bengali vegetarian recipes Archive

  • Chapor ghonto – the beautiful mish mash of seasonal vegetables seasoned with Bengali spice blend, the panch phoron, beautifully scented with cumin-ginger paste which has become a backbone for all the Bengali vegetarian dishes. Like other Bengali vegetarian dishes, this one too uses no onion and garlic in the recipe. And as I have discussed earlier in my previous posts on Bengali vegetarian dishes (aloo posto), we attributed solely this to the community of Bengali widows of yesteryears. These group […]1July 31, 2017

    Chapor ghonto / Bengali mix vegetables with lentil patties

    Chapor ghonto – the beautiful mish mash of seasonal vegetables seasoned with Bengali spice blend, the panch phoron, beautifully scented with cumin-ginger paste which has become a backbone for all the Bengali vegetarian dishes. Like other Bengali vegetarian dishes, this one too uses no onion and garlic in the recipe. And as I have discussed earlier in my previous posts on Bengali vegetarian dishes (aloo posto), we attributed solely this to the community of Bengali widows of yesteryears. These group […]

  • Koraishutir dhokar dalna is a beautiful variant of the classic Bengali dish dhokar dalna. The spicy peas and lentil cakes are steamed and then fried in enough oil till they turn golden brown. You can devour them as a snack or make a curry with scented cumin-ginger paste which is a very flavourful combination of two ingredients and it becomes a backbone of many Bengali vegetarian dishes as we do not use onion and garlic with our vegetables. The essence of […]0April 2, 2017

    Bengali koraishutir dhokar dalna / Curried spicy green peas & lentil cakes

    Koraishutir dhokar dalna is a beautiful variant of the classic Bengali dish dhokar dalna. The spicy peas and lentil cakes are steamed and then fried in enough oil till they turn golden brown. You can devour them as a snack or make a curry with scented cumin-ginger paste which is a very flavourful combination of two ingredients and it becomes a backbone of many Bengali vegetarian dishes as we do not use onion and garlic with our vegetables. The essence of […]

  • Gota sheddho / casserole of whole lentils and boiled whole vegetables – a tradition reborn again. Cultural diversity gives India a unique flavour and richness. Often with in the same community or region, the differences in culture, traditions, rituals and beliefs are so divergent from each other giving a different entity altogether. Like in Bengal, where Ghotis (those originate in West Bengal) and Bangal culture (people of East Bengal before partition of India) are so different from each other that we […]2February 8, 2017

    Gota sheddho / casserole of whole lentils and boiled whole vegetables – traditions reinvented

    Gota sheddho / casserole of whole lentils and boiled whole vegetables – a tradition reborn again. Cultural diversity gives India a unique flavour and richness. Often with in the same community or region, the differences in culture, traditions, rituals and beliefs are so divergent from each other giving a different entity altogether. Like in Bengal, where Ghotis (those originate in West Bengal) and Bangal culture (people of East Bengal before partition of India) are so different from each other that we […]

  • Do you remember that kindergarten rhyme- “My house is red a little house, a happy child am I. I laugh and play the live long day. I hardly ever cry. I had a tree, a green green tree to shade me from the sun. Under which I often sit, when all my play is done.” I wonder when I have read last such innocent lines. One of the classic rhyme, I guess and I was so much in love with […]2April 20, 2015

    Enchor’er dalna / green jackfruit curry in Bengali style

    Do you remember that kindergarten rhyme- “My house is red a little house, a happy child am I. I laugh and play the live long day. I hardly ever cry. I had a tree, a green green tree to shade me from the sun. Under which I often sit, when all my play is done.” I wonder when I have read last such innocent lines. One of the classic rhyme, I guess and I was so much in love with […]

  • Plantains and green bananas are deceptively similar, with special emphasize on the word “deceptively”. I tell you why? Eons ago on a bright summer day, me and my roommate decided to venture into our local vegetable market, both of us in our late teens, and it was very first time we actually went to the market all by ourselves to buy anything, without the guidance of our parents. Well, they said “do it right the first time” and so when […]2August 26, 2014

    Kancha kala’r khosha bata / plantain skin mash

    Plantains and green bananas are deceptively similar, with special emphasize on the word “deceptively”. I tell you why? Eons ago on a bright summer day, me and my roommate decided to venture into our local vegetable market, both of us in our late teens, and it was very first time we actually went to the market all by ourselves to buy anything, without the guidance of our parents. Well, they said “do it right the first time” and so when […]

  • Sojne data chorchori / Bengali style drumstick (not chicken) with vegetables : Couple of days back, a reader wrote on the wall of Facebook page of  a prominent blogger that her post are too heavy with prose. Obviously we felt bad about that and at the same time it gave me enough food for thought to ponder on this topic. Today’s post is all about nailing the dilemma of writing “prose or no prose“. In the mid 90’s or early 2000’s when […]7May 16, 2013

    Sajne data chorchori / drumsticks with vegetables in Bengali style

    Sojne data chorchori / Bengali style drumstick (not chicken) with vegetables : Couple of days back, a reader wrote on the wall of Facebook page of  a prominent blogger that her post are too heavy with prose. Obviously we felt bad about that and at the same time it gave me enough food for thought to ponder on this topic. Today’s post is all about nailing the dilemma of writing “prose or no prose“. In the mid 90’s or early 2000’s when […]

  •   When love and skill work together, expect a masterpiece. # John Ruskin  Masterpiece recipes are difficult to recreate, it is that delicate balance of flavor, taste and texture that we all strive to achieve in cooking or in art and also in life. Mochar ghonto is one such classic dish from Bengali cuisine, repertoire of few but loved by many if not all.  Though I am yet to come across a person who does not love this dish. Mochar ghonto or banana blossom stir fry is unanimously […]2April 18, 2013

    Bengali Mochar ghonto / Stir fried banana blossoms

      When love and skill work together, expect a masterpiece. # John Ruskin  Masterpiece recipes are difficult to recreate, it is that delicate balance of flavor, taste and texture that we all strive to achieve in cooking or in art and also in life. Mochar ghonto is one such classic dish from Bengali cuisine, repertoire of few but loved by many if not all.  Though I am yet to come across a person who does not love this dish. Mochar ghonto or banana blossom stir fry is unanimously […]

  •   Bengali women are perceived to be dominant, be it in *** or in living room discussions, they never refrain from showing their intellectual and cooking prowess, from music, cinema, sports, cooking to political debates, they have their say in everything and that they do with utmost conviction. As soon as a guest entered a Bengali household, the women take the centre stage,  they will never quietly parcel the foods from kitchen and courier it through their kids, instead they […]20April 3, 2013

    Aloo posto and why a bengali girl can not be a vegetarian !

      Bengali women are perceived to be dominant, be it in *** or in living room discussions, they never refrain from showing their intellectual and cooking prowess, from music, cinema, sports, cooking to political debates, they have their say in everything and that they do with utmost conviction. As soon as a guest entered a Bengali household, the women take the centre stage,  they will never quietly parcel the foods from kitchen and courier it through their kids, instead they […]

  • After consistently blogging for few months I was forced to take another blogging break for two weeks, which was both un foreseen and unavoidable at the same time. I never expected that my OS will be brought down by a virus after securing the network with so many anti-viruses and multiple layers of firewalls, but it seems to be a newly launched virus which so cunningly able to fool Norton and even Kaspersky and sneaks through the Symantec. It corrupt […]18May 25, 2011

    begun basanti / eggplants in mustard sauce bengali style

    After consistently blogging for few months I was forced to take another blogging break for two weeks, which was both un foreseen and unavoidable at the same time. I never expected that my OS will be brought down by a virus after securing the network with so many anti-viruses and multiple layers of firewalls, but it seems to be a newly launched virus which so cunningly able to fool Norton and even Kaspersky and sneaks through the Symantec. It corrupt […]

  • I was introduced to this lovely dish of chanar kalia by the Bengali restaurants , where it is always served as a vegetarian delicacy and must have on lavish buffet spread that these restaurants often boast off and believe me, I was seriously bowled over by its sheer taste and flavour. This is generally not the usual way to prepare chanar kalia at home, but I must say this is one of the dish you must try at home. Chana […]1April 13, 2011

    bengali chanar kalia – curried cheese dumplings restaurant style

    I was introduced to this lovely dish of chanar kalia by the Bengali restaurants , where it is always served as a vegetarian delicacy and must have on lavish buffet spread that these restaurants often boast off and believe me, I was seriously bowled over by its sheer taste and flavour. This is generally not the usual way to prepare chanar kalia at home, but I must say this is one of the dish you must try at home. Chana […]

  • …durga puja special recipe… labra – assorted vegetables cooked with panch phoron (five spices) Labra is not a mixed vegetable dish but it is a medley of assorted vegetables thrown together, cooked in their own juices, embraces each others flavour and in the process lose some of their individual streaks. Thus acquiring a unique taste and can not be recreated if you omit some or include others. Labra is one of the traditional Bengali dish and the assortment of vegetables […]6October 15, 2010

    labra – a medley of assorted vegetables

    …durga puja special recipe… labra – assorted vegetables cooked with panch phoron (five spices) Labra is not a mixed vegetable dish but it is a medley of assorted vegetables thrown together, cooked in their own juices, embraces each others flavour and in the process lose some of their individual streaks. Thus acquiring a unique taste and can not be recreated if you omit some or include others. Labra is one of the traditional Bengali dish and the assortment of vegetables […]

  • …poila baisakh special recipes… …Dhokar dalna or steamed lentil cakes in ginger gravy… Very difficult, time-consuming, too lengthy ways, blah ! blah ! blah ! This is how most of us describe the dhokar dalna and because of this many of us shy away from preparing it. But on a tastier note dhokar dalna redefines simplicity with its elegance, unmatched flavor and fabulous taste. Dhokar dalna is one of the classy vegetarian dishes from Bengali cuisine and is nothing but […]2April 11, 2010

    dhokar dalna

    …poila baisakh special recipes… …Dhokar dalna or steamed lentil cakes in ginger gravy… Very difficult, time-consuming, too lengthy ways, blah ! blah ! blah ! This is how most of us describe the dhokar dalna and because of this many of us shy away from preparing it. But on a tastier note dhokar dalna redefines simplicity with its elegance, unmatched flavor and fabulous taste. Dhokar dalna is one of the classy vegetarian dishes from Bengali cuisine and is nothing but […]

  • *** This post has been re-edited and re-photographed.*** Sometimes it is really interesting to know that how the two distinctly divergent culture shares a similar cuisine or how a particular dish which has evolved independently in two distinct country shares a common lineage. And the dolma is exactly the point in case. For generations after generations people in Bengal (East India) relish dolma which they love to prepare on special occasions. Potol er dolma is a classic dish in Bengali […]4April 10, 2010

    potoler dolma

    *** This post has been re-edited and re-photographed.*** Sometimes it is really interesting to know that how the two distinctly divergent culture shares a similar cuisine or how a particular dish which has evolved independently in two distinct country shares a common lineage. And the dolma is exactly the point in case. For generations after generations people in Bengal (East India) relish dolma which they love to prepare on special occasions. Potol er dolma is a classic dish in Bengali […]