Bengal in its most mundane flavour.

In the wild adventures of exploring the aesthetic essence of India, you cannot just go without diving in its  divine and  diverse culinary culture.  While giving your taste buds  this hunger sauce,the one must visit place is Bengal for some flabbergasting blend of sweet and savoury.  Though, the whole world thinks of Rabindranath Tagore, Rosogolla and  "Ami tomake  bhalobashi"  when it  comes to  Bengal,  let me tell you that this place is way more profound.

You cannot  simply land in five start  hotel  in Bengal and have luxurious dining and  say  "oh!  Taste of Bengal ".
That is not how you taste Bengal.

You got to wake up to  the  street vendor's  strange  technique of shouting . 
You got to have your morning tea  with complementary Marie biscuits and  a news paper.
  Screaming at the top of your voice,  bargaining in a fish market on a Sunday morning  or an afternoon  usefully  wasted loitering in a den of almost hundred different types of books ; College Street. 

 There you  find  how  the  old books  smell, how  people gather around one table  and  spend hours  chitchatting in Coffee House,  how  people still make their livelihood by manually pulling a rickshaw.  There you find  Bengal. 

Bengal is found in phuchka and  tokjol 
(tamarind mixed water) at  almost every street. 
 Bengal is found in the  8 rupees  fare in a Mini Bus. Found in the  exquisite yellow taxi and those  50reupees more  than the  meter. 
 Found in "parar chayer dokane" (local tea stall) and "matir bharer cha " ( tea in a earthen pot). 
Found in "jhalmuri r dokan "outside schools and colleges , found in Radha ballabi, jilipi, misti doi and so much more. 
Found in "East Bengal or  Mohanbagan?" Found in "Ghoti -bangal fight " 

Bengal is exquisitely  found in the amalgamation of epar bangla (West Bengal) and  opar bangla (East Bengal).

Ilish bhapa,  Chingri  r malai curry,  alu posto , kochu sag . Oh  what a delicacy !

Thought we  Bengalis often  fight over  "ghoti -bangal ", we still know from  the bottom of our heart that we are incomplete without each other.  That we speak  the same language maybe  different dialects but bound within the thread of love  for  food, culture, festivals, people and mostly  our motherland.

 This Sunday  I cooked my  family this beautiful blend of "Bangal"and "Ghoti" , spice and prawn , tear in eyes  and blast in mouth . Chingri  bhapa.

Ingredients required for Chingri bhapa :

1. Prawn
2. Salt
3. Turmeric
4. Mustard seed (black or  white)
5. Paprika
6. Grated Coconut (finely)
7 . Yogurt
8. Green Chilli
9. Oil (preferably mustard oil )
10. Coriander

Process  for  Chingri Bhapa :

 1.Clean the  prawns and marinate them in Salt,  turmeric  and  paprika.

2. Blend the  mustard  seeds. I use the  traditional  method because I believe it  just puts it a lot of relationship taste and  efforts. 

3. In a tiffin box, put in the  blended  mustard seeds, finely grated coconut, 1 spoon  yogurt, some salt,  crushed  Green  chillies and  Oil .

Add the  prawns and  put in some  coriander if you want 

4. Put the lid on.  And  just microwave for  15 minutes or 20 minutes maximum.  In case you don't have this  choice,  take a pressure cooker  put some descent amount of water  place the  tiffin box inside and  seal the  lid of the  cooker.  Let it cook  until  it  gives  away 2 blows and then  turn off the gas and let it rest.  Serve  hot with  rice  and  it's absolutely mouth watering.

Prepare this in less than  30 minutes  and  give your taste buds a blast.  Easy and loving.  Just wanted to say that this is my version of the recipe,  you can of course google  and  find other  methods to do it.  I try to make it really healthy ,easy and less time consuming.  So  let me know if you try it.



                                 And Hey!
                             Bon appetite.






❤
Ayindrila