When you hear the words “tobe ekla cholo re” sung by Amitabh Bachan there is a possibility that the first word that pops in your head is Bengal, but have you ever wondered the what type of cuisine Bengal is famous for? A few dishes you might be aware of are rasogola, Misti Doi, etc. So let us dive in to explore the dishes of Bengal.

7 Bengali Dishes to Cherish

The peculiarities of Bengali cuisine are its deserts, and non-veg. Let’s walk through together to explore 7 Bengali dishes.

Macher Jhol

Macher Jhol is a fish curry in which fish like Rohu, Cod, etc. are used. The fish is fried and then sauteed with onion, garlic, ginger, tomato puree, and cumin. It can be served with steamed rice. This dish is easy to cook and believe me it is a mouth-watering dish that you should eat when you are visiting West Bengal.

Alur Tokari with Luchi

Alur Tokari with Luchi is a vegetarian traditional breakfast of Bengali people where Alur Tokari is made up of diced potatoes cooked with spices like cumin powder, coriander powder, turmeric, red chili powder, dried mango powder, chaat masala which are the cornerstone of the dish and luchi is more like pooris is but made up of refined flour. It can be served with Mughlai paratha, and egg potato roll, can be used as a filling for shingara. Alur Tokari can also be served with kachoris and flatbreads. It is a yummy breakfast you and I can have.

Kosho Mangsho

Kosho mangsho literally in English means Mutton Curry which is a mouth-smacking non-vegetarian dish where the mutton is slow-cooked and caramelized. The Mutton is marinated, then the whole spices are sauteed for the gravy. Later Mutton is cooked with ginger-garlic and onion paste then and the finishing touch is given. It can be served with bread rice or luchi or parathas. This dish needs real patience to experience this extravaganza taste.

Aloo Posto

Aloo Posto in English means potato and poppy seeds(also known as khus-khus in Hindi). It is a simple, easy-to-cook dish that mandatorily requires poppy seeds, potatoes, and Nigella seeds to be served with rice, and dal. Initially, the poppy seeds are soaked and then ground to form a paste. Then the diced potato is cooked with Nigella seeds, paste formed, and green chilies.

Sandesh

It is also called Sondesh which is a Bengali dessert. It is prepared during Durga puja. It is made with curdled milk and the liquid is separated after some time it is kneaded. Sugar is added or even jaggery can be added for that matter and then cooked in a pan. You can add the required flavor by adding cinnamon powder, almond powder, rose flavor, and then make pedda out of it. You can also decorate it by tucking in some kesar or tutti frutti or chopped pistachio, chopped almonds, chocolate chips etc. This dessert can be cooked in a jiffy compared to other desserts.

Misti Doi

In Bengali ‘misti’ means sweet and ‘doi’ is yogurt in English. The milk is boiled and traditionally jaggery was mixed with the milk nowadays even sugar can be added instead. It is then kept for fermentation overnight in earthen cups. There is a specific reason for using earthen cups as it is porous the yogurt, therefore, becomes thick. Sometimes even a few hints of cardamom powder are also added to it. A point to bring in the limelight is there is a difference between misti doi and our regular yogurt in the case of misti doi the milk is boiled until it is slightly thickened then the sugar is added and then allowed to ferment overnight but for regular yogurt, the milk is heated then cooled for a while and then the curd is added at room temperature.

Rossogolla

Rossogolla is a Bengali dessert. It is made of curdled milk then the chenna is separated and covered in a muslin cloth. Then it is kneaded and balls are formed. On the other hand in the pan, we heat water and add sugar for the syrup. When the syrup starts to boil the balls are added to it and then it is served. You can also add some pistachio, and rose water to enhance the taste. If you are a person with a sweet tooth then you’ll love the dish.

FAQs

What is panch phoron?

It is a mixture of 5 spices namely cumin seeds, mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, fennel seeds, and nigella seeds ground together and used for various Bengali non-vegetarian dishes.

What is shingara?

Shingara is nothing but a Bengali Samosa.