What are your family’s top 3 favorite meals?
Meals?
Of course breakfast, lunch and dinner.
We don’t have the concept of supper.
But being a family of foodies the more important question is what is our go-to-food during meals.
I am Bengali. Bengalis are known for their salivation for Non-vegetarian food. Three times a day. All the better. It has to be fish or chicken or mutton or egg. Having vegetarian food is akin to being sick. 🤪🤪
However, being brought up in the Northern part of the country, I have been exposed to varied vegetarian dishes of different states. I now feel one can experiment more with vegetables than with fish, chicken, mutton or eggs. A nicely cooked vegetarian item can very well compete with Chicken Butter Masala or Mutton Rezaala.
For a true blue Bengali the ideal breakfast will be omelette or boiled egg and buttered toasts. For a Probashi Bangaali that is a Bengali brought up outside Bengal breakfast can be anything from typical desi roti-sabzi (home made bread and curry) to something exotic like veg macaroni/pasta/vermicelli or just poha (flattened rice with vegetables). There is an array of South Indian dishes which are ideal for breakfast like idli sambar, vada sambar, dosa, uttapam , appam or upma.
Dosa – the attraction lies in the way it’s served in different shapes and sizes!!
Sambar Vada/Idli. Idly Sambar is considered one of the healthiest breakfast by nutritionists
Nowadays my breakfast has relegated to a bowl of milk and cornflakes which sounds boring.
But Sundays or holidays for Indians mean celebration with food. So the ideal Sunday/holiday breakfast will be aloo Puri or chhole bhature. Aloo Puri is a combo of potato curry with fried puffs made up of floor dough. But the potato curry which goes with puris is cooked differently than the one which goes with rice during lunch Chhole is a rich chickpea preparation and bhatures are fermented, stuffed and bigger version of puris. Both dishes are accompanied by pickle and salad and spicy chillies.
This is a pic of Chhole Bhature. Yummy, isn’t it?
Winters are made for paranthas which are stuffed rotis fried in ghee/olive oil (for those who are super health conscious) The stuffings may be of spiced cabbage/cauliflower/spinach/peas/fenugreek leaves/potatoes/cheese/raddish with leaves or onion or plain carrom seeds. A wide range of choice to be had with white butter or raita or curd. Raita is again spiced up curd blended well. Paranthas also go well with lassi (sweetened yoghurt) or Chhanch (salted yoghurt).
Paranthas as delicious as ever!!!
My favourite lunch is daal chawal or lentil and rice. But lentils can be prepared with rich spices and also simply boiled like a light soup tempered with herbs and seeds. A dry curry goes as a side dish. I have a sweet tooth. So a piece of sweet is a must after every meal. This is our family’s staple food for lunch.
Daal Chawal!! Looks messy? But it is such a soulful dish.
But we do at times prepare non-veg dishes but that is very rare as most of my family (including extended) members are vegetarians.
Dinner is light. My sister and brother- in-law prefer soup and salads at night. For my mother it’s always soup and bread. For me it is a small roti and any light gravy. A small piece of chocolate or sweet after meal is super satisfying.
Indian cuisine is rich in spices and oil. The same dish is prepared differently in different parts of the country. Every dish is flavour full and enjoyable if you have a taste for it. I try out dishes of other states when I need a change of taste. Every part of the country has a variety of herbs and spices which add flavour and fragrance to an item.
Our non-vegetarian cuisine is also wide. Unfortunately I have lost the taste for it. Writing about food is less exciting than tasting them in reality. I just realised while writing this post. It’s past dinner but I am again feeling hungry. 🤦🤦🤦🤦
Butter Chicken Masala – internationally craved. I don’t know how it’s served abroad but we over here really like it all creamy and buttery.
Ah! These Indian food!
Love your narration.
Yummy food items!
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Thanks Mr. P. Sorry missed replying. Thanks again for reading and commenting.
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It is always a pleasure to read your posts twice or three times!
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Humbled and honoured.
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🙏🙏🙏
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Reading your post has made me hungry! I am going to make chole puri for brekkie tomorrow, thanks to you 😉
Also craving butter chicken but I don’t think I can make it for lunch tomorrow. Too lazy to go to the bazaar to buy chicken. 😉
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I crave for chhole bhature now and then
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Very nicely presented servings
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Thank you Derrick.
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appreciate you sharing and I’m a vegetarian and enjoy the sauces and blends, the spicy the better. peace
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Thank you so much
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Your culinary journey through various meals is delightful! The vivid descriptions of your family’s favorite dishes create a mouthwatering experience for me. The cultural diversity in Indian cuisine truly adds a flavorful touch to each meal. 😊🍲
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Yes. Well said.
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Wow, yummy foods.
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Thanks
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You missed alu shedho, vat, dal, ghee, lonka, onion. 😋 bengali’s comfort food.
I Don’t know if it’s common in northern part but in southern part it is. I’m from Hooghly though 😊
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My favourite too
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Nice reading and makes me hungry 2 nd time after 8 months of gap 😀😀. [From an Indian point of view on these food items]
For this post of yours, you have not responded to 3 great people who took their time to comment.
It’s okay, since we are all busy in our own world and might have missed an opportunity to respond.
What about the dictum, better late than never?
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You’re feeling hungry after eight months 🤤🤤. Too long isn’t it????
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Eight months without eating?
That’s some next-level self-control! I live on a steady diet of willpower and sheer determination.
I am also getting energy from photosynthesis!
Also, I’ve been secretly channelling my inner bear and going into a super hibernation.
Even my fridge must be like, “Finally! I was beginning to feel neglected.” 😂
And your food photos won me over, despite my best efforts to resist! 😃😃
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Wow! Thanks for reading and commenting again. Well now I have replied to all the three great readers. Thanks for pointing out. Yes better late than never. I have replied.
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So sweet of you, replying to these great personalities!
You are amazing!
I am glad, you didn’t mistake my thoughts.
The easiest thing is to find fault in others. Forgetting our own.
😀😀😀
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How can I ignore my esteemed co-bloggers! Derrick, Rekha and Mr. P …. My mistake for replying so late. Thank you for reminding. No, I didn’t mistake your thoughts. If I am offended by your comments I will let you know in clear terms. Don’t have any doubt about that!!! 😕😕
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Thanks, GC, for your response! I really appreciate your straightforwardness and clarity. It’s great to know that we can communicate openly and directly. 😊
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Some imagination Mr P. TC.
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Lol!
The only way left to me, to forget this depressing world, is living in an illusionary world of imaginations and pretending that I am the happiest person ever living in this world.
Thanks, GC for being supportive.
😀😀😀
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The world is fine. We make it depressing. Finding happiness in the littlest of things makes life livable.
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Hmm…! It’s like the universe is a giant, unwrapped gift, and we’re the ones who accidentally left the instruction manual in the ‘depressing’ section.”
It’s like the universe handed us a perfect cake, and we’re the ones complaining about the frosting?
So, let’s embrace the tiny joys—like finding a surprise fry at the bottom of the bag or finding that one pen that actually works—because clearly, that’s where the magic happens! 😄
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👍👍
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