Bengali cuisine is an amalgamation of its traditional and agrarian lifestyle. It hosts one of the most diverse palettes with multicultural influences from foreign and South Asian regions. Bengali cuisine delicately balances subtle flavours with intense flavours, especially the ‘Mishti’ confectioneries and desserts. Each item is served course-wise rather than all at once in Bengali cuisine. There is a method to how one should eat the meal, which is based on the digestive properties of each ingredient.

At Sarkar’s Kitchen, we use the signature mix of five spices called ‘Panch Phoron’ that includes ‘Kalo Jeera’ (black onion seeds), ‘Jeera’ (cumin), ‘Shorshe’ (mustard), ‘Methi’ (fenugreek) and ‘Mouri’ (fennel). Alongside, we also use spices like ‘Holud’ (turmeric), ‘Dhone’ (coriander), ‘Radhuni’ (wild celery seeds), ‘Sukno laal lonka’ (dried red chilli), ‘Tejapatta’ (bay leaves), ‘Poshto’ (poppyseed), ‘Peyaj’ (onion), ‘Ada’ (ginger) and ‘Narkel’ (ripe coconut). ‘Sarser tel’’ (mustard oil) is added to almost all savoury items for that extra punch of pungent aroma.A must-try is ‘Kasundi’, a special sauce prepared from mustard paste that is best savoured with boiled rice and fish fry.