Spices - Bengali food & culture

Hey guys! Hope you’ve been enjoying our blogs so far.

Today ill be sharing a little bit about a cultural fish dish from India, Bengali. Traditionally, the Indian culture very much upholds the act of gathering together after a long day to share and spend quality time over a feast-like dinner!

The Bengali cuisine is most renowned and valued for it’s use of Panch Poron. Panch Poron directly translates to ‘the five essential spices’, and the five spices included in this cuisine are mustard, fenugreek seed, cumin seed, aniseed, and black cumin seed.

http://tajagroproducts.com/images/Panch%20Phoron/FiveSpices.jpg

The staple foods of Bengali people are fish and rice. (Fun fact: when and if fish is not served in any meal throughout the day, Bengali people feel as though their meal is incomplete!)

Now, the key to Bengali food lies in the perfect blend between spicy and sweet. Bengali people will generally deep fry the fish in mustard oil then serve it up with 5 separate gravies made from the Panch Poron. This allows you to mix and match the different spices to your own taste! Whether you’re a fan of spicy, sweet and/or savoury, or even depending on your food-mood, these 5 essential spices makes it easy to adjust the flavours around and is suitable for anyone! 

http://www.culturalindia.net/gifs/bengali-food.jpg

There are a lot of restaurants around Sydney that serve Indian foods, but the best Bengali fish dish I've found so far is at Bang Street Food in Surry Hills. 

3/410 Crown St, Surry Hills NSW 2010

Check it out guys!

Jen

Reference:

Culturalindia.net. (2016). Bengali Food - Traditional Bengali Food, Traditional Food of Bengal India, Bengali Cuisine, Bengali Dishes. [online] Available at: http://www.culturalindia.net/indian-food/bengali-cuisine.html [Accessed 17 May 2016].