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Nowadays, with quick food and contemporary cuisine taking over, many traditional cuisines are being lost. The unique flavours and cuisines found in each part of Bangladesh have contributed to the richness of its food traditions. Widespread in rural and urban settings across various social classes, these meals have mostly disappeared over time. However, many memories and priceless customs connected to Bengali heritage may be found among these forgotten foods. We shall explore some foods we have lost and stopped eating.
Kaunerkheer
Kaun rice is a unique variety of grain that is popular in Bangladesh. It appears tiny and rounded. Although it used to be quite popular in rural regions, it is now comparatively less widespread.
Kheer, made with kaun rice, was a famous desert in rural areas. It was made with household jaggery in the winter as a sweet treat. It is a speciality enough. Some other items that were made with kaun rice are kaunerbhat and khichuri.
Dumurer torkari
Raw Dumur or Figs are tree fruits prevalent in rural areas. Fig fruits are usually green or light yellow and grow directly from the tree branches.
They have a subtle and mild taste. They were used to make several dishes, such as dumurchingri, dumur alur torkari, dumur vaji, narikel-dumur, dumuertok, and many more.
Echorertorkari
'Echor' originally refers to green jackfruit. It is a common term in Bangladesh for immature jackfruit. Ichor is green and is usually cooked as a curry.
After being cut into cubes, the ichor's body seems like flesh. At that stage, the seeds are also soft and crunchy. This is an excellent alternative to non-veg items. At the beginning of the summer, households cooked niramisherchor curry, echorchingri, narikel-dudh e echor, and echorerghonto.
Mocha
Mocha is the large, reddish-purple banana tree flower. It contains small banana or plantain flowers, which are edible.
It is difficult to pick and clean mocha, but it is worth the hard work. The most common items made with mocha are mocharghonto and mochar chop.
Paturi
Paturi is a traditional Bengali dish usually made with fish. The people of Narayangonj used to make it the most. Fish is seasoned with masala, mustard paste, green chilli, and oil. Then, it is wrapped with a thread in banana leaves or bottle gourd leaves(laupata).
After that, it is steamed or shallow fried. Since paturi is usually steamed, it is comparatively healthy. Paturi is made with various fish, like ilish. vetki, rui, katla, koi, kachki fish.
Chhanarpolao
Though the name is Polao, it's sweet. This unique curdled milk sweet was frequently found in stores that sold sweets.
However, it is rarely seen. This dessert's appearance draws the most excellent attention. At first view, it appears to be bashmoti 'Jordabhat' but without the colour.
There are little sweets with a brown hue like 'jordabhat.' However, the items that resemble rice are made from curdled milk. Curdled milk is kneaded, shaped, deep-fried in oil, and then soaked in sugar syrup.
Shemaipitha
This is a pitha festival that is rarely seen nowadays. The dough is made by mixing flour with rice powder. Then, hold it with one hand rot, eat it with the palm of the other hand, and cut at intervals of one and a half to two inches.
Not everyone can master this cutting technique. The older women of the house are more skilled in making shemaipitha. After making the shape, this pitha is cooked with date jaggery, milk and coconut.
Dudhlau
Dudhlau used to be a popular dessert. This sweet dish is made with a simple vegetable gourd. It is also known as 'DudhKodu' in many places.
Dudhlau can be made with gourd, milk, and a few spices you have at home. It tastes better when eaten cold. Making it is similar to payesh, baked with rice and gourd.
The gourd is graded, boiled, ed, and squeezed in excess water before being cooked in heavy milk with sugar.
Gorur Maangsher Pithali
One of Jamalpur's regional cuisines is maangsherpithali. It is a signature dish of Jamalpur.
'Menda' is another name for it. This is a spicier version of beef curry. The unique cooking method involves combining beef with rice powder. This dish was frequently had in winter. It is best accompanied by steamed rice.
Khatta
This sweet and sour dish is made with sour vegetables or fruits such as tomato, jolpai,aamra, and raw mango. Sugar or jaggery can be added as a sweetener. The consistency of this dish is watery. It's a great dish to eat with rice. It stimulates the appetite. It is consumed after meals.