Did you know? Indian food in England is so popular that the Chicken Tikka has become the national dish and did you know? Most of the Indian restaurants are actually owned and run by Bengalis. Is the food Bengali? No, they do serve Indian food or what is probably best described as British Indian food (a tad watered down considered to what would be consumed at home). Bengali businessmen felt Indian food would be a better sell and boy were they right. Anyway, this post isn’t about Indian food or the history of Bengali run Indian restaurants in England, it is about authentic Bengali Syhleti food.
Sylhet
Sylhet is a city in Bangladesh, from which majority of the British Bengalis originally come from. Sylhetis are known for spice, fish, bhorta (or satni) and luscious meat curries amongst many others. They are also known for putting on a real feast regardless of the occasion. Meaning in every Sylheti household you’ll always find numerous dishes available during all meals (whether there are guests or not). So, authentic Sylheti restaurants are set up like so. At the front you will find a lot of dishes to choose from. You take a look and choose what you fancy and they’ll bring it all over to your table.
Amar Gaon
Amar Gaon and Gram Bangla on Brick Lane are popular restaurants that serve this authentic cuisine. We went to Amar Gaon. Everything we got was a fair representation of authentic home food (of course not as good!), but still very much recommended. You’ll get a good authentic experience. The shallow fried fish, potato bhorta and dhaal were our personal favourites. My mum (who would be the best judge here) loved the shallow fried fish the best. Below, I’ve detailed the most common dishes you’ll find in a Bengali Syhleti household and at this restaurant too.
Fish
It is no secret how popular fish is amongst Bengali people. Growing up in England the love for fish has always been a joke and mockery of the Bengali people. However, it is a dying love affair. It is certainly more popular with the older generation than the newer one mainly due to the really strong potent odour. Mind you the real foodie still loves a good fish dish. There are many types of Bengali fish that you can have that range in terms of their taste and the number of bones (some will cost you hours to de-bone!). There are also a variety of fish dishes that you can devour. There’s the simple fish curry (usually accompanied with a veg like potato or tomato), there’s shallow fried fish (my favourite!), there’s a dish called tenga, which literally means sour and then there is the infamous hutki (or shutki), which is dried fish and it extremely potent and quite frankly stinks. You can also get fish in bhorta form…
Bhorta
Bhorta is vegetables that are boiled, steamed, grilled, or roasted before they are combined into a mash. As a matter of fact it is not merely vegetables, but herbs are used and seafood like certain fish and prawns are used too. Imagine this basically as an elevated mashed potato. Ingredients like mustard oil, garlic, onions, and red chili peppers are used to add spice and a kick to the mash. You can get many types such as aubergine, fish, prawn and coriander, but the most popular one and my personal favourite is the potato one. There are restaurants in Bangladesh that just do Bhortas – they will set out tens of plates of bhorta for you to devour with a plate of rice.
Bazi
Bazi is a vegetable stir fry dish. This is almost a staple side dish that you will almost always find in a Bengali house alongside a fish dish and a meat dish. Like the bhorta, numerous types of vegetables are used to make this, but again probably the most popular is the potato one. It is believed that you are either a bhorta or a bazi person; I’m a bhorta person and my wife is a bazi one.
Meat/chicken curry
Meat and chicken curries are also very popular. Some differences include the fact that potato used as the veg to accompany the curry, shatkora (citrus unique to Sylhet) is sometimes used instead of the potato to give the curry a very tasty tang and there is also something known has hard chicken, which is cooked sometimes and it is delicious!
Getting there
Nearest station: Aldgate East
Nearest mosque: East London Mosque
Parking: Most if not all the roads behind the East London Mosque are free evenings and weekends, but there is literally a competition for parking spaces. So, be prepared to drive around in circles and wait till you find something to pounce on.
