Durga Puja is a time when long-lost delicacies and traditional Bengali recipes could be revived. Team Viva lists some

While traditions might have been lost amid the glitter and glamour of the modern culture, they are being revived with great intensity through food today. And what could poignantly remind of this better than the time around Durga Puja, the annual highlight of Bengali social and religious calendar? It is time when long-lost delicacies and recipes could be brought back as the Puja is not just a religious festival but something that is experiential in itself — with pandal-hopping, feasting around and reliving childhood and bittersweet memories. Unlike North India, where fasting is observed throughout the nine auspicious days of Navratri.

Festive food is one thing that helps create memories. However, with the changing times and a growing dependence on pre-packaged foods, takeaways and dining out, today’s generation doesn’t fit into the picture. As a result, many delicacies have confided themselves only into cookbooks and long-lost grandmother’s recipes. Manoj Rawat, executive chef at Hilton Garden Inn Gurgaon Baani Square, tells us that this time “there is again a shift towards traditional dishes,” which have stood the test of time and are sure to keep their presence alive. Be it Sondesh, Mishti doi, Bhapa doi or Rasagulla, no puja celebrations can be complete without these. However, apart from these delicacies, which are conventional, one will be surprised to know how much more could be explored. For instances — Shukto, plethora of vegetables cooked in various spices with creamy, milky gravy and the slightest hint of sweetness and a core taste of bitterness; Mochar ghonto, a traditional Bengali preparation, where the banana flowers are cooked along with potato and aromatic spices; Kabiraji cutlets, a crumb fried cutlet, preferably filled with chicken, mutton or fish; Khichdi bhog, a mixture of regular rice and dal with a few additions like spices, peas, potatoes and tomatoes; Charchari, a medley of mixed vegetables cooked in Bengali style to make a dry curry.

Other special dishes that, chef Lalit Mohan, director at Asian Academy of Culinary Art, says, “evoke a distinct sense of nostalgia for the years gone by” and could be revived today are Aakhir joler niramish pulao, Muger dal dhonepata diye (Moong dal), Mete chorchori (stir-fried goat liver), Panch phoran (five-spice fish) and many more.