Ompok pabda or Pabda (Bengali), Pabho (Assamese) is a fresh water fish that lives in small rivers, ponds and even flooded agriculture field in sub-mountainous regions of Ganga-Brahmaputra riverine system. The fish highly prized in Bengal, Assam and also eastern Bihar and terai regions of Nepal for its sweet, fresh taste and soft, buttery texture.…
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Continue ReadingThe afternoon sun in Delhi is already showing it’s true colour after being subdued by an extended winter. It is not long before it will be impossible to imagine that Delhi was cold a few months back and it will be cold again, though not sometime soon! The diet in this period of changing seasons…
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Continue ReadingWe all have a few dishes that we ran fastest from and with age we crave for them. It isn’t any surprise that most of these are dishes were fed to us in the name of health and nutrition! Which young mind ever thinks it will get sick and old one day!!! But nostalgia and…
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Continue ReadingPujo is a spider web of memories and longings for people who enveloped my life in love. The love stayed behind as a lot of these people exited the realms of tangible. Baba, Dadumoni, Thamma, Dadubhai, Bimalanghu Jethu, Jethimoni…there are so many memories that these wonderful people made with their ready wit, zest for life…
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Continue ReadingThis recipe is from Renuka Debi Choudhurani’s cookbook – Rokomari Aamish Ranna. It is a treasure to have in any kitchen that loves Bengali cooking and food. It uniquely combines Hilsa and chana daal. It is beautiful to look at, it is rich, fragrant and one of the best Hilsa recipes I have tried. For me…
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Continue ReadingWhy should I call an illish – the hilsa? I wouldn’t, I am a Bong. Why should I not romance it long past it’s prime season for eating? I wouldn’t, I am a Bong. I recently read a long scientific article about the reasons behind the unique taste of illish. The author mentioned a lot…
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Continue ReadingSummers and I seem to have come to an impasse this year – it refuses to let me go and I refuse to let go off my dislike for it! The saving grace is that it is still occasion for indulging in biulier daal (urad daal) – aloo posto, tok daal and doi maachh. Though…