Bihari cuisine

Bihari cuisineis eaten mainly in the easternIndianstate ofBihar, as well as in the places where people originating from the state of Bihar have settled:Jharkhand, EasternUttar Pradesh,Bangladesh,Nepal,Mauritius,South Africa,Fiji, some cities ofPakistan,Guyana,Trinidad and Tobago,Suriname,Jamaica, and theCaribbean. Bihari cuisine includesAngika cuisine,Bhojpuri cuisine,Maithil cuisineandMagahi cuisine. Dal Puri
The cuisine ofBiharis largely similar toNorth indian cuisineandEast Indiancuisines. It is highly seasonal; watery foods such aswatermelonandsharbatmade from the pulp of thewood-apple fruitare consumed mainly in the summer months, while dry foods such as preparations made of sesame seeds and poppy seeds are consumed more frequently in the winter months.
Bihari cuisine includelitti chokha,a baked salted wheat-flour cake filled withsattu(baked chickpea flour) and some special spices, which is served withbaigan bharta,made of roasted eggplant (brinjal) and tomatoes.Dairyproducts are consumed frequently throughout the year, includingdahi(yogurt), spicedbuttermilk(known asmattha),ghee,lassiandbutter.
There are numerous Bihari meat dishes, withchickenandmuttonbeing the most common.Fishdishes are especially common in theMithila regionof North Bihar due to the number of rivers, such as theSone,Gandak,GangesandKoshi. Among meat dishes, meatsaalanis a popular dish made of mutton or goat curry with cubed potatoes ingaram masala.Dalpuriis another popular dish in Bihar. It is salted wheat-flour bread, filled with boiled, crushed, and fried gram pulses.
Malpuais a popular sweet dish of Bihar, prepared by a mixture ofmaida, milk, bananas, cashew nuts, peanuts, raisins, sugar, water, and green cardamom. Another notable sweet dish of Bihar isbalushahi, which is prepared by a specially treated combination ofmaidaand sugar along withghee, and the other worldwide famous sweet,khajais made from flour, vegetable fat, and sugar, which is mainly used in weddings and other occasions.SilaonearNalandais famous for its production. During the festival ofChhath,thekua, a sweet dish made ofghee,jaggery, and whole-meal flour, flavoured withaniseed, is made.
As the seasons change so does the Biharithali, every 3–4 months. The constants arerice,roti,achar,chatni,dalsand milk products, with some variation.
For the frying andtempering(chhounkna/tadka) of certain vegetable dishes, Bihari cuisine makes use ofvegetable oilormustard oilandpanch phoron— literally the "five spices":fennel seed(saunf),black mustard seed(sarson),fenugreek seed(methi),cumin seed(jeera) andnigella seed(kalonjiormangraeel). There is a lot of light frying (bhoonjnaa) in Bihari cuisine.
One remarkable tradition is "smoked food", referring to the use of smoked red chilli to infuse a strong aroma in food. Smoked chilli is used in preparingchokhaa, i.e. mashedbrinjals/ potatoes / tomatoes, either single or combined. Smoked chilli is also used in preparing kadam chutney (thekadamis a common fruit that is sweet-sour in taste).
Bihari cuisine is closer to Bengali cuisine with lesser Central Asian influence. Most dishes are steamed with achaunkof spices. Turmeric is usually added to every preparation. Dishes using garam masala are less common.
The distinctiveBihariflavour of non-vegetarian cooking finds mention in the memoirs of MaulanaAbul Kalam Azad, who found it quite tasty. Forms ofkebabs,muttonpreparations and dishes prepared from variousfowland birds have a distinctive flavor.Biharisare quite famous for their Bihari kebabs, another typical Bihari non-vegetarian dish.This dish was traditionally made from mutton and is eaten withroti,parathaor boiledrice. The region ofChamparanis famous for a grilled mutton dish calledtaash. Recently, in fast food restaurants, Bihari kebabs are also sold as Bihari kebab rolls, which are essentially kebabs wrapped up in aparatha.
There is a large variety of traditional sweet delicacies in Bihar. Unlike Oriya and Bengali sweets, which are soaked in syrups made of sugar and are therefore wet, Bihar's sweets are mostly dry.