A Food Trip to the Bengali Cuisine

After the partition of Bengal into Bangladesh and West Bengal, not only people of West Bengal relish this cuisine, but the people of Bangladesh are equally fond of Bengali food along with other native regions which have large Bengali population to share this cuisine.

With a varied combination of fishes, vegetables and cereals served with rice as a staple diet, it is also known for its sweet yet sometimes spicy flavors, including mouth watering desserts. It is the only cuisine that traditionally developed a multi-course tradition from the Indian Subcontinent. Having a resemblance with the modern style of French Cuisine, Bengali cuisine too is served course-wise rather than serving all at a time.

Bengali cuisine is also known for its fabulous use of paanch phoron (the five essential spices, namely mustard, fenugreek seed, cumin seed, aniseed, and black cumin seed).Even there’s a bitter side of this sweet community, the “shukto” or the bitter vegetable preparation(bitter gourd with other vegetables). While you visit any of the authentic Bengali restaurants, do not miss these lip smacking dishes to know the real taste of Bengali food.

The Fish Fetish:

The famous “maachaar bhaat” (fish and rice) is very common in Bengali food. Fish is an important part of a typical Bengali meal without which there is a feeling of incompleteness in the meal.One can find ample stock of fish in every Bengali’s house as it is cooked almost on a daily basis and even on festivals, celebration or casual gatherings. Usually the food is cooked in mustard oil. People prefer the fish in various ways like deep fried in mustard oil or cooked in gravy, some even prefer steamed fish or bhapa maach to avoid calories.

The Bengali Taste Buds Have It All:

An authentic Bengali Thali consists of the following dishes:

• A heap of steamed rice with drops of ghee(Indian clarified butter)


• Varieties of bhaja or fries- Begun bhaja/eggplant fries, Aloobhaja/Potato fries, Potolbhaja/Parwal fries etc.


• Torkari or a miscellaneous vegetable.


• Shukto or the bitter vegetable preparation


• Daal or cooked cereals


• Fish Curry


• Accompanied by tok-mishti chutney (sweet and soury) and papad/crispy disc shaped food


• Sealed with of course roshogolla, mishit doi (sweet curd) and paayesh/sweet rice pudding.

Search for Bengali Food Ends Here:

Bengali food is well served in typical Bengali restaurants where the food is served in a big segmented plate or in the most traditional way-in “kolapaata” or the banana leaf. It is well enjoyed eating with hand. Bengali cuisine is one of its kinds, that is both healthy and tasty in its own way as it summarizes all sort of nutrients in one meal.

So go ahead and enjoy an authentic Bengali meal in one of the best Bengali restaurants of USA and let your taste buds enjoy the feast!