The magic of some recipes lies in exclusion: the dish tastes so good because certain conventional ingredients are knocked off from its making. This recipe of saadi lauki sabzi (simple bottle gourd curry) , passed down from my grandmother’s kitchen, falls in that hallowed category.
Bihari Recipes
This page brings together tested vegetarian Bihari recipes from The Steaming Pot, curated for everyday home cooking:
- some classics (sattu paratha, nenua chana),
- some adapted to suit convenience (littis cooked on kitchen stovetop) or palate (potato chutney to stand in for ole chutney).
Plus, a write up on food words in Bihar and what they mean in “regular” Hindi.
Baingan Bhaja: Fried Eggplant Slices
Baingan bhaja is so easy to make that this post barely qualifies as a "recipe" – and yet it is one of those dishes of which the taste belies the simplicity.
A staple side dish with meals in a typical Bihari home, a quickly made add-on to liven up a dal-chawal-chokha meal. That’s baingan bhaja for you.
Dahi Chura, a Makar Sankranti Special
Cool homemade yogurt, flattened rice that needs no cooking, honey/jaggery and fresh fruit. A breakfast so healthy it’ll give you a palpable halo around your head. Presenting for you staple morning-time food from Bihar – dahi chura.
Food Names in Bihar and What They Mean in Regular Hindi
We moved to Delhi from Patna when I was twelve. Before the move I thought that apart from the differences in personal pronoun usage and transitive verb syntax, the two places spoke the same language Hindi.
It took me by surprise when I discovered that in discussions about food, my new non-Bihari friends and I were often talking the equivalent of Greek and Latin. I told them I disliked kaddu, they assumed I disliked red pumpkin. When I said "Red pumpkin is not kaddu, it’s kohra! I meant bottle gourd", they said – "Bottle gourd is not kaddu, it’s lauki!"
Nenua Chana: Bihari Sponge Gourd (Torai) with Chana Dal
Confession time: I had to Google "nenua in English" for this post. I learned that the vegetable is called sponge gourd: the name comes from the fact that the fibrous core of the gourd is dried and used as a sponge/loofah.
Not surprisingly, the Latin name of sponge gourd is Luffa cylindrica.
Potatoes in Mustard Sauce
A traditional recipe from Bihar/Bengal that revels in the heady potency of mustard. If you like the sharpness of mustard and mustard oil, you are in for a treat with sarson wale aloo (potatoes in mustard sauce).
Red Pumpkin Mangodi Curry
Doesn’t food acquire an exotic sheen when described in language alien to its roots? Mangodi sounds like something grandmas from my native place would add to curries simmering in earthen pots. Sundried lentil dumplings? That’s like stuff my hostel-residing cousins in Bangalore would cook on a rare Sunday, as they do pasta and bruschetta.
But there you have it. Mangodi = sundried lentil dumplings. Choose the name you like. Made of ground moong dal with a hint of salt and spices, mangodi globules are sun-dried for 2-3 days before they are ready to use in curries.