Browse this section to find the most authentic traditional Bengali dishes and legendary restaurant and street food recipes.
People always ask me how pujos here are different from Kolkata pujos. Honestly, once you are inside the pujo madaps with your friends and family, and as long as there is dhaak and enough loud Bengalis, they don’t feel very different. If you are in Houston Durga Bari, you will not miss Kolkata at all, and arguably the Houston pujo…
What to make when you can’t find palm for taler bora? Tal/Palm fruit is to Bengali Augusts what pumpkin is to American Octobers: no one likes it but everybody wants it (albeit there are some folks who actually love palm). The traditional Bengali taler bora is the quintessential janmastami bhog. It was janmastami last week, and just…
What can I say? This is the queen of authentic Bengali cuisine and therefore needs no introduction. Boal is a large steak-y fish very popular in east India. Boal can be cooked in a variety of ways, but this mango boal is one of the best Bengali fish recipes.
It’s poila baishakh today, so I had to decide on a recipe that’s quintessentially Bengali. I also wanted to keep it simple; something that wouldn’t need elaborate planning and preparation such that anyone who stumbled upon my blog today could quickly make the dish. I knew that it had to be something that goes well with tea…
Tadka is the most iconic dhaba dish of Kolkata with a history as elusive as its recipe. Kolkata dhaba style tadka, or “Torka” is basically the Punjabi ma ki dal or kaali dal recipe that has been heavily modified to cater to the famously discerning Bengali palate. Before the torka was invented in 1970s (most likely)…
Update: I recently tried making Nolen gurer ice cream again, but with sweetened condensed milk and grated coconut this time, as I was out of condensed coconut milk. I have to say that I like it even better this way. The grated coconut adds a nice bite while maintaining a creamy texture. I am going…
Every Bengali family has its own recipe for a dhone patar chutney. While I love dhone pata (cilantro) in any form, my boro pishi‘s (oldest aunt) dhone patar chatni has to be the best dhone patar chutney or cilantro chutney anyone has ever tried. If you don’t believe me, try this recipe. It’s pretty simple and…
Most of the time I fail to post a timely Indian festival-related recipe because the traditional Indian Calendar follows lunar positions and I neither have nor know how to read a moon calendar. There are only four exceptions to my moon calendar ignorance (and there are at least 15 major Indian festivals), namely Holi, Diwali,…
Best Mutton Dak Bungalow recipe Established in India in the 1840s by the peripatetic British, Dak Bungalows were these government buildings set up along the main roads, perpetually changing how people travel in India. They served as lodgings for travelers (usually British officials) and post offices for the British mailing system. Even today, CPWD-run dak…
People, whose only contact with Indian food have been through stereotypical Indian restaurants, tend to think of Indian food as an extremely complex cuisine with very complicated cooking methods that involve a long list of spices. Unfortunately, that idea is completely inaccurate. There is, of course, a very long list of Indian recipes that do…