance') and calls for not only rare luxuries celebrating food and sweets but also other popular and festive cultural activities like Public Dramas at night and Open Air Dance Performances. The entire culture of making these sweets at home during harvest and offering it to friends and neighbors is to induce wellness and make others happy, and deriving good karma through the mingled blessings.
Several varieties of yoghurts such as mishţi doi, custards, and rice pudding (khir or firni) are also popular in both Bangladesh and West Bengal.
Shôndesh, chhanar jileepi, kalo jam, darbesh, raghobshai, paesh,bundiya ,nalengurer shôndesh, shor bhaja, langchaand an innumerable variety are just a few examples of sweets in Bengali cuisine.
Muŗi (puffed rice) is made by heating sand in a pot, and then throwing in grains of rice. The rice may have been washed in brine to provide seasoning. The rice puffs up and is separated from the sand by a strainer. Muŗi is very popular and is used in a wide variety of secular and religious occasions, or even just munched plain. Muri is also often used as a replacement for or in combination with regular rice.
A variant of muŗi is khoi, which is flattened puffed rice. Both varieties are used to make many different snack foods.
One of the most popular and iconic snack foods of Bengal, jhal literally means 'hot' or 'spicy'. Jhal-muŗi is puffed rice with spices, vegetables and raw mustard oil. Depending on what is added, there are many kinds of jhal-muŗi but the most common is a bhôrta made of chopped onion, jira roasted ground cumin, bitnoon black salt lôngka / morich chilis (either kacha 'ripe' or shukna 'dried'), mustard oil, and dhone pata (fresh coriander leaves). and ( mudhi ) also.
A moa is made by taking muri with gur (jaggery) as a binder and forming it into a ball. Another popular kind of moa isJoynagorer moa, a moya particularly made in Joynagor from a district of West Bengal which uses khoi and a sugar-milk-spices mixture as binder.Moa is mainly found during the winter season.
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