bihari cuisine, foods from bihar, bihar ka khana, cuisine of bihar,food habits of bihar, litti Chokha, bihari foods... shakesh singh
Excerpts from -- bhansaghar by Shakesh Singh
The cuisine of Bihar is characterized by its use of locally
available ingredients. The use of hand-picked vegetables and freshly crushed
spices is the hallmark of this cuisine. Wheat and rice are the staple food.
Vegetables and fruits are grown in abundance and consumed in different ways.
Maize, barley, gram, oilseed and pulses are important crops. Milk products,
various dehydrated items (known as barriers), roasted chana powder (sattu),
fresh water fish, poultry and mutton are also consumed. The traditional cooking
medium is mustard oil, but ghee, vanaspati and other cooking oils are also
used.
The food habits of
Bihar are an indication of how the cuisine of the State has evolved over
centuries under the influence of various cultures and regimes that controlled
it from time to time. Lord Buddha attained enlightenment in Bihar and hence the
impact of Buddhism is significant in the State. People of Bihar are largely
vegetarian though many are fond of chicken, fish and meat dishes. As Bihar has
also been under the reign of the Mughals, there is an obvious influence of the
exotic Mughal cuisine on the cooking style and culinary tastes of its inhabitants.
Though the State has imbibed the best of the Gupta, Mauryan, Turk, Afghan,
Persian and European styles of cooking, it has retained a food culture that has
the distinct features of Bihar’s cuisine.
Sattu based dishes are very popular. This includes
different types of litti, sattu paratha, and sattu sharbats. Sattu is also
consumed by kneading it with salt and a limited amount of water, and eaten with
pickles, onions and green chillies. It has a sweet and richer version which is
prepared by mixing Sattu with sugar and ghee.
The cuisine of Bihar includes many mouth-watering sweet
dishes. Special delicacies include pua, pitha, khajja, kheer, sevian,
chandralala, ras malai, balushahi, anarasa, kala jamun, kesaria peda, parwal ki
mithai, khubi ki lai and tilkut.
The day’s meal consists of breakfast, lunch, high tea and
dinner.
