Cuisine of East India

Food is religion here! The making of food and eating the delicacies is a celebration in this part of the country!! States of West Bengal, Odisha (earlier known as Orissa), Bihar and Jharkhand are the four states in the eastern part of the country. This part of the country is the Gangetic belt and hence one of the most fertile parts of the country. Pulses, rice, vegetables and fish are found in abundance in this region. The staple food of this part of the country is rice and also varieties of dishes made out of puffed rice and rice flour. Fish and meat products are also relished here. The food of this region is from simple to very delicate and time consuming recipes.

Cuisine of Bihar

Previously this was a huge state which was recently divided in 2 states, as Bihar and Jharkhand namely. Bihar is the land of Lord Buddha & Lord Mahavir, land of Ashoka, the land of Chandragupta Maurya and Vikramaditya is also the land of Ganges. Magadha as it was known earlier has been a fertile land throughout with the mighty Ganga passing through this vast state. Once upon a time this was a culturally rich state, and still boasts about birth place of 2 religions (Buddhism and Jainism) which spread worldwide.

Bihar is famous for the Maithili Brahmins, who, it is said can eat a lot and eat heartily without any problem. To feed a group of Maithili Brahmins was a matter of pride once and this determined your position in the society!

The basic food is simple food consisting of bhat (Rice), dal (lentils), roti (wheat), vegetables and pickles. Sprouts soaked in water, with beaten rice and lotus seeds called Makhana is the favourite breakfast.  Sattu, fried and powdered gram, is another popular variety. Chidwa (beaten rice known as poha) and Murmura (puffed rice) with some sprouts and cut raw vegetables with spices and a dash of mustard oil is another preferred breakfast.

The Chokha Litti combination is well known all over India today as the healthiest and fastest prepared tiffin. The Bihari cuisine prefers smoking the food or its ingredients before cooking it. The Kachoris and the Dahi bhallas with Malpua are the favourite snacks. Basically vegetarian, the people from Bihar also have non vegetarian dishes. Fish is preferred as the state of Bihar has many rivers flowing through. Chicken and meat is also cooked widely with lot of Oil and spices. The Bihari Kebab are also famous and have a traditional way of cooking, different from the regular Kebabs cooked all over India.

The Bihari cuisine is savoured not only in Bihar, but also Jharkhand and in some parts of West Bengal and Nepal, as the state is bordered by these places.

People from Bihar largely have a sweet tooth! The delicacies like the Malpua and the Thekua are the specialties from Bihar, the Bihar people love to have sweets made of milk and condensed milk products.