Vegetable Chop/Beetroot Croquette

Vegetable chop or Beetroot Croquette is one of the drool worthy popular street foods of West Bengal. Grated beetroot, carrots are cooked with peanuts, then boiled potatoes added just to bind, spiced with special bhaja moshla aka Bengali style roasted and grounded spices, shaped into sphere or cylinder, dipped in a thin batter and rolled in the bread crumbs. Finally they are deep fried for irresistible taste. It is very vegan and satvic (meaning no onion and garlic are used). However julienne red onion and cucumber are the best accompaniments. It was our evening snack often with a bowl of moori (puffed rice) and tea. Sometimes in winter months my mother would make vegetable chop when beets and carrots were in abundance. 

Doi Ilish/Hilsha in Yogurt Sauce

I started this blogging journey eleven years ago. Life got super busy that I couldn’t post as much as I wanted for past few years;  especially 2023, I just vanished from blogging. But my passion for cooking never faded away. However I never stopped posting on my Instagram whatever I cooked. I came back slowly to blog and excited to share recipes. I got connected with people through my blogging journey. I completely missed my blog's 11th birthday last week. So, better late than never and today, I am sharing an amazing Hilsha recipe that passed down to my mother from a close family friend. It became one of our family favorites. It’s so drool worthy and definitely a keeper. 

Stir Fried Sugar Snap Peas

I recently had this amazing sugar snap pea stir-fry at friend’s house. Sugar snap pea is great on its own with yogurt dressing, full of protein and fiber. But this stir fry became a pretty regular thing with different spices since then. This is the easiest and almost requires no spices. It is a quick and easy side dish for busy weeknight dinners. I just sometimes enjoy having it as whole meal. It’s delicious, filling and satisfying.

Chicken Rezala

Rezala is a rich meat dish yet subtle gravy with aromatic spices, yogurt, milk/ cream and nuts created during Mughal era in Kolkata. This is very similar to korma. But its thin delicate gravy makes Rezala so unique. It is so delicious having rezala with naan and paratha. It pairs greatly with Polau as well. 

Traditionally mutton is used for rezala; but Chicken Rezala became its popularity as a lighter option over the years. Original recipe is very rich with ghee laden sauce. I tweaked it to make with less oil and ghee, yet it tastes incredible. 

Mishti Doi, a fermented sweet yogurt is pure delicacy of the sate of West Bengal, Odisa and Bangladesh. Any auspicious occasion requires Mishti Doi. It is made of thickened milk, yogurt culture and sugar, set in an earthen pot, wrapped in a heavy blanket then left in warm place to ferment overnight. Traditionally Mishti Doi gets its light brown color by caramelized sugar. It doesn't need any flavoring or toppings. 

Raddish Mismash/Mulor Ghonto

Mulor Ghonto is a winter dish and very understated dish. Ghonto may literally means mash; but it is more about coated nicely everything together. Winter is an abundance of fresh produce of different colors from leafy greens to all types of vegetables and comparatively inexpensive. Therefore,so many ghonto dishes are made in  Bengali households. It requires minimal spices and enjoyed with rice or roti.

Steamed Shrimp with Coconut Mustard

Bengali style steamed fish is an old tradition using coconut paste, mustard paste and mustard oil. This is so simple to make with minimal spices. It's best to use head on shrimp. It may be time consuming but worth it when it comes to flavor profile and texture. The freshly grounded mustard paste is an acquired taste and it has a pungent sensation similar to horseradish  wasabi-like sensation to it. Therefore adding coconut milk and coconut paste to balance it out resulting in a mouthwatering rustic seafood dish and best served with plain rice!

Fish Oil Fritters/Macher Teler Bora

Bengali staple food is fish and rice along with a wide variety of vegetable dishes. When it comes to cooking fish nothing gets wasted in Bengali households. Delicious dishes are made using fish head to tail including innards. Macher teler bora or fish oil fritter is one of the delicacies in West Bengal, India. I grew up eating pretty often when big fish like whole carp was bought. Fish innards include organ, intestines and fat. Most innards are edible except for the gallbladder which is full of greenish yellowish bile that tastes awfully bitter if it is broken. My mother used only liver, lungs and fats. She never used intestines that taste very chewy, yet edible.

Grass Carp in Creamy Cashew and Raisins Gravy

I tasted this top notch white fish curry in a Bengali ceremony many moons back. This is not a traditional fish curry that I had while growing up. It is inspired by Indian royal cuisines from the Mughal kitchens where luxurious ingredients like nuts, exotic spices and dry fruits are used. It is rich, creamy and mildly spiced with just a hint of sweetness from the raisins. Fish is smothered in heavy cream based gravy along with onion, ginger, garlic and aromatic spices. To make it bit lighter I swap heavy cream with cashew cream mixed with milk and yogurt. It's a great fish curry for any get together or ceremony. 

Cauliflower and Rice Pilaf(Chaal Phoolkopi)

When cauliflower in its peak in winter months in India, so many wide variety of culinary delights with cauliflower are prepared and enjoyed. Traditionally most vegetables are grown in winter and they are generally affordable. Cauliflower and Rice Pilaf/Chaal Phoolkopi is an age old vegetarian Bengali dish with aromatic gobindobhog rice that makes a delectable dish enjoyed by both vegetarian and non vegetarian eaters. This used to be a must while growing up in India.

Kalai Dal Chingri Diye/White Lentil with Shrimp

Kalai dal(not sure what it is called in english) or urad dal is an integral part of Bengali cuisine for the people who have their roots in West Bengal. Kalier dal and potato curry with poppy seeds paste are their best vegetarian comfort food with plain rice. My parents migrated from Bangladesh erstwhile East Bengal. This dal is not that popular for them at all. My ma prepared this with shrimp always, never its vegetarian version. This preparation is very  common for Bangal people(who migrated from Bangladesh).

Orange Chicken Curry

This chicken curry with tangy sweet orange juice is an excellent dish for family and guests. Chicken is marinated in freshly squeezed orange juice then cooked in a mildly spiced basic curry spices. Orange zest makes a big difference to flavor the dish. I like adding cilantro at the end for its bursting warm spicy complex flavor but it’s optional. For a nice presentation place orange slices on top. 

Mochar Ghonto/Banana Blossom Curry

Bengalis would always crave for simple delicacies no matter where they go. And when they settle down in a foreign country they try to find ingredients to recreate all the recipes they grew up with, made by mothers, grandmothers and aunts. Like all immigrants, Bengalis do love to keep their traditional cuisine alive. They wouldn’t even mind to drive a long drive to get certain things they look for. We are the lucky ones to have plenty of Asian and Indian groceries close by to find the most Indian vegetables, spices, fish and seafood. It feels  home in a foreign country. 

Mung bean with Jack fruit Seeds

This Mung bean and jack fruit seeds stew spiced with fresh ginger paste and other basic spices is a very delicious vegan and vegetarian friendly dish can be enjoyed with plain rice and simple shallow fried eggplant, fried potato or any veggie fritters. 

Bangladeshi Chicken Korma

Bangladeshi Chicken Korma is whitish to soft cream color and cooked without tomatoes, red chili powder and turmeric. It's rich, creamy mildly spiced and full flavored. It needs a bit of preparation like marinating chicken for at least half an hour and slow cooking to make sure spices don’t turn brown too much. Cashew, almond and cream are an essential ingredients for any korma. I use for this particular korma skinless peanuts and whole milk. For the best tasting korma bone in chicken a great choice. It stays juicy and tender. All ingredients are pretty much basic pantry ingredients resulting in a delicious dish. This is best served with paratha or basmati rice. This dish is inspired by my lovely Bangladeshi friend. 

Bengali Style Chicken Stew

A very comforting and hearty stew with chicken and veggies using minimum spices was created for Britishers served with buttered toast during British rule in Kolkata, India. Later, Bengali tweaked it adding some aromatics and spices to suit their liking. However, this is not a spice laden stew and it still has an English touch and mostly served with buttered or plain toast. This delicious hearty stew with bone in chicken, fresh veggies need very basic pantry ingredients that comes together in an hour or less. It's a great way to serve protein and veggies together as an one dish meal to the family all year round. This Bengali style Chicken Stew must not be confused with Bengali Chicken Curry which is made with just potatoes and all most same spices but yellowish in color and medium thick spicy gravy.  

Macher Paturi

Macher Paturi is one of the best fish delicacies in Bengali cuisine made with predominantly coconut, mustard paste, green chili and mustard oil mixture mostly using Hilsha or Bhetki mach(Baramundi fish), wrapped like a little parcel in banana leaf, then grilled or pan fried. Slowly grilled banana leaf parcel over the hot iron pan gives wonderful aroma and heavenly taste. Paturi in Bengali means pata(leaf). Therefore any edible leaf sometimes used instead of banana leaf for paturi. Macher Paturi is very popular with different spices in different states of India and other countries as well. 

Chingri Malaicurry

Chingri/Shrimp Malai Curry cooked in mildly spiced coconut based gravy is one of the divine dishes of Bengali cuisine served on special occasions or wedding ceremonies. Malai in Bengali means dairy cream but in this particular dish has no dairy in it. Now the question is if I ever wanted to know how the word “malai” came from, not really. Did my grand mothers and mother's generations know? I am not so sure as we never questioned about it. All I know is how my mother made it so finger licking without using overpowering spices and I make exactly the same way. Malai Curry is very close to our heart.

Chirer Polao/Bengali Style Flattened Rice Pilaf

An easy, tasty and very satisfying Chirer Polao deliciously brings together different veggies, peanuts, slightly aromatic warming spices and a touch of sweet note from raisins and sugar. It takes only half an hour to make with simple pantry ingredients. Flatten rice pilaf is called poha in other parts of India as a very popular breakfast and it is sold by street food vendors. They make it very savory with less veggies.  

Radhaballavi

It’s been eight years documenting various recipes I learned and tried over the years on my blogging journey. It’s fun but loads of work to post after managing my family. Today I bring you a heavenly delicious Bengali style fried stuffed bread Radhaballavi which is  served at Bengali wedding ceremonies and as a special treat for breakfast, lunch or dinner in many Bengali households.