Old Bengali Wedding Menu
Wedding invitations always seem exciting, especially if it is a Bengali wedding, you can only think about delicious food. Bengalis are foodies and on every occasion, they celebrate it with food and beverages. Nonetheless, Bengali weddings are another occasion where you can experience our rich food culture. Nowadays, wedding menus have become fancier and many variations of food from different cuisines have been entered into the menu. But still, some people prefer the traditional Bengali wedding menu. Those who are not familiar with ancient Bengali wedding menus can learn about a lot of traditional dishes that directly come from authentic Bengali cuisine.
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What Kind of Foods Were There in Old Bengali Wedding Menus?
Bengali Weddings are one of the most vibrant occasions that we celebrate following our culture, customs and traditions. Over the years the traditional touch has gradually changed and people are now more comfortable with modern amenities, food etc. As a result, most of the new generation do not have any idea how beautiful our traditional cultures are. Especially Bengali wedding menus were something beyond the imagination. It's a perfect mixture of a diverse array of flavours that you will only understand once you see the variety of old Bengali wedding menus.
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Starters
You must be wondering if the old Bengali wedding menu did offer starters. Well, you cannot imagine the variety of options you can get in this category. For starters, the most popular item was a Vegetable cutlet, specially made with lots of vegetables like carrot, beetroot, potato, peas, cauliflower and authentic spices. Another popular item on the wedding menu is Shingara. A flaky thin layer of base made with flour, shaped as a cone and inside they used spicy smashed potatoes as filling. Apart from that, there were some items called Telebhaja, similar to fritters, made with gram flour and different kinds of vegetables. For example - Beguni is made with eggplant, Fulkopir Chop is made with Cauliflower, Piyaji is made with onion etc. Similar items in non-veg were also there like Macher Chop, Mangsher Chop etc. where chicken, fish, mutton etc. were used.
Main Course
The variety of main course items that you can find in a Bengali menu won't be seen anywhere else. There were a variety of rice items like Basanti Pulao - made with aromatic Gobindo Bhog rice, ghee, milk, dry fruits and spices, Soru Chaler Vat - made with long grain basmati rice, Ghee Vat - Rice served with clarified butter, Vegetable Fried rice - Long grain rice tossed in fried vegetables, dry fruits and special spices. Bengalis have a special preference towards sweets, so Pulao and Fried Rice were also sweet in nature.
Now the old Bengali wedding menu did have bread in the main course. Items like Radhaballavi, Hinger Kochuri, Fish Kochuri, Koraishutir Kochuri, Luchi etc. were there. Luchi is something similar to Puri or Bhature. But, often Bengalis used to stuff the Luchi with different fillings like hing, pulses, peas etc. along with some spices. This traditional item is called Kochuri. Radhaballavi is also similar to Kochuri but here the filling has a mixture of dal, ginger, flannel seeds and some other spices. These traditional items were not only tasty but also didn't have any harmful things in them.
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Side Dish
Most of the variety of food on a traditional Bengali wedding menu can be seen in this section. Bengalis are really into fish, so there were a lot of fish items that could be seen in the side dish section. Ilish Mach Vaja, Rui Macher Kaliya, Doi Katla, Ilish Vapa, Sorse Pabda, Sorse Ilish, Topshe Macher Fry, Chingri Macher Malai Curry, Chingri Macher Korma etc. were served in the side dish. A wide variety of fish is prepared solely using traditional techniques that taste like heaven.
Now, let's see the variety of meat items that were served in traditional Bengali weddings. There were items like Kosha Murgir Mangsho - made with tender chicken and spices, Kosha Khasir Mangsho - made with juicy mutton and spices etc. Apart from that there were Chicken and Mutton Korma where special cooking techniques were used which is a bit different than Chicken or Mutton Kosha.
Another kind of side dish was also there that only included different types of vegetables. Navaratna - is made with nine types of different vegetables, Mochar Ghanto - is made with banana blossom and spices, Murir Ghonto - is made with vegetables and rice, Echorer Dalna - is made with raw jackfruit, Potol er Torkari - is made with Parwal, Phulkopir Dalna - made with cauliflower etc. were also there.
Apart from fish, meat and veg side dishes, there were different types of dal served in the side dish section. There were Niramish Dal and Amish dal containing veg and non-veg options. Along with dal, a lot of fried items were served for example - Alu Vaja - fried potato, Begun Vaja - fried eggplants, Potol Vaja - fried Parwal, Kumro Vaja - fried guard slices, Narkel Vaja - chopped coconuts etc.
Appetizers
The Bengali wedding menu does have appetizer options. There were different types of Chutney and Pickles also. The most common Chutney which was served in Bengali weddings was Aamer Chutney - made with raw mangoes, dry fruits and spices. Apart from that there was Tomato Chutney - made with tomatoes, dry fruits, tamarind, dates etc. In the pickle section, there were Aam er Achar - pickles made with mango and spices, Lonkar Achar - made with chillies, Tentuler Achar - made with tamarind etc. Another thing that was served as the appetizer was Ajwain.
Dessert
Now comes the most important part of the Bengali old menu for weddings the dessert options. In this section, there were the world-famous Bengali items, Rasgulla and Misti Doi. Apart from that other Bengali sweets like Sondesh, Pantua, Komola Bhog, Mihidana, Sitabhog, Golap Jam, Kalakand etc. were also served.
Conclusion
So, now you know how much variety of food could be seen in an authentic Bengali wedding. Old Bengali menus were a harmonious blend of spices, flavours and ancient recipes. They were not only delicious but were also cherished by people from all cultures and communities. If anyone is looking for the best Bengali wedding menu, then they must try the traditional menus from the above-mentioned options. We are sure you won't regret your decision.
