Bengali Thali
We have reached a milestone in our weekend thali project - our 10th Indian State Thali!! We are not just amazed that we stuck with this project for so long but also that we have learnt so much and are having so much fun!! We decided to mark this milestone by cooking up the Bengali Thali this weekend!! So many reasons for choosing this state cuisine - every year we attend the Durga Puja celebrations of the Bengali Association here during Dussera. Odisha and West Bengal are states that put up the Durga Puja Pandals back in India so this allows Vikram to recreate his childhood memories of Puja at Rourkela with our daughter and food is such a big part of it. Since this year the celebrations were virtual due to the pandemic, we attempted to recreate the Bengali cuisine at home. While we definitely want to give a big shoutout to Kalyan (Vikram’s friend) who helped us come up with the menu, this post is also an ode to all the dinners and lunches that Vikram has had during his childhood at his Bengali friend’s homes and the lovely experiences I have had while visiting Kolkata for work. Bengali food has such depth and finesse that it is truly difficult to capture it all in a single thali but let’s see how close we have come to capturing the essence of this beautiful state.
Bhoger Khichuri (Link to recipe)
This rice and lentils dish is what I look forward to at the Durga Puja celebrations each year. The rice and lentils are roasted to give it a smokey depth and the abundance of vegetables and ghee makes this a meal in itself. When combined with the tomato khajur chutney this is comfort food in the truest sense.
Bengali Masoor Dal (Link to recipe)
While the Cholar Dal is the more popular lentils dish from West Bengal, I am a bigger fan of the simpler Masoor Dal. Subtly spiced with a tadka of mustard oil with red chillies and panch phoran (a five spice mix of Cumin, Brown Mustard, Fenugreek, Nigella and Fennel), I recommend this dish if you want a new lentil dish to complement your vegetable or meat side-dishes without overpowering them.
Uchche Bhaja (Link to recipe)
A traditional bengali meal will begin with a bitter dish as a palate cleanser. Since we wanted to stay authentic, we attempted this dish with an open mind, even though both Vikram and I dislike bitter gourd. We were mildly surprised with the simplicity of the dish and overall, the combination of this Bhaja with the masoor dal and rice was not bad at all!!
Begun Bhaja (Link to recipe)
This dish where the eggplant is lightly spiced and coated with rice or wheat flour and fried, is a testimony that simple things in life sometimes give you the most satisfaction and happiness!!
Potol posto narkel (Link to recipe)
Here, potol (a.k.a pointed gourd or parval) is cooked in a poppy-seed and coconut paste. Posto - or poppy seeds play a significant role in bengali cuisine and while Aloo Posto is the more popular dish, this variation was equally tasty.
Alur Dum (Link to recipe)
This is the bengali variation of the Dum Aloo dish. Even if you don’t try anything else in this thali, I highly recommend making this dish with the Luchi atleast once. I have never been able to pinpoint how the taste differed from the north indian dum aloo, and learnt that the Bengali Garam Masala has only three ingredients in it (cinnamon, cloves and green cardomom) which is one of the things that sets it apart.
Luchi (Link to recipe)
If you love Puris, you will love Luchis which are made out of all-purpose flour instead of wheat flour. Luchis go especially well with the Alur Dum.
Shorshe Mach (Link to recipe)
No Bengali meal is complete without fish. Vikram chose this mustard gravy recipe which is quintessentially Bengali and it turned out amazing. He was especially happy to find Hilsa fish in the Indian store to make this dish.
Kosha Mangsho (Link to recipe)
A slow-cooked mutton gravy dish, this took an immense amount of patience to make but the end result was well worth it. We actually ran out of time to include this dish in the final thali picture but nevertheless this dish truly completed the bengali thali.
Tomato Khajur Chutney (Link to recipe)
It is said that the chutney in the bengali thali is used as a palate cleanser before you move to the sweets section. I found this chutney personally to be the perfect accompaniment to the Bhoger Khichuri.
Nolen Gur Er Paayesh (Link to recipe)
We were really excited to find date palm jaggery out here and had to try our hand making this kheer dish using this jaggery. We probably should have added more milk to the dish, but nevertheless this dish tasted simply stupendous.
Kesar Elaichi Sandesh (Link to recipe)
I don’t think this picture does justice to our very first attempt at making Sandesh from scratch. While the dish seemed simple enough on paper, there were definitely some hidden nuances to master. Nonetheless, they disappeared within a few hours so I guess the end result was tasty :)
We debated if we should also try the famous mishti doi, but we had to defer that for another day.
Replete and content after consuming this amazing and soul-satisfying meal, Vikram and I incredulously acknowledged the milestone that we had achieved. Yes, we had made thalis from 10 Indian states. Yes, we had virtually traveled to previously unknown frontiers. Yes, we had reminisced and shared innumerable memories. But in the end what made us the most proud that night was that we had made Sandesh at home!! And no we would have NEVER attempted it if we had not started this weekend thali project together!! Wonder what else we will discover as we move ahead towards the next milestone?
