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Cuisines
A look at Bihars cuisine helps you know about the history, geography, economical status and culture of the state. Food habits of Biharis show how the cuisine of the state has evolved over centuries under the influence of various cultures and regimes.
Lord Buddha attained enlightenment in Bihar and hence Buddhism has had a significant impact on the state. People are largely vegetarian though there are many who are fond of chicken and meat dishes. Bihar has also been under the reign of mighty Mughals and, naturally, the exotic Mughal cuisine has impacted the Bihar style of cooking and the taste of the inhabitants of the state.
A remarkable factor of the Bihari cuisine is that the state has imbibed the best and most suitable aspects of the Mauryan, Gupta, Turk, Afghan and Persian and European style of cooking and, at the same time, retained a food culture that bears a distinct hallmark of Bihar.
Bihar offers a large variety of sweet delicacies which, unlike those from Bengal, are mostly dry. These include anarasa, belgrami, chhena murki, motichoor ka ladoa, kaala jamun, kesaria peda, khaaja, khurma, khubi ka lai, Iaktho, parwal mithai, pua & maalpua, thekua, perukia, murabba, raskadam and tilkut. Many of these originate in towns in the Heres some typicalfood fare of the state:
Makhana ka Kheer
Makhana or Lotus Seed is one of the specialties of Mithila. It is obtained from the water
source. According to an old saying, it is one of those three things which are not found even in
heaven, the other two being fish and betel leaf. The one and most popular dish prepared from
makhana is makhana ka kheer.
The pudding of makhana in milk is allowed to cool under sky in the nighttime. This sweet
preparation is much different from any other kheer or sweet dish made in other parts of the
country. This is a unique dish which is made in Mithila region of the state and every Maithil, the
Mithila region resident, takes pride in its exclusivity.
Thekua
Thekua, or khajur, is one of the traditional sweet items in Bihars homes. Be it Teej or
Jitiya - festivals when Hindu women keep fast praying for the welfare of their husbands and.
children respectively, this is a mandatory item prepared at home, There are many variations of
this item; like it could be crispy or soft, big or small etc. But the cooking method is more or less
the same.
Khaaja
Khaaja-making is an ancient tradition of Silao village which is situated 15 km from
Biharsharif and 8 km from Rajgir on the Patna-Rajgir road. The best varieties of this sweet
are Chandshahi, Gola, Palvidar and Gandhi Topa.
The most popular among them is the rectangular-shaped one. In the early years, this variety
was made to be so light that, it is said, it did not submerge in water even if a coin was put over its surace. The coin would slip into the water but the khaaja would keep floating on the water surace.
There is one more story about this delicate delicacy, It is
said that once Gautam Buddha visited the place of Acharya Sheel Bhadra, the chancellor of ancient
Nalanda University. The Acharya extended him a warm welcome and offered him a locally made
sweet. Overwhelmed by its taste,the Lord asked what it was. The Acharya, not really knowing the
name, called it khaaja. Ever since this world-famous multilayered sweet is known by the same name.
Nowadays refined wheat flour, sugar and edible oils are the chief ingredients of khaaja. It is believed that even 2000 years before, khaajas were prepared in the fertile land on the southern side of the Gangetic plains
of Bihar.These areas, which are home to khaaja, once comprised the central part of Maurya
and Gupta empires.
Presently, khaajas are prepared and sold in the city of Patna,Gaya and several other places
across the state of Bihar,Yet, the khaajas of Silao and Rajgir areas have a distinct superiority
over khaajasof allother places.Silao and Rajgir are the places where one can get puffy khaaja, which melts in the mouth.
Belgrami
Koath, a small town and a notified area in the Rohtas district, is famous for its unique sweet
dish called belgrami. Besides Koath, belgrami is also made in Jogadhara, Baraiya,Dehri, Etwa,
Jogini, Gangati, Shahpur and Chater. This sweet is made of chhena, the same material with
which Bengal delicacy rasogulla is prepared. However, it is soaked and cooked a bit more till
it becomes a little hard and brown. Of late, belgrami prepared at Udwant nagar in Bhojpur district has also become quite popular.
Litti
Vegetarian dishes dominate the culinary art in Bihar, sattu, or a variant of gram flour, being
the staple ingredient of the foods. Litti is one preparation made with it. Litti is usually eaten with dahi, baigan chokha, aalu chokha and papad. Apart from being tasty, Litti-chokha is
rich in fibre and low on calorie. This suits the taste of those looking for a combination of delicious and healthy food.
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