Oh Kolkata
Remember your school days during Monsoon? An inevitable urge dragged all of us to go back to those golden days of distant childhood! All those moments of playing in the stagnant and quite dirty rain waters, of making paper boats and then floating those in the rain and obviously of returning to the home early only because of your completely wet school uniform, just make your rainy day afternoons much more nostalgic, isn’t it? Let’s add some delicious flavors to these glistening happy moments with special memories rainy day special dishes without which our childhood rainy days seem quite incomplete. Let’s take a look at all those dishes mixed with innocent emotions and unforgettable charisma of every mother’s cuisine secret will feel your heart with immense pleasure. The savory flavors will compel you to taste these bong delicacies once again, and you will feel the desire of having some with irresistible gluttony exploring into your mouth! Our today’s list is to a few such Bengali dishes and snacks without which a rainy day seems incomplete to every bong. If you are visiting Bengal for the very first time, do not miss the chance of tasting all these signature Bengali recipes they have the magical power to turn your boring rainy day into a happening one.
Remember all those afternoons when you used to buy roasted buttons (Corns) from a road-side vendor while returning from school? That hot and sweet, a bit salty taste just provided ultimate refreshment to your tired soul, isn’t it? Let’s start our foodie journey with bhutta today. If you love spicy food and even if you don’t, just grab the Bhutta wale bhaiya, nearest to you. It tastes even better with your friends and loved ones, sitting in open, enjoying stove-hot bhutta. Just make sure that your bhutta is garnished properly with loads of lemon juice and refreshing bong green chilies and spices.
Khichuri with tender and delicate begun bhaja is undoubtedly the tastiest duo that you can make your rainy day enjoyable and delicious! Ask any Bengali, and you will face the same answer! I can still remember the very special aroma of my mother’s khichuri, which was an all-time favorite for lazy rainy days to me. Deep-fried brinjals with a savory flavor of Kalo jeera and mustard oil is the timeless BAE of Bengali special khichuri (a mish-mash rice dish prepared with vegetables.) Ghee is essential to enjoy khichuri to its core! The staple meal will not only fulfill your appetite but also will fill your foodie soul with unexplainable pleasure that probably is not possible with any other rainy day special dishes.
The name says it all! Ilish Mach (Hilsa fish) is not a food to the bongs, it is an emotion! As soon as rainfall starts outside, a true bong’s desire for having any dish made with Ilish starts forming! There are numerous items like Ilish bhapa, Kacha Ilisher Jhal, Ilish bhaja, Ilish “Beguner Tel Jhol, and many others prepared with the exclusively tasty fish all around Bengal! But when it comes to the question of ultimate Bong Ilish delicacy then no dish can give competition to the savory Ilish Bhapa by far! The steamed Ilish dish, prepared with pungent mustard and poppy seed pure, Mustard oil, and fresh green chilies will enlighten your taste buds exquisitely! Have some Ilish Bhapa with steamed rice on a rainy day, and you will understand why it is awarded the best tag!
A rainy day evening to a bong is just incomplete without retro music, a poetry book, and some hot and mouth-watering aloor chop (potato fritter)! If jhal moori (Puffed rice mixed and drizzled with mustard oil, chanachur, freshly chopped onion, coriander leaves, and green chilies) is added to the list then the entire extravagance of the perfect blend can make your mood quite refreshing instantly! A Bengali style potato fritter – Alur Chop is a mesmerizing snack that casts a spell on the entire Bengali race for over a century. The most popular one among the Bengali assortment called Bengali-telebhaja- piping hot aloor chop, muri (puffed rice) and steaming hot tea, make for a perfect mood on a rainy evening.
Ginger tea is the most celebrated beverage in Bengal during winter and monsoon. Not only this heavenly concoction of freshly grated ginger, tea leaves, and milk can uplift your mood quickly, it also heals a sore throat, cold and cough, or even headache. Steaming hot ginger tea with muri-telebhaja is a dream team for a wet evening in many Bengali households.
Bengal’s vast and diverse cuisine is just full of surprises! The surprises it stores for each season are full of delicious and savory food items! Live, love, eat mouth-watering bong dishes every day! Our cuisine represents and reflects our culture, don’t miss the chance and taste some of these monsoon essential delicacies! Such rainy days like today come rarely, it should be celebrated with all its elements as well as aromas!
