BIHARI CUISINE: A HIT AMONG CONNOISSEURS

Generally sweets remind us of the city of joy, Kolkata unaware of the fact that sweet delicacies of Bihar still top the connoisseurs’ list.

The sweet delicacies of the state range from Gaya fame Tilkut to north Bihar famous Rasiya. The variety of indigenous sweet delicacies here has a decent traditional background related to some or the other event.

Thekua or Khajuria is one of the most popular Bihari sweet snacks. This deep fried mixture of wheat flour and jaggery is a must preparation during the famous Bihari festival Chhath. 

Photo Courtesy: Bihar Museum

Rasiya, the special type of kheer or payasam too is exclusive to the grand and traditional Chhath Puja, and is an opulent affair of the food of Bihar. Rasiya is famous for its festive touch and equally delicious taste. It is usually prepared in the syrup of jaggery which adds to its taste. Associated with Chhath is another dish, Kasaar which is made of powdered rice mixed with sugar or jaggery and then shaped by hands.

The famous Khaja, the wafered sweet is usually a ceremonial part of marriages in the state irrespective of the caste, religion and faith. This tasty and scrumptious snack is believed to be a 2000 year old preparation, very similar to the Baklava of Ottoman Empire. The crispy dessert is made from wheat flour, sugar, mawa deep fried in oil.

Khurma also known as Belgrami or Mukri is another variant made from milk solids (a form of cheese), sugar and ghee is a famous sweet from Udwantnagar, which falls between Arrah and Buxar.

Gaja also known as Shakkarpara or Tikri is another sweet snack from Bihari cuisine that is made of flour and salt dough mix, deep fried in oil and dipped in sugar syrup. The sugar syrup cools off and crystallizes to give Gaja a powdery outer texture.  It’s another variant Laktho uses rice flour dough and a thick jaggery syrup.

Balushahi is a sweet, porous flour cup, enclosing a litany of flavours in the Khoya inside. It is filled with mildly sweetened khoya and spices like cardamom, cinnamon, flavoured with saffron for added taste and fragrance. Maath, flattened fried dough soaked in sugar syrup.

Anarsa another dish from Bihari cuisine in perfect shade of red is a mix of rice flour and jaggery coated in sesame seeds. The dish is found all year long. Tilkut or beaten sesame seeds covered over solidified sugar syrup is closely associated with the festival of Makar Sankranti. It has its variants in black and whilte sesame seeds. Gaya, in the south of Bihar is known for its Tilkut.

Lai or Ramdana ka lai as it is popularly known is a ball shaped cereal mixed with khova or jaggery syrup. Its variants change with change in cereal like puffed rice (muri), beaten rice (choora) or Ram dana.

Probabaly, Bihar’s most famous fried sweet, the pedakiya is made by stuffing flour stuffed with suji (semolina), khova or grated coconut and is specially made during the Teej festival.

Shopkeepers in the state capital say that the demand for the indigenous sweets never falls but it rises during the wedding season.

  

One of the shopkeepers near Museum said that they also get bulk orders that are delivered to Biharis settled outside the state like Delhi, Kolkata and Bhopal. Buyers review was primarily dominated by the taste of these over the fancy sweets. The shelf life of these sweets adds to their preference over other sweets.