Poila Baisakh is celebrated by Bengali people living in various corners of the world. It is the first day of a new year. People celebrated this day by doing puja & performing other rituals, participating in procession & fair, wearing new traditional clothes, greeting each other for a happy & prosperous life & eating special Poila Baisakh food. Is it not true? But I think in case, somebody does not interested in performing any activity but still, he is definitely interested to try a special Bengali Pohela Boishakh food menu on this occasion. I mean food & Bengali are two inseparable parts. So what do you think? Do you also want to try the best Poila Baisakh menu in Bengali style?
Pohela Boishakh? Poila Baisakh? Confused? Haha!!
Actually, in India, Bengali people call it as Poila Baisakh and in Bangladesh people pronounce it as Pohela Boishakh.
In West Bengal people mostly celebrate this day by having traditional Bengali dishes. But in Bangladesh Panta bhaat with Hilsha fry is inseparable on this occasion. It is a very popular dish on this occasion in Bangladesh. People also participated in Mangal Sobhajatra, a traditional very colourful procession organized by the community. But here in West Bengal or Tripura or some parts in Assam with a significant number of Bengali people, they organized many colorful procession, many cultural events are also organized by local people where people from the local community sing, recite, play different act etc. Food lovers try many traditional Bengali dishes at home or in restaurants. Many restaurants also offer special Poila Baisakh menu on this occasion.
So here is my dream Bengali Pohela Boishakh food menu. I always try to include some of these dishes in my food menu each year on this day.
Best Poila Baisakh menu
Breakfast
The morning starts with yummy khasta kachuri & aloor torkari and after that one glass of delicious & super refreshing watermelon mocktail.
Khasta Kachuri & Aloor torkari
Khasta kachuri & aloor torkari are most popular breakfast in West Bengal. Many people enjoy it during weekends. It is also available in almost every market place in Bengal. But there is nothing like homemade khasta kachuri.
Watermelon Mocktail
Did you ever try this watermelon mocktail. Tastes of this drink will give you a heavenly feeling. Haha! I am not joking! It is true. Try this drink on this occasion. You can find plenty of watermelon in the mid of April in any market place.
Lunch
So what is your dream Pohela Boishakh food menu? Is there any which is listed below. Here is my dream menu on this occasion. Though I do not add any fish item in this list but in case you can avoid such menu without fish then add any of your favorite.
Radhaballabhi & Kasha aloor tarkari/Aloor dum
For Bengali people, radhaballabhi is world famous. Nothing can beat the taste of this world famous Bengali dish. Thinking about a Bengali food menu on such occasion without radhaballabhi is absolutely impossible.
Plain rice
Plain rice is most prefered for any Bengali traditional food menu because you can go any kind of traditional Bengali dish with plain rice.
Sorse potol
This another popular Bengali traditional dish. This is made with pointed gourd and mustard seeds. Sorse potol is a very delicious dish that can easily go with plain rice.
Moog dal
Any traditional menu can not be complete without Bengali style moong dal that too with fish head (maachher matha) or green peas (matarsuti). Is this not true?
Jhuri jhuri aloor bhaja
What will go with moong dal & plain rice? Jhuri jhuri aloo bhaja? Is there anything better than this? You can try this with fried peanut & chire/chiwda/ flattened rice/beaten rice. I just love this combination.
Kosha mangso/Paneer rezala
Kasha mangso is compulsory for this poila Baisakh menu. But in case you are vegetarian (which is not normal for a Bengali) then you can add paneer rezala.
Bengali fruit chatni
Chatni is the most popular item in the Bengali menu. There are many options in chatni but tomato & dry fruits chatni and fruit chatni are most popular. I will love fruit chatni in Pohela Boishakh food menu over tomato-based chatni.
Rosagolla
Anybody has the courage to avoid rasagolla from traditional Bengali food menu? Though simple rasagolla is preferred but nowadays different flavoured rasagollas are also preferred by many people.
Sandesh
Add any sandesh along with rasaogolla. Many people love to eat sandesh over rasagolla because it is less sweet in taste than rasagolla.
Post Lunch: Beler Sharbat
Poila baisakh means it is mid of April. The temperature will be close to 40 degree Celsius. So beler sharbat will be helpful to control body temperature as well as it will help in digestion. Above all, it is a tasty & refreshing summer drink.
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Evening Snack
Tea & biscuits are important for the evening snack but in case, you have digested your lunch completely and now feeling hungry then you should try phuchka or ghugni.
Phuchka
Phuchka is very popular in West Bengal, Tripura & neighbouring country Bangladesh too. Actually not only in those places but also it is popular all over India. You can see a phuchka stall in almost every corner of West Bengal. You can visit any market place, college, school, park, playground there will be atleast one street food vendor who will be selling this wonderful evening snack. I also tried homemade phuchka and I found it very simple and easy to make at home.
Ghugni
Another popular street food in Bengal. Almost every Bengali tried this food and liked it. Many people love to have this food every week. In case you are hungry then you can have a bread along with ghugni.
Dinner
So are you ready for my dream dinner for Bengali Pohela Boishakh?
Luchi
Every Bengali love this all purpose flour made flat deep fried food. We all expect luchi with aloor dum during Sunday morning breakfast or any other holiday. It brings happiness in every Bengali people.
Paneer jalfrezi
Paneer jalfrezi is a very special Bengali dish what I like a lot. Though it sounds like a foreign dish but actually it is a Bengali dish. I would love to have luchi with paneer jhalfrezi on the special occasion of Poila Baisakh.
Basanti pulao
Another popular Bengali dish. It is an awesome sweet version of pulao. As turmeric is added to it look perfectly yellow and that is why it is called as basanti pulao.
Beguni
Beguni is a deep fried brinjal what is coated with spicy besan based batter. People will love this with basanti pulao.
Mutton kasha/Vegetarian mutton rogan josh
We can not think a food menu without a non-vegetarian item. So I love to have mutton kasha with basanti pulao. But in case you want to avoid mutton in dinner as you already have it in lunch that too with huge quantity then you should avoid mutton in dinner. In such a case, you can add green jackfruit curry in dinner. I prefer a Kashmiri style Bengali green jackfruit curry what I call as vegetarian mutton rogan josh.
Payes
Poila Baisakh menu without payes? We simply can not think about. So add payes in dinner.
Pantua/Gulab Jamun
I love gulab jamun and always find pantua is a Bengali version of gulab jamun. So definitely I would prefer it on this occasion.
This is my all time favourite Poila Baisakh menu throughout the day. It is a perfect Bengali traditional menu what will make any day special.
Before ending this post I would say this day is also celebrated in other states in India. They called this day by other names. It is called as Baisakhi in Punjab; Rangoli Bihu in Assam; Puthandu in Tamilnadu; Vishu in Kerala; Vishuva Sankranti in Odisha; Juir Sheetal in Mithila.
Not only that this day is also celebrated in other countries (Vikram Samwat in Nepal; Aluth Avuruthu in Sri Lanka; Songkran in Thailand; Chol Chnam Thmey in Cambodia; Songkan in Laos; Thingyan in Myanmar) in this region.
So how do you celebrate this day? What is your dream Poila Baisakh menu? Which dish do you want to add (or remove) in this Pohela Boishakh foo menu to make it more enjoyable?
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