Top 15 famous food of Bihar
Indian street foods are arguably the best street foods in the world loaded with oil, ghee, and make super delicious and mouthwatering. Street foods don’t only help in filling the stomachs but only in increasing the tourism sector attracting more people to a place. These snacks are made for ready consumption available in nooks and corners of cities sold by street vendors.
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List of 15 Best Famous Dishes of Bihar
The exotic Bihari dishes have the power of lingering in your taste buds and satiate your taste with the local spices’ flavors of Bihar. Some of the famous dishes of Bihar are as under:
Litti Chokha
Litti Chokha in Bihar needs no introduction and is a grand welcome to the state of Bihar dripping with ghee and flavorful spices. Made with wheat and sattu, these are kneaded into small balls made too spicy cooked in ghee. The outer part is crunchy with the inner part juicy and relishing. The chokha is another item prepared using mashed boiled vegetables, the common being potatoes, tomatoes, brinjals, etc. Add in spices, onions, garlic to the Litti as complimentary.
The Sattu or fried gram flour is one of the distinctive elements of cooking in Bihar. It is fixed with spices with fillings in wheat dough balls, then rolled and cooked in ghee for forming the sattu paratha, also called the Makuni.
Chana Ghugni
Chana Ghugni is a tangy evening snack famous in Bihar that is tasty and healthy at the same time. It is one such scrummy snack prepared in almost every household in Bihar. Made with fried onions, boiled chickpeas, and spices, it is served along with flattened rice, also called “Chuda Ka Bhuja”. It is one of the perfect snacks for satisfying hunger. Flattened dried gram is used for making other spicy dishes as well.
Khaja
Famous Bihar region sweet dish having its origin to Baklava from the Ottoman Empire. It is a 2000 years old preparation and is too crispy made from wheat flour, mawa, and sugar while deep-fried in oil. It is such a unique dessert that is watery from the outside and crispy, juicy from the inside. Another form of the same is called Belgrami, made totally using milk solids which is a form of cheese, ghee, and lots of sugar. It is too sweet and is a delicacy from Udwantnagar.
Sattu Sharbat
Biharis love Chana Sattu, also a protein source. Sattu is served in the form of Sharbat made from Chana that has a cooling effect instantly and is a great drink for summers. It is a real energy giver and a great meal in itself. It is thick and heavy so that you don’t have to take anything for lunch. Another way of eating Chana is by making them into balls and servers acting as an energy source again. Chana is one of the healthiest things to eat in Bihar and famous food as well.
Laung Latika
LaungLatika is prepared using cloves as the central ingredient for making the dish. The main ingredients used in making this dish are flour, oil, and milk. The filling is sweet of khoya, sugar, and cardamom giving it a light spicy flavor. They are then fried in deep oil for the crunchy effect. The central crunchy part of the dish makes it stand out from the rest. The sweet and spicy taste of LaungLatika is so smooth that it melts in the mouth easily with the sugar syrup melting. It is one such recipe perfect for the winter months to have with a cup of masala chai. Famous shops are located very close to Patna Museum making it available for visitors coming to Bihar.
Malpua
It’s another sweet dessert known by everyone coming to Bihar for vacation. Malpuas are deliciously prepared in the form of batter of milk, flour, sugar, and mashed bananas which are deep-fried in ghee for the salty and crunchy taste. Malpua is then dipped in sugar syrup all over. The juicy and crispy crust melts in the mouth the moment you put it. Malpuas are best complemented with Rabri, making it like adding the cherry on top of a cake.
Dal peetha
Dal Peetha is the Bihari style of cooking dumplings and this is made of rice flour with a stuffing of lentil paste accompanied by spices and addition of pickle. These small dumplings are then fried or steamed and Dal Peetha becomes a very breakfast in the Bihari household. Another variant of the same thing is Dal Puri made by mixing spices and rolled in the form of Chapatis.
Makhana Kheer
Makhana Kheer is yet another popular dessert in Bihar loved and relished by people all over the world. It is such a true delight, also called the Fox Nut. You can have the Makhana alone by baking it in the pan or you can serve it in the form of Kheer. The process of making Kheer is similar to the normal Kheer but is less sweet because of the addition of Makhana to the Kheer. The kheer is topped with raisins, nuts, and any dry fruits toppings of your choice.
Kadhi Badi
Kadhi Badi is such an unusual dish in Bihar tasting like Dal but the preparation is very different. It is prepared almost daily in many parts of Bihar where the Kadhi Bada is prepared using gram flour, called besan. The Kadhi has the addition of yogurt to it giving it a tangy flavor also. The Kadhi Badi is served along with either rice or roti. The mixing of yogurt gives a thick texture to the Kadhi and people seem to love it. Mostly this dish is prepared during the Holi festival.
Reshmi and Mutton kebabs
Now when talking of non-vegetarian dishes, Kebabs forms the center in Bihar with the famous Mutton prawns in Patna making its name in the world. The lamb kebabs in Bihar are super juicy and super finger licking. Just a single plate won’t fix your stomach and you will be left wanting more. Reshmi Kebabs are also in high demand in Bihar with the tandoor smell coming profusely from the Reshmi kebabs served in many parts in Bihar. But you should make a good choice when it comes to selecting where to have kebabs.
Balushahi
A sweet dish having khoya as the filling, Balushahi is yet another sweet dessert in Bihar. Biharis love desserts and Balushahi looks like donuts but with different textures and ingredients. The sweetness is light with the khoya being the best when having balushahi. Spices are also added to the khoya like cardamom and cinnamon with very little inclusion of saffron for the flavor and scent. The porous flour balls are closed and deep-fried until golden brown.
Thekua
Thekua is one of the most prepared dishes in Bihar even for festivals and occasions as well. Thekua is prepared during Chhatt Puja made by combining wheat flour and brown sugar unless they are cooked to perfection. These are crispy and the flavors blast in your mouth as soon as you take the first bite of it. Using rice flour is allowed instead of wheat flour for making Thekua. But you can use other varieties of sugar for giving a different definition to the dish.
Kala Jamun
Kala Jamun is so similar to Gulab Jamun but it is darker in color with Kala Jamun being so known in Bihar. Fried sweets are so much popular in Bihar getting the tradition wholly from West Bengal. The sweets are made of flour, milk, mawa for having a longer and tougher crust. It is also a good way of ending a great Bihari meal.
Laai
With jaggery syrup poured all over fried cereals, Laai is cut into small balls which are then fried again. The cereals are lightly fried for giving it an even texture. It’s that comfort food your mother and grandmother keep on talking. The cereal is either puffed rice or beaten rice. Laai is that Saturday munchie you love having when watching your favorite serial.
Pedakiya
Very similar to Gujia, Pedakiyas is a heavenly dish for all those having a sweet tooth. It has a crispy covering and the filling is of khoya, cardamom powder, coconut, and dry fruits. It is deep in sugar syrup for the sweet taste. These Pedakiyas are enough for sweetening your sense and taste buds and you will want to have it again and again.
These are some of the best 15 recipes of Bihar. Plan a trip to Bihar soon for getting through this gastronomical journey where Biharis love letting the ingredients shine in the foods. Their foods are cooked mostly in ghee or dipped in sugar syrup. Dairy products are widely known of Bihar and consumed every year like Dahi, buttermilk, lassi, butter, etc. Apart from the vegetarian dishes, Bihar is home to a wide range of non-vegetarian dishes as well. Go to Bihar and savor the dishes!
