Mishti Bangla

Bengal,the homeland to legendary preachers,poets,saints,singers,film-makers,sportsmen,academicians, was once the cultural capital of India. Political ideology slowly wove its web in the hearts of the easily swayed Bengalis and everything took a back-seat. Growth was replaced by graffiti and songs by slogans.Years of rallies,bandhs,hartals have taken their troll and Kolkata, the once capital of India is now a shade of its former    arrogant,proud and elegant self. But the one thing that kept pace along with the cultural heritage of the city of Joy,is its huge "never-say-enough" kind of an appetite. Almost in lazy ruins today,the city still holds its soul in the versatile culture of food habits.
Today, while I conclude my short and summarized episode of  Bongelicious,I am much eager to post about the sweets of Bengal. For Bengalis, sweets stand tall in their priority list as they form an important aspect in their day-to-day lives. A common Bengali adage refers to thirteen festivals in twelve months. Festive rituals abound throughout the year and sometimes vary from family to family and no festive or holy occasion is complete without the myriad of sweet delicacies. The king of all sweets is the Rasgulla or the "roshogolla" as it is called in Bengal. The very popular nutritious syrupy-sweet dish made from Indian cottage cheese or "chhana" is loved by all. Roshogolla is a Bengalis most famous culinary weapon. It is well reputed all over India and certain parts of South Asia. Owing to its popularity, nowadays canned rasgullas are sold in some confectionery stores.

In both Bangladesh and West Bengal the tradition of making different kinds of pan-fried steamed or boiled sweets,lovingly known as"pithe" or "pitha" still flourishes. These little balls of heaven symbolises the coming of winter. The richness lie in the creamy silkiness which is mixed with molasses or jaggery,made of either sugarcane or date-palm,and sometimes sugar. In both rural and urban areas of West Bengal almost every house holds the very famous pitha and "pati-shapta" festival during the winter. The celebration of Pitha as a traditional sweet is the time for the winter harvest festival or "Nobanno". The entire culture of making these sweets at home during harvest and offering it to friends and neighbours is to induce wellness and deriving blessings through their hard work.

Tomato-r chutney,"Khejur-Aamshottor chutney","Aanarosher chutney","Aamer chutney" are some of the must-haves of a Bengali menu.Several varities of yoghurt,such as "mishti doi",custard and rice-pudding are also popular in Bengal. Sandesh, Rosomalai, Chhanar jeelipi, Darbesh, Raghobshai, Payesh, Bundiya, Nalengur, Lagcha and many more sweet delicacies are always available in the thousands of sweet shops or "mishtir dokan" in every lane and streets of Kolkata and outskirts.Example of some nation-wide famous sweet shops of Kolkata are K.C Dass,Bhim Nag,Girish & Nakur,Senmahasay,Ganguram's,Balaram Mullick & Radharaman Mullick,Banchharam,Mouchak,Deshbandhu.

Trust me,all you have to do is to loose your bucks at different sweet shops of Kolkata and you are going to thank me each time you savour those delicacies.
Hereby I enclose some videos and links for further detailed information.

http://www.tarladalal.com/recipes-for-bengali-sweets-67
http://indianfood.about.com/od/sweetsanddesserts/tp/topbengalsweets.htm
http://allrecipes.co.in/recipes/sweets-recipes.aspx
                                                                        

The Bong Queen of Monsoon

Posting about Bengali food in the recent past,it has really tempted me to go into more details about the food of Bengal. Talking about Bengali food, the first thing that comes into the mind of a common Bengali, is "Bhapa Eilish" or "Shorshe Eilish". A tropical fish, most popular among the Bengalis and even the national fish of Bangladesh is the Eilish or Hilsa fish. The Padma-Meghna-Jamuna delta flowing into the Bay of Bengal provides a huge quantum of Hilsa each year. The Hilsa, caught in the rivers are considered to be more tasty than those of the seas. Varieties of preparation of Eilish are popular all over Bengal and even in the riverine plains. It can be smoked, fried or even baked in plantain leaves and prepared in mustard seed paste. Being reputed round the globe the Hilsa is even popular in North America, it is substituted by the Shad fish at times, subject to non-availabilty.

Hilsa fish harbours a lot of cultural value in Bengal. In many hindu families offering two Hilsa fishes during holy occasions is considered to be a custom. This custom is mostly predominant among the Bengali Hindus of former East Bengal. Monsoon and Eilish are two synonyms for Bengal. Monsoon spells its magic on us and we get hooked onto "Eilish macher paturi". Rich in Omega 3 fatty acid, the Hilsa fish is best harvested in the monsoon. Subject to the recent irregularity in the climatic conditions and over pollution in the rivers the production of Hilsa has been fluctuating in the recent times. Many families of Bengal who are not so well-to-do spends their monsoon without their favourite fish as prices soar to Rs. 1000 per kg due to sharp decline in the daily catch in both Hooghly and Narmada.Various workshops and the fisheries are being elucidated with the knowledge of better monitoring of Hilsa fish supply to reduce the price hike in the future.

 With the first drop of rain the Hilsa arrives in each and every house in Bengal. The Hilsa even carries a good economic value in the market as they are very pricy than other fishes but at same time they are sold in huge numbers. Hilsa which actually is a very oily fish possesses approximately 273 kcals of energy. Because of its nutritional value it is also prescribed by the doctors during certain health ailments.

It is also considered to be holy in certain associations. For example, The very famous famous East Bengal football Club that was established in 1920,  considers the Hilsa to be a holy icon for the club. Even during the Bengali New Year, when the jewellery shops unfold their new register for the year, offers sweets in the shape of Hilsa to their customers, as it is considered to be auspicious since ages.

The Hilsa stands tall in the long list of priorities in the everyday life of a Bengali. You should shell out those few hundred rupees for what is the best fish you could ever have. Ask the numerous Dadas and Didis, who desperately rush to the fish market despite the monsoon hoping to earn their share of the Queen of Bengal's monsoon. Hereby I conclude.

   

     

                                                                           

For further information regarding recipes of Hilsa you can surf the following links :  

 http://www.angithi.com/recipysite/RecipeDetail.asp?RecipeID=66

                http://rumis-recipes.blogspot.in/2008/01/doi-ilish-dahi-hilsa.html                                                                                          

http://food.sify.com/nonvegrecipes/ingredient/fish/Steamed_Hilsa_Fish_in_Yoghurt-131443

 Enjoy! 

                                                                                                         

Flavours of Bengal

One of the main reasons for selecting this topic today,is my own character probably. Being born in a Bengali family and brought up in Kolkata,delicious food have always fascinated me. Spice,aroma and mouth-watering flavours create a magical essence in Bengali food. The food of West Bengal is predominated by myriad of fish delicacies. The spices used in the preparation of foods is different from that of north Indian foods. Kolkata has become a hub of mouth-watering biriyanis over the years. People of bengal,known for their delicate lifestyle are very particular about food. Every alternate lanes and streets of Kolkata possess a multicuisine or a chinese restaurant. Some famous areas like Park Street and China Town are famous for their rows of cuisines. One can never run out options when it comes to food and restaurants in Kolkata. Be it south Indian delicacies,mughlai or north Indian, Kolkata is the place to be.

How can the meal of a Bengali end without a rasogolla or a sandesh? The other sweetened delicacies include varieties of payesh and sweetened curd or "mishti doi". Various food festivals are organised in Kolkata throughout the year. Bengali food creates a cultural essence and thus,reputed across the globe.
It is rghtly said at times, that bengalis eat to live and live to eat.
One can even refer to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bengali_cuisine for further knowledge.