The Bengali Dinner Online

"Start with the Shukto ," Auntie instructed, ladling a bitter medley of vegetables into Clara’s bowl. "Good for the summer heat. Bitter is the taste of maturity."

"Good, good," Pishai nodded. "But the test is now. Subho, explain to her." the bengali dinner

They ate until they were breathless. They ate until their fingers were stained with turmeric and their shirts clung to their backs. They argued about politics, about the price of fish, about the decaying facades of the old colonial buildings. Clara didn't understand half of it, but she laughed at the right moments, wiping her greasy fingers on a napkin that was already soaked. "Start with the Shukto ," Auntie instructed, ladling

Subho relaxed. Shukto was the reconnaissance mission. The main assault was yet to come. "But the test is now

Inside, the air conditioning was fighting a losing battle against the heat generated by the kitchen and the collective body heat of twelve relatives. Clara, in a polite teal dress, looked overwhelmed. She clutched a box of German chocolates, which Subho’s aunt accepted with a smile that said, We will eat these out of obligation, but they are not sweets.

The kitchen doors swung open, and the bearer brought out the heavy silver platter. On it lay the Ilish Maach —Hilsa fish, the king of fishes, cooked in a mustard gravy so pungent it cleared sinuses. It was the dish that defined the family's status, the dish that bankrupted smaller men, the dish that separated the Bengali from the rest of the world.

– A mélange of bitter gourd, raw banana, drumsticks, and bori (sun-dried lentil dumplings) in a mustard-milk gravy. It prepares the stomach for richer foods.