Bengali Vegetarian Thali ~ A Splash of Unassuming Nuances And Striking Flavours

Bengali Cuisine has the nuances which have been imbibed from a very long and rich history with strong influences from the Mughal style of cooking, the British Babus, whose khansamas (male cook) modified the existent Bengali cuisine to suit their palates. Not only that, the style of cooking dishes, also varied as one passed through the length and breath of Bengal itself. Then there are also many dishes from Bangladesh which was earlier a part of Bengal, India. 

CHICKEN CHAAP PULAO/PILAF ~ DURGA PUJO SPECIAL

The celebratory mode continues in my home. Though we do not wake up to the beat of the Dhak/Drum or the sound of the conch shell/Shankh or the chanting of mantras, but I guess the fervour of DURGA Puja has our hearts filled and therefore every member of my family wakes up with a smile on their faces. Then, amidst the enthusiastic discussion of which new attire we will clad today and what all will accessorize it, the coffee mugs and morning cookies get forgotten. The brisk activity continues till we all decked in our finenary head out to the Puja Mandap. No matter how far one is from India and West Bengal, no matter if one is surrounded by a carnival atmosphere or not, the DURGA Puja days do bring in a whole lot of excitement.

RED KIDNEY BEANS PILAF/RAJMA PULAV WITH FIERY AVOCADO RAITA - HAPPY BEATS SERIES

With prayer on my lips and a wish in my heart that all the HEARTS IN THIS WORLD should beat with HEALTH AND HAPPINESS I commence the HAPPY BEAT series. Every recipe in this series will be cooked with the aim that it keeps the heart health its priority.

Friends I am no authority on the heart as I am neither a doctor nor a dietitian. Then you may ask why this series? I have gone through the experience of a family member suffering from a near death, massive heart attack in the summers of 2014. The heart attack left his heart function at a meager 42%. These recipes and whatever information I will put down here is my journey , my experience and what I adapted to nurse his heart back to health and a heart function of 50% within a span of one year.