To begin we’d like to wish all our Hindu readers a joyous Diwali - may light triumph over darkness throughout the coming year. East India has a complex history that includes the thirteenth century Islamic invasions, the seventeenth century European colonization and continuous visits by the Chinese and the Nepalese. East India’a culinary traditions reflect centuries of history and a variety of cultural influences that, with the geography and the climate, influenced the region. East India consists of West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand and Orissa and this

area was the centre of the ancient Magadha, Maurya and Kalinga empires. Buddhism originated here and Gautam Buddha received enlightenment in Bodh Gaya even though, after the Islamic invasions, most of the Hindu kings were trounced and almost all the Buddhists in the regions, especially in East Bengal converted to Islam.  In the seventeenth century, when the Europeans arrived (after they had been introduced to spices, demand grew to such an extent in Europe that it was inevitable), companies were specifically created for the production and sale of a large variety of products from the region –  from spices to opiates (poppies). Naturally, as the locals interacted with the Europeans, the European food and cooking methods began to affect local cuisines.

EAST INDIAN AUBERGINES SIMMERED IN YOGHURT

Ingredients

• 400 g small aubergines, thinly sliced into rounds
• 250ml plain full cream Greek yoghurt (unless of course you can get hold of Indian yoghurt)
• 1 lemon, finely grated zest only (optional)
• 1 heaped tsp cumin seeds, dry toasted in a frying pan and ground in a mortar and pestle
• 1  tsp ground turmeric
• 1 ½ tsp finely ground red chillies
• 1-1½ tsp sugar
• Sea salt, to taste
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 generous handful fresh coriander leaves, chopped, to garnish

Method

• Dust the aubergine slices with the turmeric, salt and half of the finely ground red chillies using your hands to cover the whole area.
• Heat the oil in a large, non-stick frying pan and fry the aubergine slices until they are soft – set them aside
• Whisk 200 ml of the yoghurt with the sugar, some salt and the rest of the ground red chillies and pour this into a saucepan to heat gently, continuously stirring often to prevent it from spitting – does this for about 6 minutes.
• Now stir in the ground cumin and then add the aubergine slices, heat them very gently and stir to combine everything and finally, stir in the rest of the yoghurt – check and correct the seasoning and garnish with fresh coriander.

The traders established their trade centers in Balasore, Pipili and Palur (the Portuguese were in Chittagong, the Dutch in Chinsura, the French in Pondicherry) but it was the English that founded Calcutta.  In time the capital of Calcutta thrived and grew into one of the world’s greatest and most famous ports and it was here that tea was off-loaded by the American separatists during the American War of Independence when they were fighting the English (not during  the Civil War) in the 1770s.

By the 19th century, Calcutta’s traders and merchants were trading with the rest of the British Empire, Europe, the United States, China and the rest of the world and the cuisine of India became known internationally. India’s chefs began to introduce ingredients from all over the world into their own food without changing the basics. It was also here, in Bengal, that the Indian War of Independence started in 1857 and it is during this period that the “the black hole of Calcutta” made military history. The hole is a 20 square foot dungeon in a fort in Calcutta where, according to John Hollwell, about 146 English prisoners were held overnight by Siraj-ud-daula and where 126 of the 146 prisoners die. Today it is generally believed that the story was fabricated to paint a bad picture of Siraj who had every reason to be furious. Eventually the English won the day and Calcutta remained capital of Britain’s Asian Empire until, of course, Mahatma Gandhi arrived on the scene ‘s and Champaran (in Bihari) played and important role in the non-violent resistance.  However, everything wasn’t rosy – especially after the Muslim League was founded in Dhaka – and to cut a long story short, Pakistan was born. Because it has such a long coast line, it stands to reason that seafood is an important part of the East Indian diet and the large variety of fish is imaginatively prepared – light fish curries and seafood fried with spices to enhance flavours is popular, food is often steamed and rather delicately spiced and dishes like doi machch (recipe below) and snacks like pakora (a fried snack – also found in Pakistan) is normal fare and always served with chutneys and other dipping sauces. Fruits and vegetables are well loved and because of the climate (it’s quite rainy), rice thrives here and is the staple food of the region as well.

DOI MACHCH

Ingredients

• 500 g firm fish (carp is used locally), cut into edible chunks, washed, wiped quite try and shaken in turmeric and salt – put some salt and turmeric in a Ziploc bag and shake the chunks in there.
• 150 ml cheese curd  - if you can’t find Indian doi use whatever you can – Danish feta isn’t bad at all
• 3 tbsp finely pureed fresh onions
• 1 tsp pureed fresh garlic
• 1 ½  tbsp very finely grated fresh ginger
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 heaped tsp ground chillies
• 2 large, dried bay leaves
• 1 heaped tsp cumin seeds
• 4 green cardamom pods
• 2 large cloves
• 1 large piece of dried cinnamon-broken into two pieces
• 1 tbsp jaggery or sugar
• Salt to taste
• 4 tbsp mustard oil

Method

• Mix well the curd with the ginger, the garlic, the turmeric, the ground chillies.
• Fry the fish in the hot oil until it is dark golden, remove and set aside.
• To the same oil, add the bay leaves, the cumin, the cloves, the cardamom and the cinnamon, stir vigorously and as soon as the seeds start to sizzle, add the curd mixture and sauté it until the oil separates from the cheese – now add the fish and sauté it until it is just cooked.
• Stir in the sugar and salt to taste and serve hot.

For the sweet-toothed, East India is the place to visit because the variety of sweets and sweet confections is massive – many of them rooted in the Hindu culture. Many religious ceremonies and celebrations have specific confections associated with them and this includes ritual offerings of sweets to gods and to the poor. Even the sweets of this part of India are lighter than elsewhere in India which makes them more suited to the western palate.  Cakes, most certainly originating from the European influence is regularly served with tea and then a plethora of sweet confections like rasagolla (a syrupy dessert from Orissa and Bengal made with Indian cottage cheese and semolina dough and then cooked in syrup), chumchum (typically Bengali sweet made from milk, cream, saffron, rose sugar, nuts and spices and shaped into balls), sandesh (a type of cupcake), rasabali (popular throughout India, these are deep fried flattened reddish brown disks of chhena (cottage cheese) that are soaked in thickened, sweetened milk), chhena poda (a sweetened cheese dish stuffed with cashew nuts, raisins and spices and baked), chhena gaja (a type of cheese sweet, shaped into rectangles and boiled, then deep fried in oil – they are coated with a sugary syrup before being served) and kheeri (a type of rice pudding) will be found in this region – as we said before, for the sweet toothed, this is heaven.  Over and above the sweets, East Indian cuisine makes use of posta (poppy seeds) – a rather better option than opiates.

SPICES POPULARLY USED IN THIS REGION

In East India mustard seeds, cumin seeds, nigella seeds, green chillies, cumin paste and the spice mix panch phoron or panch phutana is well loved. Mustard paste, curd, nuts, poppy seed paste and cashew paste are preferably cooked in mustard oil before being used lightly in food and finally, curries are classified into bata (paste), bhaja (fries), chochchoree (less spicy vapourized curries) and jhol (thin spicy curries).

BREAKFAST

Traditional breakfasts includes pantabhat (lightly fermented rice-based dish – panta means “soaked in water” and bhat means “boiled rice” and it’s is usually served with salt, onions and chillies) or pakhaal (also  a type of cooked rice fermented in water), cereals like unsweetened puffed rice or pressed rice served in milk with fruits.

FAVOURITES

The most popular vegetable dish of Bengal is Sukto (traditional Bengali dish made with sweet-potatoes, aubergines, bitter melons, pumpkin, geen papaya and  loads of spices) and deep fried, shallow fried  and mashed vegetables are also extremely popular. A regular meal will consist of lentils served with fish and a few other secondary side dishes made of vegetables. Also popular in this part of India are momos (steamed, meat- or vegetable-filled wontons and we discussed them in Tibetan cooking and image above to remind you) and thukpa (a clear soup), tomato achaar (tomato pickles that are well known all over the world today), machcher Jhol (fish curry) and finally jhaal-muri (a spicy snack made with puffed rice and mustard oil),

COCONUT BARFI

Ingredients

• 500 ml very finely grated coconut (unless you can get hold of scrapped coconut)
• 250 ml  coarsely shredded coconut
• 375 ml sugar
• 250 full cream milk
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tsp ground cardamom

Method

• Place both types of coconut in a large, heavy-bottomed pan and add the milk, boil until bubbles start to appear and continue cooking for about 10 minutes.
• At the same time, boil the sugar in 125 ml water until there is still a lot of water left in the syrup – when you drop a little of this syrup into cold water to cool, it forms a liquid thread that will not ball up.
• Pour this into the coconut and stir it gently and continuously, add the butter and continue stirring, until a soft lump is formed – end this into a large greased large plate and pat it down very lightly.
• Allow it to cool a little and then cut into squares and then let it cool and set completely before transferring into container.

CHAMBRAY

Ingredients

• 250 g rice
• 2 cm piece of cinnamon
• 4 dried bay leaves
• 1 tsp black cumin seeds
• ½ tbsp turmeric powder
• Salt to taste
• 2 tbsp ghee

Method

• Soak the rice with bay-leaves and cinnamon for half an hour and then heat the ghee in a wok, add all the ingredients as well as the soaked rice – fry in the ghee for about 5 minutes until the ghee separates.
• Pour in water slowly and allow the rice to cook, stirring occasionally so that it doesn’t stick until it is cooked.

PAKKU

Pakku is a typical mutton curry of this region which is served with cooked rice or Selroti.

Ingredients

• 1 kg shoulder of mutton, cut into bit sized chunks
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• Salt to taste – about 2 tsp
• Marinating paste:
• 2 tsp cumin seeds
• 2 tsp coriander seeds
• 1 heaped tsp ginger paste
• 6 x large cloves
• 3 fresh garlic cloves, pureed
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 6 x green cardamom
• 2 cm cinnamon
• ½ tsp ground nutmeg

Method

• Rub the chunks of mutton with the paste and allow them to marinate overnight.
• Fry in vegetable oil on all sides, add a little water at a time and cook for hour over very low heat, adding water each time the water evaporates – or bake in a 180 C oven until tender.
• Serve hot with cooked rice