Guest blogger and KCFS Intern Jenn Chong shares her recent travel stories while exploring India. Here’s Part 1 of her 3 part series.
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Hello all! I’m Jenn and I’m pleased to share some of my culinary experiences from my travels to India. The idea of Indian food probably conjures up images of super spicy food that can be too hot to handle. And while that may be true to a certain degree, India is a vast and varied country with regional cuisines appropriate for any palate.
Today, I bring you to Kolkata (formerly known as Calcutta) where the food tends to be sweeter, milder in spice, and with slight tinges of sour. Located in the northeastern part of India, food from this area is often referred to as Bengali cuisine.
Bengali cuisine is famous for its fresh fish and seafood, cooked as curries or steamed in banana leaves. Sweet flavors come from the use of unrefined cane sugar called ‘jaggery’, and the sour flavors come from heavier use of tamarind paste. My favorite dish by far was the jumbo prawn curry, which was absolutely delish (see below)!
Basanti Pulao (seasoned rice), naan, Echor-er Dalna (jackfruit curry)
Dak Bangla Chicken Curry, Hilsa Fish Mustard Curry, Chingri Malai
Sweets are an important part of Bengali cuisine and choices for desserts are limitless. From mishti doi (sweet yogurt) to kheer (rice pudding) to smaller confections like rasgulla, ladoo, and cham-chams, there is no such thing as a bad decision! The food in this region was so delicious it was hard to leave, but I knew there was still much more to explore and eat.
Small selection of sweet treats!
Mishti doi with fresh fruit
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Stay tuned for Part 2!
