Every year, the arrival of the harvest festival brings the sweet aroma of Patishapta, a traditional Bengali dessert, to Ishani Banerjee's home.The recipe for this simple delicacy, passed down over generations, represents rich, nuanced familial ties and maternal love.
This Bengali recipe from sustainable seafood initiative InSeason Fish highlights the bold, meaty flavours of the tonguesole fish,abundantly available in December along both coasts of India.
In Bengal, chutney is made with seasonal sweet and sour fruits. This recipe for chutney from Sienna cafe uses aamra, also known as hog plum. Hog plum, which tastes like a sharper and more acidic green apple, shines in chutney, pickles, and jams.
Sienna cafe shares their recipe for a staple 'bitters’ dish in Bengali cuisine. Traditionally eaten at the start of a meal, this biye bari shukto is nourshing and fragrant, with soft flavours that whet your appetite.
Dolon Dutta Chowdhury shares her mother’s version of Mourola Maach er Tok Jhal, her take on the traditional Bengali Tok – a light sweet-and-sour dish served towards the end of a Bengali meal.
This recipe is from Indranee Ghosh’s book Spiced, Smoked, Pickled, Preserved: Recipes and Reminiscences From India’s Eastern Hills (Hachette India).
In this well-seasoned medley of memories and meals, the author brings together charming vignettes from her youth in the densely forested Khasi Hills and in Bengal with a delectable selection of recipes passed down over three generations.