Best Dishes From Bengali Cuisine

The way to a Bengali’s heart is truly through the stomach. Bengalis are pretty famous for eating literally with their hands. And why not! True Bengali food cannot be relished with spoons and forks. There is much to explore in West Bengal when it comes to food. From Mughlai foods to street foods and an elaborate spread of sweets and confectioneries, as well as the cuisine of the flourishing Anglo-Indian community in Kolkata, Bengali food is culturally vibrant and just simply delightful. Here are top 10 Bengali dishes that one must try.

1.Aloo Posto

‘Posto’ is an all-time Bengali favourite, whether it is cooked with cauliflower or potato or ‘jhinge’ and the list can be quite long. Jhinge aloo posto is a traditional Bengali vegetable preparation wherein the ridge gourd(torai or jhinge) and aloo (potatoes) are cooked with poppy seeds and green chillies, generally served with rice. Jhinge (Ridge gourd) has got immense nutrition values and the high water content in it. Poppy seeds help to keep your brains calm. Whenever you go to a Bengali restaurant, a thali will always have jhinge aloo posto as a must item.

2.Ilish Maach Bhaapa

In West Bengal, there is no substitute for ‘Ilish Maach’. Any preparation with Ilish becomes Bengal delicacy. This dish is a gravy prepared with mustard seeds paste and usually served with rice. This dish is a little tangy in flavour. A preparation of Ilish usually doesn’t require much of spices as the aroma of the fish itself is enough to make the dish exquisite.

3.Doi maach

A masterpiece of Bengali cuisine, this is a simple, but typical Bengali dish with very little spices– the flavour of the fish is the star of the dish. “Doi” is Yogurt or Curd and “Maach” is Fish and when the mix of the two is perfectly blent, there are very few dishes that can beat this simple preparation. Rohu fish is perfect for cooking Doi Maach. Doi maach is a very authentic Bengali preparation served typically at lunch with rice not only on festive occasions but also at home as a change from the daily routine.

4.Shukto

Shukto is a mix of vegetables with an emphasis on the bitterness, a preparation where instead of hiding the bitterness, it is the taste around which the dish evolves. The bitter taste is said to be good for cleansing the palate and also for letting the digestive juices flow and so no doubt it is a good start off to the meal to follow. This typical recipe is a wake-up call to the piqued taste buds so that what follows is more enjoyable.

5.Luchi Aloor dom

This combination is a classic Bengali breakfast. Luchi is a deep-fried flatbread made of bleached wheat flour and aloor dum is nothing but dum aloo. With guests at home, traditional Bengali families love to serve this combo for breakfast, though they are also prepared for lunch and dinner. 

6. Chingri Maacher Malaikari

No special occasion in a Bengali household is complete without ‘Chingri Maacher Malaikari’. This is one dish that is a bit tricky to cook and the real flavour comes only when prepared with the perfect ratio of spices. Cooked in coconut milk with very mild spices, this is best served with rice. The velvety gravy is the highlight of this dish, which makes it ‘finger lickin’ good’. This preparation fills the entire house with its enticing aroma that waters our mouths.

7. Muri Ghonto

Muri Ghonto is one of the signature dishes from Bong Cuisine prepared with Rice and head of Fish. We mostly use the head of  Rehu Fish/ Rui Mach or Katla fish. Muri Ghonto is one of the unique dishes where Rice is added in a side dish to give it a body.

8.Paatishapta

Paatishapta is actually a rice flour crepe with coconut and jaggery fillings. The softness of the crepe and the sweet filling inside melts in the mouth to leave a yummy essence. People often experiment with the filling. I clearly remember once my mother had made a salted curry filling turning it into a mouth-watering snack.

9. Mishti Doi

Mishti Doi is a popular dessert in the states of West Bengal. It is prepared by boiling milk until it is slightly thickened, sweetening it with sugar, either guda/gura (brown sugar) or khajuri guda/gura (date molasses), and allowing the milk to ferment overnight. Earthenware is always used as the container for making Mitha Dahi because the gradual evaporation of water through its porous walls not only further thickens the yoghurt, but also produces the right temperature for the growth of the culture.

10. Sondesh

Rosogolla’s are worldwide popular Bong Dessert but Sandesh is nothing but charming. Be it a Pranhara or a Kancha Golla or maybe Jal Bhara Talsans. There is an enormous variety of Sandesh available. Prepared with curdled milk and flavored with various ingredients Sandesh are widely found in Bong sweet shops. However, there are some must visit places in Kolkata. “Bhim Chandra Nag “, “Nokur”, Girish Chandra De”, “Balaram”  are famous for this sweet Bengali delicacy.