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Mark Wiens Explores Authentic Bangladeshi Cuisine

I invite @Imran Khan to watch these videos. He is a good eater and his weight is over 80kg. I am not that fond of dishes that make my stomach heavy. @Bilal9 is another good eater.
ami biryani khai bo . :enjoy:

in the starting i was not able to eat bangladeshi indian arab and other foods . 21 years ago when i first time exposed to them . today its something else .

in BD food i like
bhuna gosht
daal soup
beef with rice
and what we call in pakistan pulao in BD you guys have khichri or biryani .

from south indian food i eat biryani
 
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Nice. Will watch these later on Youtube.

Bengali style Biryani is my favourite. Not too heavy on the heat but very fragrant. The potato is a must. People who have tasted both the Kolkata version and the one across the border, is there a difference?

@Joe Shearer ?
 
khichuri and biryani are two different dishes, although they look similar.
you cant get good kacchi biryani outside dhaka, so its more of a dhaka dish than bd dish.

Most of the bd cuisine(outside dhaka) is fish(a million different types of fishes) based, beef and chicken come distant second.
Also bengalis are not big on daal( a homeopathic version they got in bd)
 
Most of the bd cuisine(outside dhaka) is fish(a million different types of fishes) based, beef and chicken come distant second.
Also bengalis are not big on daal( a homeopathic version they got in bd
)
This is not correct.
Chicken and beef dishes have various regional variations. Chuijhaal chicken and beef of Khulna, for example.
Lentil is staple throughout the country so no idea what you are on about.

The strength of Bengali food is variety: chicken, beef, fresh water fish, seafood, veggies and mashes all are eaten in many varieties.
 
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khichuri and biryani are two different dishes, although they look similar.
you cant get good kacchi biryani outside dhaka, so its more of a dhaka dish than bd dish.

Most of the bd cuisine(outside dhaka) is fish(a million different types of fishes) based, beef and chicken come distant second.
Also bengalis are not big on daal( a homeopathic version they got in bd)

Traditionally vegetable and fish was the most common and affordable. Because the Bangladesh countryside is criss-crossed with unnummerable ponds, shallow lakes and canals, where you can catch fish for free.

These days people eat more chicken and beef than before as the general population can afford a lot more. But also because cattle and chicken farming is so abundant.
 
Traditionally vegetable and fish was the most common and affordable. Because the Bangladesh countryside is criss-crossed with unnummerable ponds, shallow lakes and canals, where you can catch fish for free.

These days people eat more chicken and beef than before as the general population can afford a lot more. But also because cattle and chicken farming is so abundant.
beef and chicken are actually cheaper than many fish, and no, you cant just catch fish and eat(those days are gone am sure), you go to market and buy them.
anyway my point was these videos give wrong impression of what most bengalis(outside dhaka) eat everyday.

Regarding daal, bengalis consume it much less than pakistani or north indians. there is little variety as well. If you see pakistani cuisine, they got many daal+whatever dishes, have not seen it in bd. For bengalis its little bit of red lentil + a gallon of water. :)
 
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anyway my point was these videos give wrong impression of what most bengalis(outside dhaka) eat everyday.

I would say it give pretty good impression of what an average villager eats. Of course Ilish is expensive so normally people would eat cheaper varieties.

Red lentils are pretty basic in almost every bengali home. Rice and red lentils is probably eaten atleast every second day by probably 70-80% of population.

What is not represented so well in that video is the amount of vegetable dishes.
 
I would say it give pretty good impression of what an average villager eats. Of course Ilish is expensive so normally people would eat cheaper varieties.

Red lentils are pretty basic in almost every bengali home. Rice and red lentils is probably eaten atleast every second day by probably 70-80% of population.

What is not represented so well in that video is the amount of vegetable dishes.
ok am not bengali so will take your word for it.
 
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Most of the bd cuisine(outside dhaka) is fish.

Factually incorrect. People from Dhaka don't eat half as much beef/meat as people from Chittagong/chatgaiyas do.


We have our own beef dishes, chatgaiya specialities.



Indeed, we love meat so much we commemorate the death anniversaries of loved ones by hosting big beef eating feasts every year.. called mezban, a sight to be seen.



The dish is distinct beef curry called mezbani goshto.




From the lower reaches of society to the more affluent middle to the upper echelon; the elites, everyone in Chittagong has hosted mezban in memory of a loved one atleast once, if not every single year.



In big feasts, hosted by the elites and upper class, as many 10,000 people are fed or even more at times, huge feast tents are setup.



Everyone is welcome to feast, no invitation needed, only condition is praying for the soul of the deceased.



It is so popular, people I know have flown in chefs to foreign countries to host mezban there.


At a guess ? There's at least over a dozen mezbani feasts in Chittagong at any given week or more... This is excluding the villages in the district.



TL;DR We eat alot more meat than people from Dhaka and the fact that meat is only eaten in Dhaka is a myth. Mind you, I have yet to speak of Kala bhuna, another chatgaiya knockout special.






Did I mention mezbani meat is always fresh, the cattle are bought, slaughtered, the meat cooked and served all in the same day... Cooking can involve anywhere from 10 to 100+ experienced mezbani chefs and kitchen helpers.


In recent years, hosting large feasts has become something of a status symbol, with the rich spending lakhs and lakhs of taka to this end.


 
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