I recently returned from an AMAZING trip to Bangladesh. Although, I visited the country many times as a child, this was my first trip after 10 years. I had a blast seeing all my wonderful family members, visiting various sites, shopping, and of course, eating delicious foods. Here is a snapshot of some of the great things I ate!
Fresh cut guava or pyaara with salt and chilipowder.
My trip was in March so unfortunately I didn’t get the usual selection of fruits that I remember from my summers trip like mangoes, jack fruit, june plums, etc. But I’m really happy that I got to have some delicious guava!
Bengali Style Pizza from Shawarma House
This “pizza” was covered with chicken, tuna, beef, shrimp, and veggies. It didn’t taste anything like what we would consider pizza, but it was scrumptious. It was one of the first things I ate out and I was really sad not to have another slice before I left Dhaka.
Burger and Fries at a new restraurant/lounge named Exit.
This was from a meal in new restaurant in Gulshan called Exit. It was a hip lounge/hookah-bar/restaurant.
Fresh Coconut Water and Coconut Pulp.
We had fresh coconut water all the time. These were picked off of a coconut tree during our trip to Sonargaon and they were cut on the spot so that we could enjoy the refreshing water and yummy coconut pulp.
Buying fresh vegetables.
This is better than Fresh Direct! All the grocery shopping is literally done right at your front door. All the vendors are roaming streets early morning until midday shouting out what they are selling. The vegetable seller would shout Torkariiiiiiiii! So if you need vegetables, you just shout out your window or verandah and they come to your front door. AMAZING!
Bengali Sweets (Mishti)
This was a store that was right near my Grandmother’s house called Vikrampur and they had a vast selection of every type of sweet (or mishti) you could ever want. My favorite was the sweet yogurt (or mishti doi) and the sondesh.
Feast at My Grandmother's House in Kalabagan
This was a meal that was cooked by our wonderful house-staff under guidance and direction from my mom during our visit. My mom wanted to have all of my extended family over for a dinner. We had beef (or goat?) biryani, chicken roast, fried tamarind eggplants, naan, salad, and kabobs. It was apparently a great meal that I didn’t get to enjoy because I was still jet-lagged at that point and passed-out before the night even started! Ooops!
Jelabi
On the way to my maternal grandfather’s village in Shujapur – we stopped at a local market to buy some sweets. This man was making jelabi which is sort of like a Bengali funnelcake – if that funnelcake was on a crack high…. It is crispy on the outside, and sticky with sugar, and super super sweet. Yum-o!
Meal at my Nanabari (Maternal Grandfather's House) in Shujapur
Our trip to Shujapur was hands-down my most favorite part of visiting Bangladesh. There I had an Aunt who was a fantastic cook. This meal was my favorite. We had a spicy shrimp curry, a soft beef stew, three different kinds of rice, roast chicken, and a variety of great vegetable dishes.
This chicken was served at Nando’s which is a popular South African chain restaurant. It’s BBQ that is served with spicy peri-peri sauce. Chicken was cooked to perfection!
We also had “Chinese” food in Bangladesh which is different than the Chinese food we have in the States. I guess it’s really like an Indian-Chinese fusion. The soup was my favorite dish at the Chinese restaurant – it was a spiced up Tom Yum.
Fuchka
Finally, the thing I still dream about. You haven’t lived until you’ve had fuchka. This is a quintessential Bengali street-food. It consists of a fried crisp that is filled with a mixture of tamarind, chili spices, potato, onions, chickpeas, and this one here is topped off with a tamarind and yogurt sauce. Each piece is just the perfect size to pop in your mouth. Loved this. I could have eaten it every day!
So there it is, my Bengali eating overview! I was looking up Bengali phrases to maybe end this blog post with a cute saying, and on this website called Useful Bengali Phrases I found a translation for “My hovercraft is full of eels.” I mean, I don’t know why that would be useful, but I’m glad I now know how to say it!
Anyway, aamar hovercraft eel a vorti hoye gache! Hope you all enjoyed!
Bake What Your Mama Gave Ya! 