Category: Bengali Food

+ Recipe for Semaiya Kheer or Vermicelli Pudding

Semaiya Kheer or Vermicelli Pudding to celebrate Eid

Childhood memories of Eid bring in the sweet taste of Semaiya Kheer or vermicelli pudding, also called Shemuiyer Payesh in Bengali. The shimuiyer payesh that I have eaten at most Bengali homes, is made much like the rice pudding. The shimuiyer payesh, however, is sweetened with sugar and Gur or jaggery is seldom used in it. It is also less dense. Here’s my easy recipe for the delicious festive dessert.

+ Flowers in our garden

Celebrating Bengali New Year and Tamil New Year at home

Shubho Noboborsho! Wishing all of you on the occasion of Bengali New Year. Also wishing everyone for the other Indian regional New Years like Ugadi, Puthandu, Vishu , Baisakhi, Vihu, Gudi Padwa and others. If you aren’t celebrating a New Year… may we simply celebrate life!  A new dawn and a beautiful morning… and some behind the scenes hustle We are blessed with stunning … Read More Celebrating Bengali New Year and Tamil New Year at home

+ Traditional Bengali food in my kitchen in Chennai home

Finally calling Chennai home

Wishing you all health and happiness for the New Year, from our new home as we start a new chapter in a new city… Chennai!

+ Bengali Taler Bora

Taler Bora or Palm Fruit Nuggets, if I may call them so

When Janmashtami or the annual celebration of the birth of Lord Krishna is in full swing, these fried mini Taler Boras make their entry… sweet – bitter – crunchy entry! My attempt at another futile translation… Taler Bora. Palm Fruit Nuggets? The last time when I translated Phulko Luchi to Bengali puffed-up flour flatbread, I was sure that some of Luchi’s crispiness and fluffiness got lost … Read More Taler Bora or Palm Fruit Nuggets, if I may call them so

+ Homemade gurer shondesh

Shubho Noboborsho – Makha Gurer Shondesh and other homemade Bengali sweets

I am sharing the recipe of Makha Gurer Shondesh – it’s pretty easy to make. Made from fresh homemade chhena (cottage cheese), this shondesh is called makha because it is simply kneaded until it is soft and not cooked. If you have shondesh moulds at home, they make pretty shapes too.

Shubho Noboborsho | A traditional Bengali menu for Frying Pan Diaries podcast

Shubho Noboborsho to all! This i my Bengali kitchen with a traditional Bengali menu for a Frying Pan Diaries podcast on Bengali food. Frying Pan Diaries is the 1st food podcast from Dubai with a focus on food stories from the city and the surrounding region hosted by the sister duo of Frying Pan Adventures.

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A-Z of Bengali Fish

As an ode to my Bengali heritage, here’s the list… A-Z of Bengali Fish and the best possible preparations for that particular fish. I have listed only the ones where I have had the good fortune of laying my fingers on the fish bones, so a few alphabets are still sitting empty!

+ Bijoya celebrations with sindoor khela with IshitaUnblogged

Shubho Bijoya to all | Immersing in the bond of food and love

Shubho Bijoya! Durga Pujo (wiki at your service) evokes a sense of pride, love and communal feeling among Bengalis, in whichever part of the world they have chosen to call their home. For me, Dubai has been my adopted home at this hour, for the last many hours throughout the last few years.

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Food, Love And Good Memories Travelling in My Suitcase!

Distance not only gives nostalgia, but perspective, and maybe objectivity. ∼ Robert Morgan And maybe packets dripping with sugar syrup and home made sauces, fried fish and random biscuits – all stuffed in a suitcase while flying back to Dubai from Kolkata… rephrasing it… flying back to my adopted home from my childhood home. Expats have an amazing way of converting wherever they are … Read More Food, Love And Good Memories Travelling in My Suitcase!

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Moong Daaler Payesh or Yellow Lentil Pudding | Autumnal Sunshine Of The Eternal Mind!

Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns. ∼ George Eliot Images of Durga Pujo (the annual autumn festival for Bengalis worldwide when Goddess Durga descends upon earth and photobombs peoples’ selfies!) have started to flood across Facebook and its drilled in my head thousand times over … Read More Moong Daaler Payesh or Yellow Lentil Pudding | Autumnal Sunshine Of The Eternal Mind!

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Where Will You Eat Bengali Food In Kolkata? | From Traditional to Bohemian

Food is a central activity of mankind and one of the single most significant trademarks of a culture. ∼ Mark Kurlansky There was a time when finding a Bengali restaurant in Kolkata was difficult. It was limited to either the ‘no-frill canteen’ Suruchi or the ‘hotel restaurant’ Aaheli in Peerless Inn. And much later an inclusion of few Bengali dishes in the menu of Sonargaon … Read More Where Will You Eat Bengali Food In Kolkata? | From Traditional to Bohemian

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Payesh or Rice Pudding For My Birthday | Power of Gratitude Messages

It is just 3 days past my birthday – and belated birthday wishes are still pouring in on Facebook. And I ain’t any celebrity. Social media makes you feel like one though – of course, if you choose it that way and keep your birth date visible in the settings. I chose to – because, face it… which other day would friends (as in all … Read More Payesh or Rice Pudding For My Birthday | Power of Gratitude Messages

+ Bhapa Mishti Doi

Bhapa Mishti Doi and A Food Safari of Bengal | BBC GoodFood ME

Eid Mubarak and Shubho Bijoya to all of you! Born a Hindu and brought up embracing all faiths, I am always amazed to find how different festivals from different faiths almost always coincide with each other – as if, underlining my belief that we are ultimately bound by only one faith… that of humanity. This year, the pujo bumper came via a feature on me … Read More Bhapa Mishti Doi and A Food Safari of Bengal | BBC GoodFood ME

Opening Up My Bengali Kitchen For Dima Sharif

Ramadan Kareem! As I leave Dubai for the summers and settle down in Kolkata for almost two months (my summer hibernation as I like to call it, and probably for a lot of Dubai expats as well), I am overcome with tremendous guilt. Guilt for leaving my adopted home for far too long and also the guilt for feeling excited and longing to update … Read More Opening Up My Bengali Kitchen For Dima Sharif

How Did I Fare In Showcasing My Bengali Cuisine? | On Zee TV Middle East

The Bengali Gourmet evening at BookMunch was very important and special to me. This was the first time I had attempted to showcase Bengali Cuisine in a bit more elaborate way – a modern menu that had been created with all the nuances of traditional Bengali cuisine. It was for the ‘Cook The Books’ in BookMunch, an unique monthly event where the host Chef … Read More How Did I Fare In Showcasing My Bengali Cuisine? | On Zee TV Middle East