This has always been a family favourite dish. Baba can never say no to it and even I love it earnestly. Maa cooks it the best and even I can do pretty good justice to it. Mr. Husband has developed a taste for it lately and since then there is no looking back. Yes, there is also a vegetarian version of this dal which is equally popular. But, in my…
Ranga Aloo aka Mishti Aloo (sweet potato) is in the season and is an extremely healthy and tasty winter vegetable. Come Sankranti, the festival to celebrate harvest, we Bengalis go gaga over pitha-puli. Along with rice flour, all purpose flour, split chickpeas and many other legumes, sweet potatoes are also used to make delicious pitha. Eating seasonal is a key to good health and these seasonal delicacies ensure that health…
Originated in the Bikrampur district of Dhaka, Bangladesh, Bibikhana Pitha is much like a cake made with patali gur or molasses, rice flour, thickened milk, egg and ghee as primary ingredients. This pitha, on any day, can give a tough time to any exotic cake you love to eat. Considered to be Bangladeshi cake, Bibikhana Pitha is soft, melt-in-mouth, flavourful and a perfect winter delicacy. My ancestral house in Karimganj,…
Shidol or Dry Fermented Fish is an integral part of Sylheti cuisine. Used in multiple ways in our day-to-day dishes, we Sylhetis cook Shidol to make chutney as well as curry. Sometimes, a little touch of Shidol in a regular curry can take the taste and flavour to a different level altogether. Also, Sylheti cuisine includes a number of delicious Bhorta or Makha (mash) and we often mash Shidol with…
There is actually not much that has not been told already and I can tell about Mulled Wine except for the fact that it is one of my favourite winter drinks. Winter is here and so is Christmas and so is the best time to have this terribly tasty wine. Little sweet, little tangy and highly flavourful, Mulled Wine is best served warm. This is an absolute delicious way to…
Shutki or Hutki is nothing but dry fish and Shira or Jhul stands for runny gravy. While Sylhetis from all over the world swear by Shutki and Shidol, I go one step ahead and can literally survive on these two for a lifetime. Such is my love and I suppose this is what they call ‘eternal love’. I take utmost pride to repeat it time and again that I am…
A cozy and lazy winter night often demands for a dinner of different kind. Such nights are romantic, such nights are tricky and such nights make you have something that you don’t have often. I love such nights and dinners on those nights are delicious yet healthy indulgences. I am a kind of regular rice eating Bengali. Be it lunch or be it dinner, I prefer rice and curry/dal over…
Winter is all about eating good and wholesome. Winter food has its own charm and there is nothing more exciting than having a delicious hot spread with your loved ones on a chilling and cozy winter morning. Bengali cuisine is blessed with a whole lot of amazing winter delicacies. Just the other day I have shared the recipe of very popular Phulkopir Roast, which is again a winter dish. Also,…
This is one of the most amazing Bengali winter delicacies. Winter is finally here and the local markets are flooded with seasonal veggies. While seasonal veggies are powerhouses of nutrients, they also are utterly delicious and used for tons of seasonal dishes. This time of the year is all about eating good food and when we have veggies in abundance, there is no looking back. Eating seasonal and eating local…
Boal Mach or Wallago Fish (as it is called in English) has always been my super favourite. The fish belongs to catfish category and is delicate in nature. Growing up, we never had scarcity of Boal as this is available in abundance in Assam. Boal Mach from Assam is considered to be of supreme quality and people there swear by the taste of this fish. Fleshy, soft, flavourful, oily and…
