2. Bengali cuisine is a style of food preparation
originating in Bengal, a region in the eastern
Asia.
The region is now divided between the Indian
states of Tripura , Barak Valley of Assam and
West Bengal and the independent country of
Bangladesh
4/6/2024
Dr Shafiq ur Rehman
3. Emphasis is on fish and lentils served with
rice as a staple diet.
Bengali cuisine is known for confectioneries
and desserts.
4/6/2024
Dr Shafiq ur Rehman
4. Bengali food has inherited a large number of
influences, both foreign and South Asian,
arising from a turbulent history and strong
trade links with many parts of the world.
Kolkata was founded by the British, and came
into prominence as the original capital of
British India.
4/6/2024
Dr Shafiq ur Rehman
5. key influence to the food came when Wajid
Ali Shah, the last Nawab of Awadh was exiled
to the outskirts of Kolkata.
He is said to have brought with him hundreds
of cooks and masalchis (spice mixers) who,
on his death, dissipated into the population,
starting restaurants and food carts all over
Bengal.
4/6/2024
Dr Shafiq ur Rehman
6. The Christian influence came to Bengal a few
hundred years after its arrival on the Western
borders of India.
The key culinary influence of the Christian
community was the ritual of tea (introduced
by the British and now central to Bengali
identity), and in Bengal's snack food
traditions
4/6/2024
Dr Shafiq ur Rehman
7. The popularity of baked confectioneries was a
direct result of the British popularising the
celebration of Christmas.
After partition, Kolkata continued to wield an
outsize influence in the cultural and food
habits of West Bengal.
4/6/2024
Dr Shafiq ur Rehman
8. Bengalis prepare fish in innumerable ways -
steamed or braised, or stewed with
vegetables and with sauces that are mustard-
based or thickened with poppyseeds.
Fried Rohu
4/6/2024
Dr Shafiq ur Rehman
9. Bengalis also excel in the cooking of
vegetables. They prepare a variety of the
dishes using many types of vegetables that
grow here year round.
Gourds, roots and tubers, leafy greens,
lemon, green and purple eggplants, onions,
beans, okra, banana tree stems and flowers,
green jackfruit and red pumpkins are to be
found in the markets or anaj bazaar as
popularly called.
4/6/2024
Dr Shafiq ur Rehman
10. The use of spices for both fish and vegetable
dishes is quite extensive and includes many
combinations.
Examples are the onion-flavored kalonji
(nigella or black onion seeds), radhuni (wild
celery seeds), and five-spice or paanch
phoron (a mixture of cumin, fennel,
fenugreek, kalonji, and black mustard seeds).
4/6/2024
Dr Shafiq ur Rehman
11. Mustard paste called Kasundi is an
accompanying dipping sauce popular in
Bengal.
Fish is the dominant kind of meat, cultivated
in ponds and fished with nets in the fresh-
water rivers of the Ganges delta.
Almost every part of the fish (except fins and
innards) is eaten; the head and other parts
are usually used to flavor curries.
4/6/2024
Dr Shafiq ur Rehman
12. There are numerous ways of cooking fish
depending on the texture, size, fat content
and the bones.
Shorshe Ilish, a dish of
smoked hilsa with
mustard seeds paste
4/6/2024
Dr Shafiq ur Rehman
13. Fish could be fried, cooked in a simple spicy
tomato based gravy (jhol), or mustard based
with green chillies (shorshe batar jhaal), with
posto, with seasonal vegetables,steamed
inside of leaves, cooked with doi (curd), with
sour sauce or with sweet sauce
Chicken is a late entrant into Bengali cuisine
relative to mutton. Khashi, the meat of
younger goats, is preferred
4/6/2024
Dr Shafiq ur Rehman
14. Bengali people are primarily rice eaters, the
rainfall and soil in Bengal lends itself to rice
production.
Rice is eaten in various forms - puffed,
beaten, boiled and fried depending on the
meal. The first two are used usually as snacks
and the other as the main constituent in a
meal.
4/6/2024
Dr Shafiq ur Rehman
15. Luchi (circular deep fried un-leavened bread)
or Porothha (usually triangular, multi-layered,
pan fried, un-leavened bread) are also used
as the primary food item on the table.
Dals vary from mushur dal (red lentils), mug
dal (mung beans), arhar dal etc. and are used
as an accompaniment to rice.
4/6/2024
Dr Shafiq ur Rehman
16. Shorsher tel (mustard oil) is the primary
cooking medium in Bengali cuisine.
Ghee (clarified butter) is often used, for
making the dough or for frying bread.
mustard paste (Kasundi), holud (turmeric),
poshto (poppyseed), ada (ginger), dhonia
(coriander, seeds and leaves) and narikel (ripe
coconut usually desiccated) are other
common ingredients
4/6/2024
Dr Shafiq ur Rehman
17. Bengal is also the land of aam (mangoes),
which are used extensively — ripe, unripe, in
chutneys and pickles.
A touch of gôrom môshla or hot spices
(elachi cardamom, darchini cinnamon, long
clove, teiaj pata bay leaves, and gol morich
peppercorn) is often used to enliven food
through taste and aroma
4/6/2024
Dr Shafiq ur Rehman
18. The bothi. (This instrument is also used in
Maharashtra, where it is known as vili and in
Andhra Pradesh, known as kathi peeta (kathi
= knife and peeta = platform) ). It is a long
curved blade on a platform held down by
foot; both hands are used to hold whatever is
being cut and move it against the blade.
Knives are rare in a traditional Bengali
kitchen.
4/6/2024
Dr Shafiq ur Rehman
19. A korai (wok) is a universal cooking vessel for
most Bengali food, for making sauces,
frying/stir-frying etc
Dekchi (a flat bottomed pan) is used generally
for larger amounts of cooking or for making
rice.
Haandi is a round bottomed pot like vessel.
4/6/2024
Dr Shafiq ur Rehman
20. khonti (flat metal spatula)
haatha (scoop with a long handle)
jhaanjri (round shaped sieve like spatula to
deep fry food)
sharashi (pincers to remove vessels from the
fire)
ghuntni (wooden hand blender) for puréeing
dal
chaki belon (chakla and belan)
sil nora (grinding stone)
4/6/2024
Dr Shafiq ur Rehman
21. AUMBOL : A sour dish made either with several
vegetables or with fish, the sourness being
produced by the addition of tamarind pulp.
BHAJA : Anything fried, either by itself or in
batter.
BHAPA : A classic steaming technique is to wrap
the fish in banana leaf to give it a faint musky,
smoky scent.
BHORTA : Any vegetable, such as potatoes,
beans, sour mangoes, papaya, pumpkins or even
dal, first boiled whole and then mashed
4/6/2024
Dr Shafiq ur Rehman
22. BHUNA : Meaning fried for a long time with
ground and whole spices
CHACHCHARI : Usually a vegetable dish with
one or more varieties of vegetables cut into
longish strips
CHHYANCHRA : A combination dish made
with different vegetables, portions of fish
head and fish oil.
4/6/2024
Dr Shafiq ur Rehman
23. DALNA : Mixed vegetables or eggs, cooked in a
medium thick gravy seasoned with ground
spices, especially gorom moshla and a touch of
ghee.
DHOM : Vegetables, especially potatoes, or meat,
cooked over a covered pot containing water,
slowly over a low heat, slightly steaming
JHAL : Literally, hot. A great favorite in West
Bengali households, this is made with fish or
shrimp or crab
4/6/2024
Dr Shafiq ur Rehman
24. JHOUL : A light fish or vegetable stew
KALIA : A very rich preparation of fish, meat
or vegetables using a lot of oil and ghee
Macher Jhol
4/6/2024
Dr Shafiq ur Rehman
25. POURA : Literally, burnt. Vegetables are
wrapped in leaves and roasted over a wood or
charcoal fire
TORKARI : A general term often used in
Bengal the way `curry' is used in English
4/6/2024
Dr Shafiq ur Rehman
26. Sweets occupy an important place in the diet
of Bengalis and at their social ceremonies.
The sweets of Bengal are generally made of
sweetened cottage cheese (chhana), unlike
the use of khoa (reduced solidified milk) in
Northern India.
4/6/2024
Dr Shafiq ur Rehman
27. Some important sweets of Bengal are:
Shôndesh: Made from sweetened, finely
ground fresh chhana (cottage cheese)
Rôshogolla:
4/6/2024
Dr Shafiq ur Rehman
28. Laddu
Pantua: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.
Piţha or pithe:They are usually made from
rice or wheat flour mixed with sugar, jaggery,
grated coconut etc
4/6/2024
Dr Shafiq ur Rehman
29. Chômchôm:This oval-shaped sweet is
reddish brown in colour and has a denser
texture than the rôshogolla. Granules of
maoa or dried milk can also be sprinkled over
chômchôm
4/6/2024
Dr Shafiq ur Rehman
30. 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.
Jhal-Muŗi: jhal literally means 'hot' or 'spicy'.
Jhal-muŗi is puffed rice with spices,
vegetables and raw mustard oil
Moa: made by taking muri with gur (jaggery)
as a binder and forming it into a ball
4/6/2024
Dr Shafiq ur Rehman
