East or west, which Bengali cuisine is the best?

Bangladesh has been on everyone’s minds and news feeds recently, especially with the iconic image of one of the protesters who vandalised Sheikh Hasina’s house proudly holding up a 20 kg rahu fish. This feels like the right time to discuss the differences between West Bengal and East Bengal (Bangladeshi) cuisine.

Contrary to what some might think, Bengali food isn’t uniform. The cuisine and people of West Bengal are called “Bangalis” or “Bengalis”, if one’s anglicised, and are referred to as “ghoti.” In contrast, the residents and cuisine of Bangladesh are known as “Baangal.” Many, like myself, have family roots in both parts of undivided Bengal, allowing us to enjoy the best of both worlds.

These distinctions might seem trivial to non-Bengalis, but there’s a rich variety of flavours and cooking styles that differentiate the two Bengals—far more than just a border. And any Bengali would be happy to give you a lecture on which side’s food they prefer.

Of course, there are commonalities. Rice is a staple, as wheat wasn’t traditionally grown in Bengal and only became common after the Japanese entered World War II, introducing a ration system for rice, wheat, sugar, and textiles in Calcutta. Additionally, potatoes and tomatoes, known as “vilayati alu” (English potato) and “vilayati begoon” (English brinjal), respectively, weren’t part of traditional Bengali cuisine until they were introduced in the 1700s and became part of the repertoire.

One of the distinctive features of West Bengal cuisine is the use of sugar in most dishes, and deep-frying of vegetables and fish before cooking it with spices in a gravy. In contrast, Baangal or East Bengal cuisine is known for its sharper flavors, lighter frying (if any), and the absence of sugar in cooking. It’s also spicier, with a wider variety of vegetables and a greater use of garlic and onion—ingredients that were traditionally taboo in Bengal and much of India, reflecting a Muslim influence on the cuisine.

Doi (yoghurt) is never eaten at night, which is why desserts often consist of kheer, rabri, or the iconic sandesh and rosogolla. (Photo: Pixabay)

I remember my Baangal grandmother telling me how appalled she was seeing “many bowls of sugar” being added to dal and vegetables, after marrying my Ghoti grandfather. Although she insisted it was excessive, given how delicious the food was in my grandfather’s home, I think she was exaggerating — just a little bit.

There are some similarities in the cuisine, though. For instance, doi (yoghurt) is never eaten at night, which is why desserts often consist of kheer, rabri, or the iconic sandesh and rosogolla. The use of chhana (cottage cheese) in desserts is unique to both West Bengal and Bangladesh and is not found elsewhere in India.

While yoghurt isn’t eaten plain at night, it is used in cooking and served as borhani in Bangladesh—a yoghurt-based drink flavored with salt and freshly ground pepper. In Bangladeshi cuisine, dishes like korma and rezala are still flavored with yogurt. This Bengali Muslim cuisine is distinct from the Mughal cuisine of northern India or Hyderabadi cuisine. It is less rich, more subtle, and uses lemon and yogurt in place of cream and thick kheer.

A popular dish in my home is paalong saag, or spinach with pumpkin and shrimp. In Bangladesh’s Chittagong, where this recipe originates, dried shrimp is used instead of fresh, a result of the abundance of fish in Bangladesh’s rivers and the need to preserve it. Fermented fish is also highly popular, particularly in Sylhet, where my grandmother is from. Large punti fish are preserved in earthen pots filled with mustard oil and buried underground. After months, the fish, now an oily paste, is served as a relish with rice or added to the gravy of freshwater fish.

Batter-fried spinach (pata bhaja) and bhorta––a mash made with fish, prawns, vegetables, or even just spices like poppy seeds flavoured with onion, garlic, dried red chilies, and mustard oil––are staples, served with plain rice. In West Bengal, there’s a similar dish called bhaatey, a mash meant to be mixed with rice (bhaat).

A trip to Bangladesh just to taste the dhakai porotha—a small paratha with fifty or sixty layers beneath a golden, flaky surface—would be well advised. Another uniquely East Bengal dish is a dessert made of lauki with evaporated milk, ghee and sugar.

The hilsa is born in the sea and travels up to the estuaries of the Ganga and Padma river. (Express Photo by Partha Paul)

I will end on the one unifying factor, the hilsa, a fish which is born in the sea and travels up to the estuaries of the Ganga and Padma rivers. Even people from West Bengal will grudgingly admit that the Padma ilish or hilsa is the best. The importance of this fish is so significant that “hilsa diplomacy” often plays a role in meetings between Bangladesh’s premier and Bengal’s chief ministers, where the quantity of hilsa exports to India is discussed.

Bengalis eat the entire hilsa. The head and tail are cooked with vegetables, the fish eggs are fried, and the fish itself is either prepared in a light gravy or fried and eaten with mustard oil. Bangladesh also deserves credit for paturi—steamed fish wrapped in banana leaves—more common in East Bengal than in West Bengal. In Bangladesh’s Mymensingh district, hilsa is cooked with coconut milk, onions, and ghee, making it a delicacy. Hilsa roe is also combined with a sour berry found in Bengal called karamcha.

Baangal cuisine is known for combining fruit with fish or meat—something not practiced in West Bengal. There are delightful recipes like hilsa with pineapple and koi (climbing perch) fish with orange. A perfect ending to a Baangal meal might be kamala jarda, an orange-flavored sweet rice, topped with almonds, pistachios, and raisins.

Perhaps, now it makes sense why those who vandalised Sheikh Hasina’s home were more excited to walk out with a monstrously large fish than with any other valuable. The revolution, you see, must be fried—or cooked in a gravy.

As a treat, I’ve included an interesting recipe for Kalo Jeera Bhorta (Kalonji bharta), a dish prepared especially in Baangal homes to combat monsoon sniffles and flu.

Kalo Jeera (kalonji) Bhorta

1 tsp of kalonji/nigella seeds
8 cloves of garlic – crushed
2 whole green chilis
1 tsp ghee
1 tsp Mustard oil
Salt to taste

*Dry roast the kalo jeera/kalonji on a tawa.

*Heat the ghee and add the crushed garlic and the green chilis.

*Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl and crush in a mortar and pestle with mustard oil and salt.

*Roll the mixture into tiny balls and eat mixed with hot rice as a starter.

Next week, I will write about my recent visit to Jaipur and the intricacies of Rajasthani cuisine.

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