RAG Demo

Tag: Bengali

  • Kosha Mangsho

    Kosha mangsho means mutton that has been 'koshano' – stirred and seared slowly in its own masala until the oil separates and the meat turns deep brown. Kolkata's Golbari, a small eatery in Shyambazar, made it famous, and in many Bengali homes it is still the centrepiece of a Sunday lunch or a festive meal after Durga Puja.

    The gravy is thick, almost dry, and dark from long bhuna rather than from food colour. Mustard oil, whole garam masala, a touch of sugar to caramelise the onions, and plenty of ginger and garlic give it a rich, slightly sweet and pungent character. Potatoes are often added for those who like them, and the dish tastes even better the next day.

    At a glance

    RegionWest Bengal
    CuisineBengali
    DietNon-vegetarian
    CourseMain course
    Prep time20 minutes
    Cook time105 minutes
    Total time125 minutes
    Serves4
    Spice levelMedium
    DifficultyMedium
    Gluten-freeYes
    Key ingredientsmutton / onion / yogurt / mustard oil

    Ingredients

    For the marinade

    • 1 kg mutton (curry cut, with bone)
    • 1/2 cup thick curd
    • 1 tbsp ginger paste
    • 1 tbsp garlic paste
    • 1 tsp turmeric powder
    • 2 tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder
    • 2 tbsp mustard oil
    • 1 tsp salt

    For cooking

    • 5 tbsp mustard oil
    • 2 bay leaves
    • 4 green cardamoms
    • 4 cloves
    • 2 inch cinnamon stick
    • 1 tsp sugar
    • 4 large onions, finely sliced
    • 2 medium potatoes, halved (optional)
    • 1 tsp cumin powder
    • 1 tsp coriander powder
    • 4 green chillies, slit
    • 1 tsp garam masala powder
    • 1 tbsp ghee
    • Salt to taste

    Method

    1. Mix the mutton with all the marinade ingredients and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or overnight.
    2. If using potatoes, rub them with salt and turmeric and fry in 1 tbsp mustard oil until golden on all sides. Set aside.
    3. Heat the remaining mustard oil in a heavy pot until smoking, then lower to medium. Add bay leaves, cardamom, cloves and cinnamon, then the sugar. Let the sugar melt and caramelise for 20-30 seconds.
    4. Add the sliced onions and fry on medium heat for 15-18 minutes, stirring often, until they are deep golden brown.
    5. Add the marinated mutton with all the marinade. Raise the heat to high for 5 minutes, stirring constantly, then lower to medium-low.
    6. Add cumin powder, coriander powder and green chillies. Cover and cook, opening every 5-7 minutes to stir and scrape the bottom, for about 45 minutes. The meat releases its own water; add 2-3 tbsp hot water only if it sticks.
    7. Once the masala turns dark brown and the oil floats at the edges, add the fried potatoes and 1/2 cup hot water. Cover and cook on low for another 30-40 minutes until the mutton is tender and the potatoes are cooked through.
    8. Uncover and keep stirring on medium heat for 5 minutes until the gravy is thick and clinging. Finish with garam masala and ghee, rest for 10 minutes before serving.

    Tips

    • Use meat from the shoulder or a mix with some fat and bone – lean leg pieces turn dry in the long bhuna.
    • To save time, pressure cook after step 6 for 3-4 whistles, then open and dry off the gravy on high heat.
    • The colour should come from patient browning of onions and meat; resist adding more chilli powder to darken it.

    Serve with

    Luchi, basanti pulao or plain steamed rice, with sliced onion and green chilli.

  • Chingri Malai Curry

    Chingri malai curry is the Bengali dish of choice for a son-in-law on jamai sasthi or for any guest worth impressing. The 'malai' refers to coconut cream rather than dairy, and some food historians link the name to Malay traders who brought coconut-based cooking to the eastern coast. Golda chingri, the big freshwater scampi with blue-orange heads, are the traditional prawn.

    The curry is mild, rich and faintly sweet. The prawn heads are left on because the fat inside them colours and flavours the gravy, and whole garam masala in ghee gives the warm aroma Bengalis expect. Unlike southern coconut curries it uses no curry leaves or tamarind; the balance is between sweetness, gentle heat from green chillies and the richness of coconut milk.

    At a glance

    RegionWest Bengal
    CuisineBengali
    DietNon-vegetarian
    CourseMain course
    Prep time25 minutes
    Cook time25 minutes
    Total time50 minutes
    Serves4
    Spice levelMild
    DifficultyMedium
    Gluten-freeYes
    Key ingredientsprawns / coconut milk / onion / ghee

    Ingredients

    For the prawns

    • 8 large golda prawns or 500 g tiger prawns, shelled, deveined, heads and tails on
    • 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
    • 1/2 tsp salt
    • 2 tbsp mustard oil

    For the gravy

    • 1 tbsp mustard oil
    • 1 tbsp ghee
    • 2 bay leaves
    • 3 green cardamoms, lightly crushed
    • 3 cloves
    • 1 inch cinnamon stick
    • 1 large onion, ground to a paste
    • 1 tsp ginger paste
    • 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
    • 1 tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder
    • 1 1/2 cups thick coconut milk
    • 3 green chillies, slit
    • 1 tsp sugar
    • 1/4 tsp garam masala powder
    • Salt to taste

    Method

    1. Rub the cleaned prawns with turmeric and salt and keep aside for 10 minutes.
    2. Heat 2 tbsp mustard oil in a kadhai until smoking, then lower to medium. Fry the prawns for 1 minute per side until they just turn pink and curl. Remove; they will finish cooking in the gravy.
    3. In the same pan add the remaining mustard oil and ghee. Add bay leaves, cardamom, cloves and cinnamon and let them sizzle for 20 seconds.
    4. Add the onion paste and cook on medium heat for 6-8 minutes, stirring, until the raw smell is gone and it turns light golden.
    5. Add ginger paste, turmeric and chilli powder with a splash of water. Cook for 2 minutes until the oil starts separating.
    6. Lower the heat and pour in the coconut milk, stirring continuously so it does not split. Add salt, sugar and the slit green chillies and simmer gently for 4-5 minutes.
    7. Return the prawns to the pan. Simmer on low heat for 4-5 minutes, spooning gravy over them, until the prawns are cooked through and the gravy coats the back of a spoon.
    8. Sprinkle garam masala and add a final teaspoon of ghee. Cover and rest for 5 minutes before serving.

    Tips

    • Keep the heads on and press them gently while cooking – the orange fat inside is what gives the gravy its colour.
    • Never boil hard once the coconut milk is in, or it will curdle and turn grainy.
    • Overcooked prawns turn rubbery; take them off the heat as soon as they are opaque in the centre.

    Serve with

    Plain steamed rice or ghee bhaat, with a slice of lime.

  • Aloo Posto

    Aloo posto is everyday Bengali food at its most comforting. Poppy seeds, or posto, became central to the cooking of the Rarh region – Bankura, Birbhum and Burdwan – in the nineteenth century, when opium cultivation under the British left the seeds cheap and plentiful. Families there still eat some form of posto almost every day.

    The dish is pale, creamy and nutty, with only green chillies for heat and a last drizzle of raw mustard oil for bite. Potatoes cut into cubes soak up the paste until it coats them thickly. It is eaten as part of a traditional lunch after a bitter shukto and before the dal, mixed into hot rice with a squeeze of lime.

    At a glance

    RegionWest Bengal
    CuisineBengali
    DietVegan
    CourseSide dish
    Prep time15 minutes
    Cook time20 minutes
    Total time35 minutes
    Serves4
    Spice levelMild
    DifficultyEasy
    Gluten-freeYes
    Key ingredientspotato / poppy seeds / green chilli / mustard oil

    Ingredients

    • 4 medium potatoes (about 500 g), peeled and cut into 2 cm cubes
    • 5 tbsp white poppy seeds (posto)
    • 4 green chillies (2 for paste, 2 slit)
    • 3 tbsp mustard oil
    • 1/2 tsp kalonji (nigella seeds)
    • 1/4 tsp turmeric powder (optional)
    • 1/2 tsp sugar
    • 1 cup water
    • Salt to taste

    Method

    1. Soak the poppy seeds in warm water for 30 minutes. Drain and grind with 2 green chillies and 2-3 tbsp water to a smooth, thick paste. Stone-ground on a sil-nora is traditional; a mixer works if you grind in bursts and scrape down often.
    2. Heat 2 tbsp mustard oil in a kadhai until it smokes, then lower the heat to medium. Add the kalonji and slit green chillies and let them sizzle for 10 seconds.
    3. Add the potato cubes and turmeric if using. Stir-fry for 4-5 minutes until the edges look lightly translucent but not browned.
    4. Add salt and 1 cup water, cover and cook on low-medium heat for 8-10 minutes until the potatoes are just tender and most of the water has been absorbed.
    5. Stir in the poppy seed paste and sugar. Cook uncovered on low heat for 3-4 minutes, stirring gently, until the paste thickens and coats the potatoes. Add a splash of water if it gets too dry.
    6. Turn off the heat and drizzle the remaining 1 tbsp raw mustard oil over the top. Mix lightly and serve warm.

    Tips

    • Do not cook the posto paste for long – once it loses its moisture it turns grainy and slightly bitter.
    • Add a few pieces of jhinge (ridge gourd) or onion along with the potatoes for the popular variations jhinge aloo posto and peyaj posto.
    • Poppy seeds are restricted for import or carriage in some countries; check before travelling with them.

    Serve with

    Hot steamed rice and masoor dal, with a wedge of lime.

  • Machher Jhol

    Machher jhol is the everyday fish curry of Bengal, eaten across Kolkata and village homes alike, and the phrase maach-bhaat, fish and rice, sums up Bengali identity for many people. Jhol means a thin, light gravy, as opposed to the richer kalia or the mustard-heavy shorshe. It is typically made with rohu or katla, the freshwater carp of Bengal's ponds and rivers.

    The fish is rubbed with turmeric and salt, fried in mustard oil until golden, then simmered with potatoes and sometimes cauliflower or brinjal in a broth spiced with cumin, ginger and green chillies, tempered with kalo jeere (nigella). It is light, warming and fragrant, the sort of meal cooked for someone recovering from illness, and always eaten with steamed rice.

    At a glance

    RegionWest Bengal
    CuisineBengali
    DietNon-vegetarian
    CourseMain course
    Prep time20 minutes
    Cook time30 minutes
    Total time50 minutes
    Serves4
    Spice levelMedium
    DifficultyEasy
    Gluten-freeYes
    Key ingredientsrohu fish / potato / mustard oil / turmeric / cumin

    Ingredients

    For the fish

    • 6 pieces rohu or katla (about 500 g), steaks with skin
    • 3/4 tsp turmeric powder
    • 3/4 tsp salt
    • 4 tbsp mustard oil

    For the jhol

    • 1/2 tsp kalo jeere (nigella seeds)
    • 2 green chillies, slit
    • 2 medium potatoes, cut into long wedges
    • 1 small tomato, chopped (optional)
    • 1 tbsp ginger paste
    • 1.5 tsp cumin powder
    • 1 tsp coriander powder
    • 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
    • 1/2 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
    • 1 tsp salt, or to taste
    • 1/2 tsp sugar
    • 2 cups hot water
    • 2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves

    Method

    1. Rub the fish with turmeric and salt and set aside for 10 minutes.
    2. Heat the mustard oil in a kadai on high heat until it just begins to smoke, then lower the heat to medium. Fry the fish in batches for 2-3 minutes per side until golden. Do not overcook; it will cook more in the jhol. Remove.
    3. In the same oil fry the potato wedges with a pinch of turmeric and salt for 4-5 minutes until lightly golden on the edges. Remove.
    4. Add kalo jeere and green chillies to the oil and let them sizzle for 10 seconds.
    5. Mix ginger paste, cumin, coriander, turmeric and chilli powder with 3 tbsp water to a paste and add to the kadai. Fry on medium-low heat for 2-3 minutes, adding a splash of water if it sticks, until oil separates. Add tomato if using and cook until soft.
    6. Return the potatoes, add salt, sugar and 2 cups hot water. Cover and simmer for 8-10 minutes until the potatoes are tender.
    7. Slide in the fried fish and simmer gently, uncovered, for 4-5 minutes so the fish absorbs the broth. The gravy should stay thin.
    8. Finish with coriander leaves and serve hot.

    Tips

    • Heat mustard oil to smoking point first to take away its raw pungency.
    • Add hot water, not cold, so the fish stays tender.
    • In summer, many Bengali homes add sliced patol (pointed gourd) or brinjal along with the potatoes.

    Serve with

    Steamed rice, a wedge of gondhoraj lebu (lime) and a green chilli.