A Taste of Bengal Trivia Quiz

Answer: True

Traditional dining in most Indian regions does not follow a course format or sequence of dishes. Mostly, the meal is eaten as a main course with rice/Indian bread, curry, vegetables and fish or meat. Uniquely in Bengali cuisine, even regular meals follow a specific sequence of courses. Typically the meal starts with a bitter preparation called "shukto", followed by a leafy vegetable preparation called "shak", then lentils, other vegetarian dishes, a meat or fish curry and finally ending with a sweet dish.

Another Indian community that follows a sequence of dishes format is the Bohri Muslims originally from Gujarat on the west coast of India. In Bohri meals, dishes alternate between sweet and savoury with palate cleansers had in between.

Answer: Poppyseeds

Coriander, cumin, and turmeric are commonly used across India. Poppyseeds are rarely found in most other regional cuisines. Bengalis however, use poppyseeds in many preparations. It is also used while preparing the batter to fry brinjal slices as a side dish.

Answer: Hilsa

Hilsa or ilish is related to the herring fish. It is highly regarded in Bengali cuisine, so much so that it has been designated as the state symbol of West Bengal and the national fish of neighbouring Bangladesh. Fish is such a major component of the Bengali diet that in earlier times all houses had their own fish pond.

Answer: Mutton

Chaap means ribs. Mutton chaap uses the meat of a young goat or lamb. The ribs are slow cooked on a tawa ("open frying pan") after being coated and marinated in various spices and some strands of saffron.

Muslims arrived in Bengal in the thirteenth century. Bengal was later also part of the Mughal Empire. When the British Raj spread across India, Muslim rulers of various regions fled to Bengal in exile. All of these have been instrumental in the Muslim influence on Bengali cuisine.

Answer: Baking

Baking was relatively unknown in Bengal until the Europeans arrived. Given its strategic location on the Bay of Bengal, the region was a popular trading post. The French, Dutch and Portuguese had all made their way to this area, but it was the British that have had a major impact on Bengali cuisine. Calcutta as it was then known was the first capital of the British Raj. Famous Anglo-Indian dishes that are part of Bengali cuisine include Railway Mutton Curry, Dak Bungalow Curry, and finger foods like mutton chop and fish cutlets. Baking introduced new dishes like puff pastries, Western style bread ('pau ruti' in Bengali) and confectioneries.

Answer: True

The Chinese began arriving at Calcutta, as it was then known, in the 18th century to work at the ports. A large number stayed back permanently integrating into the local community. Chinese restaurants in India first came up in Kolkata and the city became known for a unique form of fusion fast food called Indo-Chinese.

This has since spread to all parts of India with Indo-Chinese becoming extremely popular, though not bearing much resemblance to the original Chinese dishes. To appeal to the Indian palate, the dishes were spiced up by adding chilies and hot sauces.

Answer: Gulab Jamun

Like the gulab jamun, the ledikeni is also a lightly fried sugar ball that is brown in colour. However, while gulab jamun is made from reduced milk, ledikeni is made from split milk. Ledikeni is considered a variant of another Bengali sweet, the pantua.

It was first prepared in honour of the visit of Lady Canning, the wife of the Governer General Lord Charles Canning, and named after her.

Answer: Mishti doi

Mishti doi translates to 'sweet yogurt'. To prepare mishti doi, milk is boiled and sweetened with sugar or jaggery. It is then allowed to ferment overnight. The dessert is prepared in a small earthen pot to retain its flavour.

Answer: South India's dosa

Phuchka and the different regional variants are popular as street food. The dish consists of a hollowed out puri (fried bread) which is then filled with tangy water, spicy potato, chickpeas and a tamarind chutney. The fillings differ based on the region.

The dosa is a form of rice crepe usually eaten with a lentil curry called sambhar and some chutney.

Answer: Rice

The muri refers to rice while jhal means spicy. The snack consists of puffed rice flavoured with cumin, chilies, coriander leaves, and mustard oil. Sometimes the muri is also eaten plain.