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Bengali CuisineBengali cuisine is a style of food preparation that originated in Bengal. Characteristics Characteristic ingredients include rice, broken red lentils, broken mung beans, mustard oil, mustard paste, and coconut. Bengali cuisine is particularly rich in seafood. More than forty types of mostly freshwater fish are common, including carp, catfish, prawn, and scampi, as well as some dried sea fish (called shutki maachh). Hilsa is a delicacy which migrates similarly to salmon; the varied salt content at different stages of the journey is of particular interest to the gastronome. Natives of Bangladesh (earlier called East Bengal) tend to use more dried fish while natives of West Bengal use more fresh water fish. The spices commonly used include cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, bayleaves, and peppercorn. A very commonly used spice combination, Panch Phoron (meaning "the tempering of five ingredients") includes fennel, cumin, nigella seeds, mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, and (in some versions) randhuni celery seeds. Courses in a meal The typical Bengali fare includes a certain sequence of food. Rice remains common through out the meal until the chutney course. The starting course is generally bitter and is usually fried bittergourd or fried neem leaves, although this may be replaced with a thin, soupy, bitter sweet item called Shukto. This is followed by shaak (leaf vegetables) such as spinach, fenugreek, or amaranth, accompanied by a sharp mustard paste called Kasundi. This is followed by a dal and bhaja (fritters made of aubergine or pumpkin or plain potatoes or even fish) and a vegetable preparation usually made of multiple vegetable components. Depending on the type of preparation, the vegetables might include Labras, Chorchoris, Ghontos, or chanchras. There also are a host of other preparations that do not come under any of these categories and are simply called Torkari. The next course is the fish course. Common fish delicacies include maacher jhol, tel koi, Pabda maacher jhaal, Doi maachh, Chingrimaachher malai curry, and bhaapa ilish. Then comes the mutton course (chicken and eggs are a recent addition). Beef and pork are by and large still taboo, except in certain sections. Finally comes the chutney course, which is typically tangy and sweet; the chutney is generally made of tomatoes, pineapple, tamarind, raw papaya, or just a combination of fruits and dry fruits. Papads usually accompany the chutneys. Sweets Sweets occupy an important place in the diet of Bengalis and at their social ceremonies. It is an ancient custom among Hindus to distribute sweets during festivities.The sweetmeat industry has flourished because of its close relation with social and religious ceremonies. Competition and changing tastes have helped to create many new sweets, and today this industry has grown within the country as well as all over the world. The sweets of Bengal are generally made of cottage cheese (chhenna), Khoa (reduced solidified milk), or flours of different cereals and pulses. some important of the sweets of Bengal are : RASAGOLLA- Rasagolla (meaning -ball in sugar syrup) was first made by Haradhan Maira, a confectioner of Phulia (district), during the time of Bengal renaissance. These white cottage cheese balls in sugar syrup not only created a revolution in the sweetmeat industry and but also set the trend for the main sweets of today. Nabinchandra Roy of Bagbazar, Kolkata, was the first person to make 'sponge' rasagolla in 1868. CHAMCHAM- Porabari (in bangladesh) chamcham goes back about 150 years. The modern version of this sweet was inspired by Raja Ramgore of Balia district in Uttar Pradesh (a state in India). It was then further modernised by his grandson, Matilal Gore. This oval-shaped sweet is brownish in colour and it is of a denser texture than the rasagolla . It can also be preserved longer .Granules of mawa or dried milk can also be sprinkled over chamcham. Sandesh, mishti doi, chhanar jilepi, kalo jam, darbesh, raghobshai, Payesh, nalengurer sandesh, Shor bhaja and an innumerable variety of peethe are just a few examples of sweetmeats in Bengali cuisine.
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