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Cuisine

Bangladeshi

East Bengal's rice-and-fish cooking with mustard oil and ilish at its heart, the bhorta mashes of everyday meals, and the Mughal-derived biryanis and kacchi of Old Dhaka.

Flavour character: Hotter than West Bengali food, with mustard oil, green and dried chilli, mustard paste and plenty of onion; dried fish (shutki) adds funk; Dhaka's rice dishes are fragrant and rich with ghee.

20 recipesBrowse recipes
Morog polao: fragrant white pilaf with chicken pieces, a boiled egg and kebabs

History

Bangladesh occupies most of the Ganges–Brahmaputra delta. Dhaka was a Mughal provincial capital from the 17th century, and Old Dhaka (Puran Dhaka) still keeps Mughal-derived dishes such as kacchi biryani, tehari, morog polao and bakarkhani. The country became East Pakistan in 1947 and independent Bangladesh in 1971. Most of the curry houses that made Indian food popular in Britain were founded by migrants from the Sylhet region.

Well documented

Geography and influences

A flat, river-laced delta with monsoon floods, mangroves (Sundarbans) in the south-west, the Chittagong hills and coast in the south-east, and tea gardens around Sylhet.

  • Bengal delta food culture
  • Mughal Dhaka
  • Muslim meat dishes (beef and mutton)
  • Arakan and hill-tribe food in Chittagong
  • Sylheti diaspora in Britain

Regional variations

Old Dhaka
Kacchi biryani, tehari, bakarkhani, Mughal-style kebabs and borhani.
Chittagong
Mezban beef feasts, kala bhuna, dried fish, hill-tribe influence.
Sylhet
Shatkora (wild citrus) with beef or fish, tea gardens; the diaspora behind Britain's curry houses.
Khulna and the south-west
Sundarbans honey, prawns and chui jhal (a pungent stem used with meat).

Festive and seasonal food

  • Pohela Boishakh (14 April): panta bhat (soaked rice) with fried ilish, a largely urban custom
  • Eid ul-Fitr: shemai, polao and korma
  • Eid ul-Adha: beef dishes such as kala bhuna and mezban
  • Winter pitha festivals: bhapa pitha, chitoi and patishapta with khejur gur
  • Nobanno: new-rice harvest festival
  • Ramadan iftar: piyaju, beguni, chola, jilapi and haleem

Signature dishes

Not on the site yet: Shorshe ilish, Panta ilish, Mezban beef (Chittagong), Shatkora beef (Sylhet), Shutki bhorta, Chotpoti, Jhalmuri, Mishti doi (Bogura), Chomchom (Porabari), Haleem, Old Dhaka nihari

Bangladeshi recipes

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