Bengali cuisine
Bengali cuisine is the culinary style of Bengal, comprising now most of Bangladesh and parts of India. The cuisine has been shaped by the region's diverse history and climate. It is known for its varied use of flavours including mustard oil, as well as the spread of its confectioneries and desserts. There is a strong emphasis on rice as a staple, with fish traditionally the most common protein. Freshwater fish are preferred to seafish, although barramundi, known as bhetki, is also common. Meat is also a common protein among Bengalis, with chicken and mutton being the most popular. Beef is popular within the Muslim community. In more recent times, lentils have begun to form a significant part of the diet. Many Bengali food traditions draw from religious and social functions, such as adda, Poila Boishakh, Eid, and Durga Puja.
Culinary influences
Mughal influence
Muslims conquered Bengal around the mid-thirteenth century, bringing with them Persian and Arabic cuisine. Such dishes as korma and bhuna had once been meals of the higher courts, but the cooks of the Mughals brought their recipes to the lower and middle classes. The influence was reinforced during the rule of the British Raj, where Kolkata became the place of refuge for many prominent exiled Nawabs, notably 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, and as their royal patronage and wealth diminished, they became interspersed into the local population. These cooks came with the knowledge of a very wide range of spices, the extensive use of ghee, and marinating meat with yoghurt and chilli.In Bangladesh, this food has become common fare for the population while in West Bengal, they have remained the food of professional chefs. Further innovations include chap, rezala and kathi roll.
The Mughals had a particular fixation on meat, bringing mutton and beef into mainstream Bengali cuisine as well as already known kinds of meat like chicken and venison.
Furthermore, traditional desserts had been primarily based on rice pastes and jaggery, but under Mughal influence moved towards significantly increased use of milk, cream, and sugar along with expensive spices such as cardamom and saffron.
Influence of Bengali Hindu widows
In Bengali Hindu tradition, widows were not allowed to eat foods that would not be classified as "bitter", necessitating experiment and innovation. While most Bengali castes ate meat and fish, this was barred for widows. Widows also could not use "heating" foods such as shallot and garlic, but ginger was allowed. This style found a core place in Bengali curries in general, both vegetarian and non-vegetarian. Expensive spices such as saffron, cinnamon or cloves were used very sparingly—if at all. Nuts, dry fruits, milk and milk products were similarly scarce. These economic and social restrictions influenced Bengali widows to create a brand new set of meals that utilised only vegetables and cheap spices.Partition of Bengal
The large-scale displacement along religious lines as a result of the partition led to changes in meal-taking, so as to adhere to religious restrictions. In Bangladesh, Mughlai food is common, and includes foods that are less popular in West Bengal, such as beef kebab. Additionally, sweets such as zarda and firni-payesh are eaten. In rural Bangladesh, many people eat makna fried, popped, or raw.During the colonial period, many Western food shops were established in Kolkata, making puff pastries, channa, chocolate, and chips especially popular. Dishes such as chop, gravy cutlet, sponge rasogolla, and ledikeni. As a result of a multi-cultural community, Kolkata city's cuisine continuously changes, and takes heavy influence from Chinese and European palates.
Characteristics
Bengali cuisine can be subdivided into four different types of dishes: eatables ;, or chewables, such as rice or fish;, or suckables, such as ambal and tak;, or lickables, like chutney; and, or drinkables which includes drinks, mainly milk.Regional specialties
Different parts of Bengal are famed for certain dishes, food items and ingredients. For example, South Bengali districts around the Sundarbans boast of the expensive chui jhal chilli, which they peel and chop into small pieces to be cooked in their dishes and give off a strong aroma. On the other hand, North Bengal are the homes of many Bengali desserts such as the Mishti doi of Bogra, the Kachagolla of Natore and the Chomchom of Porabari. However, other regions also have famous desserts like the Balish Mishti of Netrokona, the Monda of Muktagachha, the Red Yoghurt of Nabadwip and the famed Roshmolai of Comilla.Chittagong
Chittagonian Bengali culinary tradition is mostly known for Mezban and mixed rice dishes like kala bhuna, which has shoulder pieces of beef and traditional spices. Dried fish is more available in the Chittagong region than in other parts of Bengal.Mezban
Mezban is the Bengali word for special occasion feasts in the Chittagong region of Bangladesh. Historically Mezbani is a traditional regional feast where people are invited to enjoy a meal with white rice and beef, besides other dishes rich in animal fat and dairy. It is held on the occasions such as death anniversary, birth anniversary, celebrating successes, launching of a new business, entry into a new house, the birth of a child, marriage, aqiqah and circumcision, ear piercing of girls and naming of the newborn. The invitation of the Mezban ceremony generally remains open for all and various people to different places and neighbourhoods convey the invitation for the feast. In urban areas, attending a mezban is by invitation only. Usually, the consumption of food at Mezbani takes place from morning to afternoon.Beef-based dishes are preferred by Bengali Muslims and are a symbol of social prestige for a Mezban feast. The rich and the poor arrange feasts on various occasions as much as circumstances allow them. It has a distinct style of cooking and proper Mezban meat demands a certain skill; for example: The unique beef curry served in this feast is known as Mezbani gosht, that carries a distinctive recipe, knowledge of which is essentially confined within the Chittagonian cooks.
Fish is used instead of beef while cooking Mezban in Hindu tradition. The Hindu community of Chittagong organises Mezbani each year under the banner of "Chittagong Parishad", with curries made from fish, vegetable and dried fish.
Dhaka
Dhakaiya food is one of the most notable regional Bengali cuisines. The rich culinary customs are influenced by Mughlai, Central Asian, Armenian, Hindustani and native Bengali cuisines. However, it also has dishes unique to Dhaka. The Nawabs of Dhaka had brought Mughlai cuisine to Bengal, that were wholly retained by Dhaka's culinary community. Due to the high costs of producing Mughlai food, the recipes were limited to the elite classes in colonial India, and slowly expanded as Bangladesh's economy grew. The main focus on lamb, mutton, beef, yoghurt, and mild spices define the taste of the style. Such dishes as kebab; stuffed breads; kacchi biriyani; roast lamb, duck, and chicken; patisapta; Kashmiri tea; and korma are still served at special occasions like Eid and weddings. Due to the high class of the food, using an excess amount of expensive ingredients like ghee, and making the food melt in one's mouth were essential to the feel of the food.Old Dhaka boasts a variation of the famous pilaf - the Morog Polao - in which the rice is cooked after and the chicken pieces are cut. Other include and. Dhakaiyas are noted for introducing paneer and boiled eggs to khichuri. Dhakai bakarkhani is a thick, biscuit-like flat-bread which is a traditional street-food snack, famed for its quality and taste. It is mainly dished up with tea. Dhakaiyas proudly hold a heritage of creating the best khili paan using various herbs and spices. They also offer a khili paan for diabetic patients called the "paan afsana". Haji biryani is a dish, invented by a restaurateur in 1939, made with highly seasoned rice, goat's meat and number of spices and nuts. The restaurant has become an integral part of Dhakaiya culture.
Kolkata
In Kolkata, many local street vendors own small shops from which they sell their own homemade goods. Items like cheeses can be eaten as is, or can be made into sweet sandesh, rosomalai, rosogolla, or chanar payesh. Milk is especially used in Kolkata's various types of payesh, differing in use of different grains and additives like dates, figs, and berries. In addition to European foodstuffs like chocolate, Kolkata takes culinary influence from its Chinese diaspora, most prominently seen in Indian Chinese cuisine. Phuchka, known the rest of India as panipuri, is a common kind of Bengali street food made with a fried dough casing and a potato and chickpea filling, usually found in small stalls alongside bhelpuri, masala chai, ghugni and chaat stalls.Influences
During the 19th century many Odia cooks migrated to Bengal to work in the households of affluent Kolkata families. They were also hired to cook in weddings and other family ceremonies. Introduction of Odia cooks into their kitchens brought in subtle but significant changes to Kolkata's cuisine. Some of Kolkata's classic dishes were originally from Odisha but were refined in Kolkata kitchens by Odia cooks. In fact some researchers say that dishes like kanika were first introduced to Kolkata kitchens by Odia cooks although this is contested by other researchers. Even to this date most of the cooks in Kolkata kitchens and hotels are Odia cooks.The Chinese of Kolkata 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 at the eastern edge of Kolkata. The Chinese-origin people of Kolkata form a substantial and successful community with a distinct identity. With this identity came Chinese food, available at almost every street corner in Kolkata at present, due to the taste, quick cooking procedure, and no similarity with the original Chinese recipe other than the use of soy sauce. They were mostly Cantonese tradesmen and sailors who first settled down here and decided to cook with whatever items they had at hand.
Calcuttan immigrants to other countries have started carrying this abroad as well; Indian Chinese restaurants have appeared in many places in the United States and UK.
Indian Chinese food has been given a second boost in popularity since the 1950s when a large number of Tibetans migrated into Indian Territory, following the 14th Dalai Lama's flight. Tibetans brought their own taste preferences to add to the genre, such as the popular momo or thukpa. Tibetans and Nepali immigrants found ready employment in the many kitchens that can now be found on virtually every street in Kolkata.