Bihari cuisine

This article is part of the series Indian cuisine

Regional cuisines

North India Awadhi - Punjabi – Mughlai Kashmiri – Sindhi Rajasthani – Uttar Pradeshi more..

South India Andhra – Karnataka – Kerala – Tamil Hyderabadi – Udupi – Mangalorean more..

East India Bengali – Oriya Bihari – Bhojpuri - Assamese

North-East India Meghalayan - Manipuri - Mizo Naga – Sikkimese – Tripuri Arunachalese

West India Goan – Gujarati – Marathi – Malvani & Konkani – Parsi

Other Indian Chinese - Nepali Jain (Satvika) – Anglo-Indian Chettinad – Fast food

Ingredients and types of food

Main dishes – Desserts – Bread Drinks – Snacks – Spices – Condiments

Preparation and cooking

Handi – Karahi – Tava – Uruli – Other

See also:

History – Etiquette Indian chefs – Cookbook: Cuisine of India

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This article is part of the series Pakistani cuisine

Regional cuisines

PAKISTAN Punjabi – Sindh – Pashtun – Balochi Mughlai - Kashmiri - Parsi- Lahore

Other Pakistani Chinese – Fast food

Ingredients and types of food

Main dishes – Desserts – Bread Drinks – Snacks – Spices – Condiments

Preparation and cooking

Handi – Karahi – Tava – Tandoor – Other

See also:

History – Etiquette Pakistani chefs – Cookbook: Cuisine of Pakistan

edit

Bihari cuisine (Hindi: बिहारी खाना, Urdu: بِہاری کھانا) is eaten mainly in Bihar, Eastern Uttar Pradesh, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Mauritius, Fiji, Guyana, and Trinidad and Tobago as these are they places where Biharis have a significant presence. Bihari cuisine is predominantly vegetarian because traditional Bihar society influenced by Buddhist and Hindu values of non-violence did not eat eggs, chicken, fish and other animal products. However there is also a tradition of meat-eating and fish dishes are especially common due to the number of rivers in Bihar such as the Sone, Gandak and the Ganges. There are also numerous Bihari meat dishes with chicken and mutton being the most common.

Dairy products are consumed frequently throughout the year, with common foods including yoghurt known as dahi and also buttermilk (known as mattha, ghee, lassi and butter. The cuisine of Bihar is similar to a great extent to North Indian Cuisine but has an influence from other East Indian Cuisine (for example like Bengali cuisine, Mustard oil is used in cooking). It is highly seasonal, with watery foods such as watermelon being consumed mainly in the summer months and dry foods in the winter months.

Some dishes which Bihar is famous for, include Sattu Paratha, which are parathas stuffed with fried chickpea flour, Chokha (spicy mashed potatoes), Fish curry and Bihari Kebab.

Bihari Thali

As the seasons change so does the Bihari thaali, every 3-4 months. The constants are rice, roti, achar, chatni, dals and milk products with some variation.

People use mustard oil and panchforan (literally "five seeds", namely saunf, sarson, methi, ajwain and Kalaunji (onion seeds) for "chhonkna" (tempering) of some vegetables. There is a lot of light frying, called bhoonjnaa, in Bihari food.

Traditional Cuisine

• Kadhi Bari^[1] - these fried soft dumplings made of besan (gram flour) are cooked in a spicy gravy of yogurt and besan. It goes very well over plain rice.
• Khichdi^[2] - Mix of Rice, Dal and several Vegetables; steamed together to give a distinctive taste of different ingredients combined in one dish. It is often topped up with ghee.
• Ghugni - A Spicy black gram food
• Pittha - steam cooked, mixture of powdered rice
• Chiwra - beaten rice, served with a coat of creamy curd and sugar or jaggery
• Sattu - powdered baked gram, a high energy giving food usually mixed with water or with milk. Sometimes, sattu mixed with spices is used to prepare stuffed 'chapattis', locally called as 'makuni roti'.
• Dhuska - a deep fried item prepared from a mixture of powdered rice and ghee but is salted.

Vegetarian Cuisine

• Saag^[3]
• Kafta^[4]
• Bharwan Karela ^[5]
• Veg-Korma - Subziyon ka Panchranga Korma
• Paalak Paneer
• Shaahi Paneer

Non-vegetarian cuisine

The distinctive Bihari flavor of non-vegetarian cooking finds mention in the memoirs of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad who found it quite tasty. Forms of kebabs, mutton preparations and dishes prepared from various fowl and birds have a very distinctive flavor. Biharis are quite famous for their Bihari Kebabs, another typical Bihari non-vegetarian dish. This dish was traditionally made from mutton and is eaten with roti, paratha or boiled rice. Recently, in fast food restaurants, these Bihari Kebabs are also sold as Bihari Kebab Rolls, which are essentially kebabs wrapped up in a paratha.

• Prawns^[6]
  • Shaahi Jhinga Masaledaar
  • Jhor Waali Machhli
  • Jhinga Biryaani
• Bihari Kebabs

Breads

• Paratha^[7]
  • Potato Paratha
  • Sattu Paratha
  • Onion Paratha
• Dal Puri^[8]
• Makuni
• Makai Roti

Appetizers

• Chaat
• Golgappa
• Chatni^[9] -
• Jhal Murhi
• Dahi vada
• Pakora
• Raita
• Tarua

Bihari Fast Food

• Litti -can be prepared with minimum of utensils by people who away on tour. It is prepared with Sattu and Wheat flour and taken with mashed potato and brinjals.
• Chokha -
• Bajka^[10]
• Bharta^[11] -
• Bhunjia^[12] - Bhunjia of Bihar must not be confused with 'bhajia' of other regions.
• Samosa
• Kachori
• Samosa Chaat, it is basically samosa sweet chatni, curd, Namkeen mixtures with chiura, onion and other garnishing ingredients.

Sweets

Motichoor ka Ladoo.

There is large variety of sweet delicacies. Unlike Oriya and Bengali sweets, which are soaked in syrups made of sugar and are therefore wet, sweets of Bihar are mostly dry.

• Khaja - Famous one is from Silao Nalanda^[13]
• Tilkut (Til Burfi) - Famous one is from Gaya ^[14]
• Maal Pua ^[15]
• Kheer ^[16]
• Thekua ^[17]
• Khajur ^[18]
• Laktho
• Churma
• Balushahi - Famous one is from Harnaut
• Anarasa (Come from particular area Basopatti & the nearest villages)
• Khaja
• Motichoor ka Ladoo - Famous one is from Maner
• Kala Jamun
• Peda - Famous one is from Kesaria
• Parwal ka Mithai
• Khubi ka Lai - Famous one is from Barh
• Belgrami
• Padokkia
• Kala Jamun- Famous one is from Vikram
• Murki - Famous one is from from Koelwar
• Pirikya - Made from flour and khoya etc. It is very famous in Basopatti and villages near by.

See also

• Bhojpuri cuisine
• Bengali cuisine
• Oriya cuisine
• North Indian cuisine
• Indian Cuisine

References

1. ^ http://www.bawarchi.com/bihar/bihari54.html Kadhi Bari
2. ^ http://www.bawarchi.com/bihar/bihari57.html
3. ^ http://www.bawarchi.com/bihar/saag.html Saag
4. ^ http://www.bawarchi.com/bihar/koftas.html Kafta
5. ^ http://www.bawarchi.com/bihar/bihari108.html Bharwan Karela
6. ^ http://www.bawarchi.com/bihar/prawn.html prawn
7. ^ http://www.bhojpuria.com/cook/cat_detail.php?recID=18&catID=13 Paratha
8. ^ http://www.bhojpuria.com/cook/cat_detail.php?recID=19&catID=13 Dal Puri
9. ^ http://www.bawarchi.com/bihar/chatni.html Chatni
10. ^ http://www.bawarchi.com/bihar/bajka.html
11. ^ http://www.bawarchi.com/bihar/bharta.html Bharta
12. ^ http://www.bawarchi.com/bihar/bhunjia.html Bhunjia
13. ^ http://www.bhojpuria.com/cook/cat_detail.php?recID=41&catID=25 Khaja
14. ^ http://www.bhojpuria.com/cook/cat_detail.php?recID=40&catID=25 Til Burfi
15. ^ http://www.bhojpuria.com/cook/cat_detail.php?recID=23&catID=25 Mal Pua
16. ^ http://www.bhojpuria.com/cook/cat_detail.php?recID=22&catID=25 Kheer
17. ^ http://www.bhojpuria.com/cook/cat_detail.php?recID=21&catID=25 Thekua
18. ^ http://www.bhojpuria.com/cook/cat_detail.php?recID=20&catID=25 Khajur

Sources

• Bihari cuisine write up [1]