
Sylhet Division, Bangladesh
Akhni
আখনি
Sylheti pilaf of chinigura rice cooked in a spiced meat stock with potato and dried fruit, wetter and darker than morog polao.
southern-asia
Explore 67 foods connected to Bangladesh, from everyday staples to rare local specialties.

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Sylhet Division, Bangladesh
আখনি
Sylheti pilaf of chinigura rice cooked in a spiced meat stock with potato and dried fruit, wetter and darker than morog polao.

Bangladesh
অমৃতি
Flower-shaped loops of fried black-gram batter soaked in syrup, chewier and less crisp than a jilapi.

Dhaka, Bangladesh
বাখরখানি
Thick, dry, layered bread of flour and ghee stamped with a pattern and baked hard in a tandoor, eaten broken into tea.

Sylhet Division, Bangladesh
হাতকড়া গোশত
Beef braised with hatkora, a knobbly Sylheti citrus, whose rind gives a bitter-fragrant edge quite unlike lemon.

Bangladesh
বেগুনি
Aubergine sliced thin, dipped in a spiced gram-flour batter and deep-fried; a fixture of the Ramadan iftar plate.

West Bengal, Bangladesh
মাছের ঝোল
Everyday fish curry of rohu or catla in a thin turmeric, cumin and green-chilli gravy with potato and sometimes aubergine.

Bangladesh
ভাপা পিঠা
Ground rice flour packed loosely into a bowl over grated coconut and date molasses, then steamed through a cloth into a soft cake.

Bangladesh
ভুনা খিচুড়ি
Rice and lentil fried in ghee with whole spice before liquid is added, so the grains stay separate and the dish comes out dry and rich.

Sylhet Division, Bangladesh
বিরইন চাল
Red-and-white sticky rice grown only in the Sylhet region, used for the region's steamed and roasted rice cakes.

Bangladesh
বোরহানি
Salty, spiced yoghurt drink with mustard, mint, coriander and green chilli, served ice-cold alongside biryani at weddings.

Bangladesh
চচ্চড়ি
A Bengali-style dry stir-fry of fish or vegetables with mustard oil, onion and green chillies.

Bangladesh
ছানা
Cow's milk curdled with acid, drained and kneaded into a soft fresh curd — the base of almost every Bengali sweet.

Bangladesh
চিনিগুঁড়া চাল
Tiny aromatic rice grown mainly in the Mymensingh region, used for polao, biryani and payesh rather than daily eating.

Bangladesh
চিতই পিঠা
Plain rice-flour cakes cooked in a covered clay mould until spongy on one side, eaten with molasses, coconut or a bowl of spicy bhorta.

Tangail, Bangladesh
চমচম
Oval chhena sweet boiled in syrup until it takes a deep tan colour, denser and chewier than roshogolla, often rolled in dried milk.

Bangladesh
চটপটি
Boiled white peas stewed with potato and tamarind, ladled into a bowl and topped with egg, onion, coriander and crushed fuchka shells.

Khulna Division, Bangladesh
চুই ঝাল
Woody stem of a pepper vine, cut into chunks and cooked into beef and mutton curries in the south-west, giving a sharp warm heat.

Sylhet Division, Bangladesh
চুঙ্গা পিঠা
Sticky rice packed into a length of green bamboo and roasted slowly over a fire until the rice steams inside the tube.

Khulna Division, Bangladesh
নলেন গুড়
Sap tapped from date palms in the cold months and boiled down into a fragrant, smoky liquid or cake of molasses.

Dhaka, Bangladesh
ঢাকাই পরোটা
Wheat dough coiled with ghee and flattened, then fried on a griddle into a many-layered, chewy flatbread eaten with beef curry at breakfast.

Dhaka, Bangladesh
ডিমের জর্দা
Egg and milk cooked down with sugar and ghee into a grainy, saffron-coloured sweet studded with nuts.

Chattogram Division, Bangladesh
দোমাছা
Fresh fish and dried fish are cooked together with seasonal vegetables in the Chattogram, Feni, and Noakhali tradition.

Bangladesh
শুঁটকি ভর্তা
Dried fish roasted, pounded with dried chilli, garlic, onion and mustard oil into a rough, intensely savoury paste eaten with plain rice.

Bangladesh
শুঁটকি শিরা
Sun-dried fish rehydrated and cooked hard with onion, garlic, chilli and often taro stem or aubergine into a pungent, fiery dish.

Bangladesh
আঁশ বাঁশ
Duck cooked with fresh bamboo shoot and heavy spice, a cold-season dish from the north and the hill tracts.

Bangladesh
ফুচকা
Crisp hollow spheres cracked open and packed with spiced mashed potato, chickpeas, tamarind water, chilli and boiled egg.

Bangladesh
ঘোল
Buttermilk thinned with water, salted and spiced with roasted cumin, drunk cold through the hot months.

Hyderabad, India
हलीम
A slow-cooked wheat and meat porridge from Hyderabad, made during Ramadan. It is rich, nutritious, and garnished with fried onions and ghee.

Bangladesh
হান্দেশ
Rice flour and date molasses batter dropped into deep oil, where it puffs into a dark, chewy round with a crisp rim.

Bangladesh
ইলিশ মাছের পাতুরি
Hilsa smeared with mustard, coconut and green chilli, wrapped in banana leaf and steamed or pan-cooked until the leaf blackens.

West Bengal, Bangladesh
সরষে ইলিশ
Hilsa steaks cooked in a paste of ground yellow and black mustard seed, green chilli, turmeric and mustard oil, with almost no other seasoning.

Dhaka, Bangladesh
কাচ্চি বিরিয়ানি
Marinated raw mutton layered under rice with potato, ghee and kewra water in a sealed pot, so meat and rice cook together.

Natore, Bangladesh
কাঁচাগোল্লা
Loose, barely-cooked chhena crumbled with sugar and served soft, a Natore speciality with no shaping at all.

Chattogram Division, Bangladesh
কালা ভুনা
Beef slow-fried with onion, garlic and a dark roasted spice paste until the liquid disappears and the meat turns nearly black.

Bangladesh
खिचड़ा
A slow-cooked dish of wheat, lentils, and meat, similar to haleem but with whole grains. Popular during Ramadan in India.

India
खिचड़ी
A comfort dish of rice and lentils cooked together, often with vegetables and mild spices. It is considered healing and easy to digest.