For the quintessential Bengali, food is one of the most important aspects of daily life. Fish, sweets, and other foods are discussed and debated about as passionately as Leftist ideologies and Tagore. The cooks and housewives spend an enormous amount of time in the kitchen and the rest is spent in chalking out menus, buying foodstuff or discussing and comparing recipes.
STATE
The eastern state of west Bengal is considered to be the cultural capital of India. A land of aesthetes and political activists, Bengal is famous for its many eminent writers, poets, artists, spiritualists, social reformers, freedom fighters and revolutionaries.Bengal, the land of maachh and bhaat, of rasogolla and sondesh, lies on the monsoon-drenched east coast of India. The cuisine of West Bengal differs from that of Bangladesh in that the use of coconut in this cuisine is much lesser and mustard oil is cooking medium instead of coconut oil.
INFLUENCES
The spices differ from those used in the heartland of India, but are similar to those used in the interiors of the East Coast.
The specialty of Bengali cooking is the use of panchphoron i.e. five basic spices which include zeera, kalaunji, saunf, fenugreek and mustard seeds. Generally, Bengali food is a mixture of sweet and spicy flavors. The staple diet of the Bengalis is rice and fish. A true Bengali considers a meal incomplete without fish. Even the Brahmins of Bengal eat fish and no celebration is complete without it. The principal medium of cooking is mustard oil. A distinct flavor is imparted to the fish dishes by frying them in mustard oil before cooking them in gravy. Fish is also steamed by the Bengalis.
STAPLES METHODS
The range of different ways to cook fish in a Bengali home is phenomenal. The catch in fresh waters is as innovative as that in the sea. The market is flooded at any time with all sizes and shapes of carp, salmon, hilsa, bhekti, rui, magur, prawns and koi.You can fry the fish, curry it or cunningly sauté it with curd. The possibilities are unlimited and all innovative cooks add a special dash of magic to individual flavors.
Bengalis have a special seasoning called panchphoron, which includes five spices - mustard, aniseed, fenugreek seed, cumin seed and black cumin seed. The garam masala is made up of cloves, cinnamon, cumin and coriander seeds, mace, nutmeg, and big and small cardamoms.
In the orthodox Bengali ranna bari (cookhouse), fish and vegetables were cooked over separate fires, rice over another and meat, if cooked at all was done in a portable bucket fire outside the kitchen. However, recipes that were once cooked there have now been adapted to emerge almost perfect from the gas, electric and microwave ovens that are used today.
Among the cooking vessels, the karais (woks) in which most of the cooking and frying is done, the tawa (griddle) on which rotis and parathas are made, the handi-a special large pot for cooking rice and the handle less, rimmed, deep, flat-bottomed dekchi are all hallmarks of the Bengali kitchen. Also indispensable are the hatha (ladle), the khunti (metal spatula), the jhanjri (perforated spoon), the sharashi (pincers to remove vessels from the fire), the ghuntni (wooden hand blender) for puréeing dal, the old wooden chaki belon (round pastry board and rolling pin), the sil nora (grinding stone) and the boti, a unique cutting tool.
SPECIALITIES
Bengali cuisine does not start and end with fish, though it forms a large part of the Bengali's food habits. Among varieties of the fish, the specialty of Calcutta is the hilsa fish. 'Smoked hilsa' and machher jhol are quintessentially Calcutta. Bengalis also take pride in its luchi - a refined, sophisticated form of puri.
The Bengalis are compulsive sweet lovers. Mention Bengal and one is immediately reminded of the delicious sweets of the state-gulab jamuns, rasogolla, sondesh, chum chum and many more. Made of milk and cottage cheese, these are light and delectable. No account of Bengali food is complete without a eulogy to its sweet dahi or mishti doi as it is more popularly called. Poyodi-a thick sweet curd that is colored a subtle pink and rich in texture is synonymous with the city of Calcutta.
These Bengali sweets have come down the ages but the one Bengali sweet that is popular all over the world is a relatively new creation. The rasogolla was invented by Nobin Chandra Das of Calcutta accidentally. He mashed some leftover sondesh and put the roundels thus made into syrup. He then offered it to those who came to his sweetshop who loved it and thus was born the most famous Bengali sweet.
Of the local fast food, two very popular snacks are jhaal-mudi and phuchkaa (better known as gol-gappas outside Bengal) sold by roadside vendors. Jhaal-mudi, a Calcutta specialty, consists of puffed rice (mudi) spiced with lemon and coriander and mixed with peanuts, chopped onions, and chili.
SPECIAL OCCASIONS
Potha Parban is a day given to feasting on homemade sweets, pancakes and puffed rice. Instead of the daily fare of rice and fish curry, the rice harvest is made festive with the addition of jaggery syrup, coconut candy and condiments, to create a variety of recipes for this day. Platefuls of specialties are exchanged between neighbors, relatives and sent as gift hampers to in-laws
HOW TO EAT WHAT
Bengalis eat everything with their fingers, as they believe that nothing is better than one's own sensitive fingers to pick out the bones of fish like Hilsa. The most important part of eating Bengali food is eating each dish separately with a little bit of rice.The meal is very interesting as the bitter vegetables are eaten first. Then comes dal (lentil) accompanied by fritters of fish and vegetables. After this comes vegetable curry and it is followed by fish jhol (a thin stew) and other fish preparations. Meat always follows fish and, after meat, chutney provides the refreshing touch of tartness to make the tongue anticipate the sweet dish. At the end pan (betel leaf) is served, which acts as a mouth freshener and aids digestion.
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