Bengali

Where it comes from

Bengal is river country, and the saying goes that fish and rice make a Bengali — maach-bhaat. Mustard grows everywhere, so mustard oil is the cooking fat and ground mustard the great sauce, and a proper meal comes in courses: something bitter first, then dal and fries, vegetables, fish, perhaps meat, a sweet-sour chutney and, at the end, sweets and yoghurt.

Murshidabad was the seat of the Nawabs of Bengal in the eighteenth century, and Calcutta, now Kolkata, grew under the British into the capital of their India until 1911. Both left their mark: rich Mughlai meat dishes on one side, a city of clubs, cabins and street food on the other. Milk split into chhena became the base of Bengal's sweets — some say a technique learned from the Portuguese, though nobody is sure.

Partition in 1947 divided Bengal: the east became East Pakistan and, in 1971, Bangladesh, which shares the same language and much of the same kitchen. Families who crossed westward brought their East Bengal cooking to Kolkata, and the gentle rivalry between Bangals from the east and Ghotis from the west — hilsa against prawn, one football club against another — is still part of the city.

Where in it

1. KolkataA city that eats constantly: rolls and cutlets from street stalls, kosha mangsho from old cabins, and sweet shops on every corner selling rosogolla and mishti doi.RosogollaKolkata kathi rollKosha mangshoLuchiMishti doi
2. The Sundarbans and the deltaMangrove islands and tidal rivers where the Ganges meets the sea. The delta's rivers and ponds give Bengal its fish and prawns — and hilsa, which swims upriver to spawn.Shorshe ilishChingri malai curryMacher jhol
3. MurshidabadThe old Nawabi capital on the Bhagirathi, whose court kitchens left Bengal a taste for rich meat dishes, pulao and biryani, and a town still known for its sweets.
4. Shantiniketan and BirbhumTagore's university town in the dry red-soil west, where poppy seed goes into almost everything — aloo posto with rice and dal is the everyday lunch.Aloo posto

How it cooks

Phoron

The tempering: whole spices — panch phoron, nigella, a dried chilli and bay leaf — crackled in hot mustard oil before anything else goes in.

Bata

Mustard seed, poppy seed or spices ground wet into a paste, traditionally on a flat grinding stone, the shil-nora.

Kosha

Frying meat or fish slowly with onion and spice, stirring, until the oil separates and the masala clings dark and thick.

Jhol, jhal and kalia

A ladder of sauces: a light, thin jhol for every day, a hot mustard jhal, and a rich, onion-heavy kalia for guests.

Chhena

Milk split with acid and the curds drained and kneaded smooth — the start of rosogolla, sandesh and most Bengali sweets.

Always in the kitchen