POHELA BOISHAKH MEAL PLAN
BREAKFAST
People celebrate this cultural festival starting their day having breakfast with panta-ilish. An ideal Bengali breakfast on the day of Pohela Boishak is panta-ilish, shutki, different kinds of bhorta, daal, luchi, puri, pitha, sandesh, pantua are commonly found on this festive breakfast plate.

KACHA AAMER SHARBAT
It is the refreshing juice of green mango, which is mostly served with breakfast and lunch. It is a very nutritious drink and is very good for the stomach and the digestive system.
Ingredients:
4 large green mangoes
¼ tsp rock salt
1 tbsp mint leaves
¼ tsp green mango paste
4 glasses of water
Sugar to taste
Sea salt to taste
Crushed or ice cubes
Method:
Peel off the green mangoes. Wash and grate the mangoes. Now blend all the ingredients except the ice until smooth. Now pour in the glasses and add ice to it. Garnish with the mint leaves and serve.

Photo: Sazzad Ibne Sayed Food prepared by LS Desk

PANTA AND ILISH BHAJA
Traditionally, panta and hilsha bhaja with different kinds of bhorta have been the food of choice to mark the Noboborsho festivities in Bangladesh. Panta is leftover rice soaked in water and very popular in rural areas. A pinch of salt, lime and chilli and most Bengalis will start salivating over this rice. Leftover rice works best for panta.

PANTA
Ingredients: 
2 cups of rice
Water as needed
Method: 
Cook rice in normal way. Cool rice completely. Add water to submerge cooked rice. Set aside overnight. 

ILISH BHAJA
Ingredients:
8 pieces hilsha
1 tsp red chilli paste
½ tsp turmeric paste
Salt to taste
Oil for deep frying
Method:
Clean fish pieces. Rub chilli powder, turmeric powder and salt generously on the fish pieces. Heat oil on medium heat. Fry the fish until golden and crispy.

DAAL BHORTA
Ingredients:
1 cup lentil
2 tbsp mustard oil
4 cloves garlic slice
3 green chillies
1 tbsp onion slice
Salt to taste
Method:
Boil lentil in 1½ cup water until tender and liquid is dried up. Roast garlic and chilli in the oven. Mash boiled lentil with other ingredients and mix well. Prepare to serve.

Photo: Sazzad Ibne Sayed Food prepared by LS Desk

SHUTKI BHORTA
Ingredients:
2 cup dried fish
5-6 clove garlic
5 red chillies
¼ cup onion slice
Salt to taste 
Method:
Cut and wash the shutki. Dry roast the shutki, garlic, chilli and onion. Grind them into a paste using a mortar and pestle. Your bhorta is prepared to serve.

Photo: Sazzad Ibne Sayed Food prepared by LS Desk

PURI
These sinful,  deep fried, unleavened breads are most commonly served at breakfast. A Bengali New Year breakfast cannot be complete without these special puffed breads. Puris are little discs of whole wheat dough that are deep fried in hot oil or ghee; as they fill with steam and puff up like balloons, and few seconds you have the most delicious fried bread. They are an indulgence, but worth every little bite.
Ingredients:
2 cups whole wheat flour
2½ tbsp oil (for moyen)
½ tsp salt
¾ cup water needed to make a tight dough
Oil for deep fry
Method:
Combine flour, salt and oil. Rub everything together. Slowly add water and only as much as you need to make a tight dough. Knead for 5-6 minutes, form a big ball, coat the ball with ½ tsp oil. Set it aside. The dough should be stiff enough to roll without flour. Divide the dough into 10-12 parts. Roll these into balls between the palms of your hands till they are smooth and without cracks. Take a ball of dough and roll into 4 to 5 inches round each. Heat oil in a wok. Put in a puri in the hot oil and immediately start flickering hot oil over the top of it with a spatula. When it puffs completely, flip the puri over and cook the other side until light brown. Drain oil on paper towels and serve hot.

Photo: Sazzad Ibne Sayed Food prepared by LS Desk

ALOOR DOM
Aloor dom is a must to accompany the puri (puffed bread). This combo is very popular and beloved breakfast in every Bengali household. Not only breakfast, actually any Bengali will be ready to include this combo any time of the day.    
Ingredients:
½ kg baby potato
¼ cup mustard oil
1 tsp turmeric powder
½ tsp panch phoron
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp ginger paste
1 tsp chilli powder
2-3 tbsp yoghurt
1 tsp sugar
2 pieces green cardamom
Salt to taste
Method:
Boil the potatoes and peel each one of them. In a heavy bottom pan heat 2 tbsp of oil. When the oil is hot, add a pinch of salt and turmeric powder to it and shallow fry potatoes till they are slightly roasted. Keep all potatoes aside. In the same pan, add 2 tbsp oil. Add the panch phoron mix and let it splutter a little. 
Now add some more turmeric, cumin, chilli, ginger paste and salt with little water. Cook it for few minutes. Now add roasted potatoes, sugar and little more water. Bring this to a boil. Cook for 5 minutes with the lid on. Finally add the yoghurt and the cardamom. Cook for a few minutes till it all comes together. Serve it with puri.

Photo: Sazzad Ibne Sayed Food prepared by LS Desk

LOBONGO LOTIKA
Lobongo lotika is a traditional Bengali sweet which has mawa as stuffing and wrapped like a small parcel then dipped into sugar syrup. Lobongo (clove) is used as a star ingredient here to keep the parcel in place along with imparting its own flavour.
Ingredients:
To make the outer dough -
1 cup flour
1 ½ tbsp white oil (for moyen)
15 cloves
Pinch of baking soda
Water to knead the dough
To make the filling - 
250g mawa
Pinch of clove powder
Pinch of cardamom powder
Pinch of nutmeg powder
To make the sugar syrup -
½ cup sugar
¼ cup water
2 green cardamoms
Method:
In a pan, mix sugar and water, cook on low heat. Add 2 cardamom into it and boil the syrup till it starts thickening. Mash mawa with hand and make it into a smooth ball. In a heavy bottomed pan, heat mawa without any oil for 3-5 minutes. Add all the powders mentioned above in the filling section. Keep aside to cool. In a bowl add flour, baking soda, salt and oil, mix thoroughly. Add water and make a soft dough. Cover it for 15 minutes. 

Divide the dough into 12 equal round balls. Now roll the dough like small puris, place 2 tsp mawa stuffing in the centre and wrap the opposite ends to look similar like rectangles and then fold the remaining two ends to make a square wrap. Seal the centre by inserting one clove and prepare the rest of the squares. Heat oil in a frying pan and fry the lobongo lotika until brown. Dip them in sugar syrup. Make sure that both sides are getting drenched in the syrup. Serve at room temperature.

Keep an eye on the next issue of Star Lifestyle (Tuesday, 7 April 2015) for the next installment of Selina Parveen's take on Boishakhi lunch menu.

Photo: Sazzad Ibne Sayed Food prepared by LS Desk