SECOND YEAR NOTES- BENGALI CUISINE

BENGALI CUISINE

Bengali cuisine is a style of food preparation originating in Bengal, a region in the eastern South Asia which is now divided between the independent country of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal. Bengali cuisine is well-known for the vast range of rice dishes and various preparations of freshwater fish. Bengali cuisine is rich and varied with the use of many specialized spices and flavours.

Historical influences

Bengali food has inherited a large number of influences, both foreign and South Asian, from both a turbulent history and strong trade links with many parts of the world. Originally inhabited by Dravidians and Austronesians, and later further settled by the Aryans during the Gupta era, Bengal fell under the sway of various Muslim rulers from the early thirteenth century onwards, and was then ruled by the British for two centuries (1757-1947).

Influence of the widows

In medieval Bengal the treatment of Hindu widows was much more restrictive than was common elsewhere and lived under strict dietary restrictions. They were usually not allowed any interests but religion and housework, so the kitchen was an important part of their lives; traditional cuisine was deeply influenced by them. Their ingenuity and skill led to many culinary practices; simple spice combinations, the ability to prepare small quantities (since widows often ate alone) and creative use of the simplest of cooking techniques. Since widows were banned 'impassioning' or aphrodisiac condiments such as onion or garlic, most traditional Bengali vegetarian recipes don't use them; this is in stark contrast to the rest of the Indian subcontinent where almost every dish calls for onions and garlic. This has led to a definite slant towards ginger in Bengali vegetarian food, and even in many common fish dishes.

Traditional Bengali cuisine

Fish is the dominant kind of meat, cultivated in ponds and fished with nets in the fresh-water rivers of the Ganges delta. More than forty types of mostly freshwater fish are common, including carp varieties like rui (rohu), katla, magur (catfish), chingri (prawn or shrimp), as well as shutki (small dried sea fish). Salt water fish (not sea fish though) Ilish (hilsa ilisha) is very popular among Bengalis. Khashi (referred to as mutton in Indian English, the meat of sterilized goats) is the most popular red meat.

Other characteristic ingredients of traditional Bengali food include rice, moshur dal (red lentils), mug dal (mung beans), shorsher tel mustard oil, mustard paste, posto (poppyseed) and narkel (ripe coconut). Bengal is also the land of am (mangoes), which are used extensively—ripe, unripe, or in pickles. Ilish machh (hilsa fish), which migrates upstream to breed is a delicacy;

The pach phoron spice mixture is very commonly used for vegetables. A touch of gorom moshla or hot spices (elachi cardamom, darchini cinnamon, long clove, tej pata bay leaves, and peppercorn) is often used to enliven food.

Another characteristic of Bengali food is the use of a unique cutting instrument, the boti. (This instrument is also used in Maharashtra, where it is known as vili). 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, anything from tiny shrimp to large pumpkins.

Milk and dairy products, so widely used in the neighboring India, are not as common here.

While fresh-water fish is still common, mutton is more common among the Muslim population than beef and dried fish. Wheat makes its appearance alongside rice, in different types of breads such as luchi, kochuri and porota.

These snack foods are most often consumed with evening tea. The tea-time ritual was probably inspired by the British, but the snacks bear the stamp of the substantial Marwari population in Kolkata - chat, kachori, samosa, phuluri and the ever-popular jhal-muri.

Mughal influence

Islam arrived in Bengal probably around the mid-thirteenth century.

 This led to a unique cuisine where even the common man ate the dishes of the royal court, such as biryani, korma and bhuna. The influence was reinforced in the Raj era, when Kolkata became the place of refuge for many prominent exiled Nawabs, especially the family of Tipu Sultan from Mysore and Wajid Ali Shah, the ousted Nawab of Awadh. The exiles brought with them hundreds of cooks and masalchis (spice mixers), and as their royal patronage and wealth diminished, they interspersed into the local population.

In West Bengal, , the food of professional chefs; the best examples are still available at restaurants. Specialties include chap (ribs slow cooked on a tawa), rezala (meat in a thin yogurt and cardamom gravy).

Anglo-Indian or Raj cuisine

Anglo-Indian food isn't purely the influence of the British; Bengal was once the home of a French colony, and also hosted populations of Portuguese, Dutch, Armenians and Syrians. These collective western influences are seen in the foods created to satisfy the tastes of the western rulers.

English and Jewish bakers such as Flury's and Nahoum's dominated the confectionery industry which migrated from British tables to everyday Bengali ones. Another enduring contribution to Bengali cuisine is pau ruti, or Western-style bread. Raj-era cuisine lives on especially in the variety of finger foods popularized in the 'pucca' clubs of Kolkata, such as mutton chop, kabiraji cutlet or fish orly.

Many British families in India hired local cooks, and through them discovered local foods. The foods had to be toned down or modified to suit the tastes of the 'memsahibs'. The most distinct influence is seen in the desserts, many of which were created specifically to satisfy the British - most notably the very popular sweet ledikeni named after the first Vicereine Lady Canning; it is a derivative of the pantua created for an event hosted by her.

Chinese food

The Chinese of Calcutta originally settled into a village called Achipur south of Kolkata in the late 18th century, later moving into the city and finally into its present home in Tangra. No other part of the Indian subcontinent has any significant Chinese population. With this identity came Chinese food, available at almost every street corner in Kolkata. They were mostly Cantonese tradesmen and sailors, bringing with them aji-no-moto (monosodium glutamate) and sweet corn. As the Chinese opened restaurants for Bengalis, they spiced up the bland Cantonese sauces with sliced chillies and hot sauces, creating unique dishes such as Chilli Chicken and Veg Manchurian.

Indian Chinese food was given a second boost when a large number of Tibetans migrated into Indian Territory, when China annexed Tibet. Tibetans brought with them their own delicacies to add to this genre, such as the very popular momo (a kind of dumpling) or thukpa (a hearty noodle soup).

Bengali immigrants to other countries have started carrying this abroad as well; Indian Chinese, including halal Indian Chinese restaurants have appeared in many places in the United States.

Bengali Meals

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.

At home, Bengalis typically eat without the use of dining utensils; kata (forks), chamoch (spoons), and chhuri (knives) are used in the preparation of food.

Most Bengalis eat with their right hand. Bengalis traditionally eat on the ground 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, this is rarely followed anymore. Courses are frequently skipped or combined with everyday meals.

It is now common to place everything on platters in the centre of the table, and each diner serves him/herself

Courses in a daily meal

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. Rice remains common throughout the meal until the chatni (chutney) course.

The starting course is a bitter. The bitter changes with the season but common ones are korolla (bitter gourd) which is available nearly throughout the year, or tender nim leaves in spring. Portions are usually very small - 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.

Another bittersweet preparation usually eaten in summer, especially in West Bengal, is a soupy mixture of vegetables in a ginger-mustard sauce, called shukto.

This is followed by shak (leafy vegetables) such as spinach, methi fenugreek.

The dal course is usually the most substantial course.

A common accompaniment to đal is bhaja (fritters). Bhaja literally means 'deep-fried'; most vegetables are good candidates but begun (aubergines), kumra (pumpkins), or alu (potatoes) are 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

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.  torkari - the word merely means 'vegetable' in Bengali.

The next course is the fish course. Common fish delicacies include machher jhol, tel koi, pabda machher jhal, Doi machh, Chingri machh (shrimp) malai curry, and bhapa ilish (steamed hilsa).

Then comes the meat course. Khashi mutton or goat meat is traditionally the meat of choice, especially West Bengal, but murgi chicken and  dim eggs are also commonly consumed.

Finally comes the chutney course, which is typically tangy and sweet; the chutney is usually made of am mangoes, tomatoes, anarosh pineapple, tetul tamarind, pepe papaya, or just a combination of fruits and dry fruits.

Mishti (Sweets)

Sweets occupy an important place in the diet of Bengalis and at their social ceremonies. It is an ancient custom among Hindus to distribute sweets during festivities. The confectionery industry has flourished because of its close association with social and religious ceremonies.

The sweets of Bengal are generally made of sweetened cottage cheese (chhena), khoa (reduced solidified milk), or flours of different cereals and pulses. Some important sweets of Bengal are:

Shondesh

Made from sweetened, finely ground fresh chhena (cheese), shôndesh in all its variants is among the most popular Bengali sweets, a few hundred different varieties exist, from the simple kachagolla 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.

Roshogolla

Rôshogolla is one of the most widely consumed sweets. The basic version has many regional variations.

Pantua

Pantua is somewhat similar to the gulab jamoon, except that the balls are fried in either tel (oil) or ghi (clarified butter) until golden or deep brown before being put in syrup.

Chomchom

This oval-shaped sweet is reddish brown in colour and it is of a denser texture than the rôshogolla.

Shondesh, chhanar jilepi, kalo jam, darbesh, raghobshai, paesh, nalengurer shondesh, shor bhaja and an innumerable variety are just a few examples of sweets in Bengali cuisine.

Pitha or Pithe

In West Bengal, the tradition of making cakes, locally known as piţha, still flourishes. They are usually made from rice or wheat flour mixed with sugar, jaggery, grated coconut etc. Piţhas are usually enjoyed with the sweet syrups of khejurer gur (date tree molasses). They're 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 sapta, chitai pitha, muger puli and dudh puli.

Pithas are usually a celebration of the new crop, and often associated with harvest festivals.

Snacks:

1. Muri

2. Jhal-Muri

3. Moa

·         Ambal: A sour dish made either with several vegetables or with fish, the sourness being produced by the addition of tamarind pulp.

• Biryani: Fragrant dish of long-grained aromatic rice combined with beef, mutton, or chicken and a mixture of characteristic spices. Sometimes cooked in sealed containers (dum biriyani).
• Bhaja or Bhaji: Anything fried, either by itself or in batter.
• Bhapa: Fish or vegetables steamed with oil and spices. A classic steaming technique is to wrap the fish in banana leaf to give it a faint musky, smoky scent.
• Bhate: ('steamed with rice') Any vegetable, such as potatoes, beans, pumpkins, or even dal, first boiled whole and then mashed and seasoned with mustard oil or ghee and spices. Traditionally the vegetables were placed on top of the rice; they steamed as the rice was being boiled.
• Bhuna: A term of Urdu origin, and applies to meat cooked in spices for a long time without water. The spices are slow-cooked in oil (bhunno). The spices first absorb the oil, and when fully cooked release the oil again.

• Chacchari: Usually a vegetable dish with one or more varieties of vegetables cut into longish strips, sometimes with the stalks of leafy greens added, all lightly seasoned with spices like mustard or poppy seeds and flavoured with a phoron. The skin and bone of large fish like bhetki or chitol can be made into a chachchari called kanta-chachchari, kanta, meaning fish-bone.
• Chhanchra: A combination dish made with different vegetables, portions of fish head and fish oil (entrails).
• Chechki: Tiny pieces of one or more vegetable - or, sometimes even the peels (of potatoes, lau, pumpkin or patol for example) - usually flavored with panch phoron or whole mustard seeds or kala jeera. Chopped onion and garlic can also be used, but hardly any ground spices.
• Dalna: Mixed vegetables or eggs, cooked in medium thick gravy seasoned with ground spices, especially garom mashla and a touch of ghee.
• Dam or Dum: Vegetables (especially potatoes), meat or rice (biriyanis) cooked slowly in a sealed pot over a low heat.
• Ghonto: Different complementary vegetables (e.g., cabbage, green peas, potatoes or banana blossom, coconut, chickpeas) are chopped or finely grated and cooked with both a phoron and ground spices. Dried pellets of dal (boris) are often added to the ghanto. Ghee is commonly added at the end. Non-vegetarian ghantos are also made, with fish or fish heads added to vegetables. The famous murighanto is made with fish heads cooked in a fine variety of rice. Some ghantos are very dry while others a thick and juicy.
• Jhal: Literally, 'hot'. A great favorite in West Bengali households, this is made with fish or shrimp or crab, first lightly fried and then cooked in a light sauce of ground red chilli or ground mustard and a flavoring of pãch-phoron or kala jira. Being dryish it is often eaten with a little bit of dal pored over the rice.
• Jhol: A light fish or vegetable stew seasoned with ground spices like ginger, cumin, coriander, chili, and turmeric with pieces of fish and longitudinal slices of vegetables floating in it. The gravy is thin yet extremely flavorful. Whole green chilis are usually added at the end and green coriander leaves are used to season for extra taste.
• Kalia: A very rich preparation of fish, meat or vegetables using a lot of oil and ghee with a sauce usually based on ground ginger and onion paste and garom mashla.
• Khichuri: Rice mixed with vegetables and in some cases, boiled eggs. Usually cooked with spices and turmeric powder.
• Korma: Another term of Urdu origin (literally 'braised with onions), meaning meat or chicken cooked in a mild onion and yoghurt sauce with ghee.
• Luchi: Small round unleavened bread fried in oil.
• Porota : Bread made from wheat flour and fried in the oven until golden-brown.
• Paturi: Typically fish, seasoned with spices (usually shorshe) wrapped in banana leaves and steamed or roasted over a charcoal fire.
• Polau : Fragrant dish of rice with ghee, spices and small pieces of vegetables. Long grained aromatic rice is usually used, but some aromatic short grained versions such as Kalijira or Gobindobhog may also be used.
• Pora: The word literally means charred. Vegetables are wrapped in banana leaves and roasted over a wood, charcoal or coal fire. Some vegetables with skin such as begun, are put directly on the flame or coals. The roasted vegetable is then mixed with onions, oil and spices.
• Ruti: Unleaved bread made in a tawa and puffed over an open flame.
• Torkari: A general term often used in Bengal the way `curry' is used in English (it is speculated to be one of the origins of curry). Originally from Persian, the word first meant uncooked garden vegetables. From this it was a natural extension to mean cooked vegetables or even fish and vegetables cooked together.