Flavours from Bengal
Delhi and its neighbourhood are filled with places that offer succulent dishes from Bengal. For those who want to prepare these at home, it’s not a hefty task. Sometimes, all you need is to just give it a try.
NOLEN GURER SANDESH: FOR 10 TO 12 PIECES
As they say — food, music and movies are some of the finest things to have come out of Bengal. Especially, the culinary scene has been enormously popular amongst food enthusiasts for a long time. Ask any random person to name a few Bangali (Bengali) dishes, Rosogolla, Aloo Posto and Maacher Jhol would definitely make it to the list.
However, food which come under the wide umbrella of Bengali cuisine is diverse. In fact, dishes originating from Bangladesh (previously a part of unidivided Bengal) are also an integral part of the same food scene.
Recently, we met a couple of chefs to understand, if these dishes are as complicated as they sound. Chef Anurudh, a multi property executive chef, responded, “You know, there’s Biryani in Kolkata and Delhi. The only difference is in the water and amount of
Chef Anurudh Khanna
flavours and spices used in a dish. If you try and perfect the tone of the cooking process, preparing a Bengali dish is not that complicated.”
Again, Chef Samir Sen, who visited the NCR for a recently held Bengali food festival — Essence of Bengal, enthusiastically shares, “Anyone who has tasted Bengali food will vouch for its unparalleled taste and diversity.”
Here are two unique dishes from two different parts of Bengal. Hope you enjoy! Meanwhile grind the soaked poppy seeds, green chillies into a fine paste and keep aside.
Add the Kashmiri red chilli powder, ground poppy seed paste to the cooking chicken, and cook everything for few minutes again.
Now add enough water and cook until the chicken gets well-cooked and the gravy becomes thick. Serve hot.
zchenna
zzzChicken (cut in medium pieces)
Onion (chopped)
Ginger Garlic paste
Kashmiri Red Chilli powder Garam Masala powder Turmeric powder
Lime juice
Salt
Oil
Bay Leaves
Coriander leaves (chopped) Green chillies
Poppy Seeds (soaked in hot water)
Marinate the chicken with garam masala powder, turmeric powder, salt and lime juice and keep aside for half an hour.
Heat oil and fry the bay leaves.
Add the chopped onions, ginger garlic paste and saute until the raw smells goes away.
Now add the marinated chicken, cook everything for few minutes.
zzPOSTO MURGI (CHICKEN GRAVY WITH POPPY SEEDS)
Ingredients
Method