Treat the taste buds this Puja

During the Durga Pujas the members of the families are so intent on showing off their latest acquisitions in the Puja Pandals, that they have no time for cooking at home. Therefore they troop into hotels and gorge on the delectable Bengali dishes.


THERE ARE times when one throws caution to the winds and decides to treat the taste buds like never before. One leaves behind the fear of possible increase in the cholesterol levels or the blood sugar levels. One finds the fares on offer irresistible and jumps headlong into the wide varieties that the hotels spread out for them. During the Durga Pujas the members of the families are so intent on preparing to show off their latest acquisitions in the Puja pandals that they have no time to cook at home. Therefore they troop into the hotels and gorge on the delectable Bengali preparations that have made their marks in the Indian cuisine.

Let us take the simplest menu of chholar daal and kachuri – the chholar daal is a type of pulse that takes a long time to cook but when cooked well, it forms the base of a preparation that has no parallels. As the grams get cooked in the water, the juice that flows from it, mixes with the water and forms a thick liquid. When spices are added along with cubes of coconut fried brown, the dish is fit only for the royalty. To go along with such a heavenly dish, one must have the kachuri. This is nothing but well kneaded flour with a mixed paste of biuli daal, asafoetida (hing) and green chillies. This is rolled into circular shapes and fried with a liberal amount of oil. The resultant kachuris resemble tiny footballs and one can devour half a dozen of these with ease.

Then there are the wonderful preparations of a fish known as the hilsa – the simply fried version of hilsa is truly luscious. The oil in which it is fried, acquires a special taste that lingers on for long after the plate is empty. The bunch of eggs, when fried, serves as a magnificent side dish.

For those who like fish without frying, here is a perfect delight called doi-ilish. The slices of the fish are placed in a bed of doi (curd) mixed with mustard paste and green chillies and then cooked over steam. Once you taste it, you are bound to get overwhelmed by the delicacy.

Many other mouth watering dishes are also prepared from hilsa. The wonderful taste of these dishes makes one understand why the hilsa is the undisputed leader of Bengal’s kitchen. Hotels organise special hilsa festivals and the patrons who enter the portals have to, at times, wait for the tables to get vacant. The hilsa that have started coming from Bangladesh, are the produce of the River Padma. These have a superior taste as compared to the local ones coming from the Ganges. However, the demand for hilsa from Bangladesh far exceeds the inputs – hence, many have to return empty handed from the markets either because there is no stock left or the prices are prohibitive. For them, hotels are the solution. source: http://www.merinews.com