If there was just one
word to summarize what traditional Bihar cuisine is all about, that would be
SIMPLICITY. True, the food here are so simple that sometimes you don’t even need to cook at all.
There are many dishes that can be prepared without
entering into the kitchen and are generally eaten raw. Take the example of Dahi
Chura and Sattu. These constitute as staple food for many Bihari residents.
Moreover, they also serve as fast food, but are healthier than what you
generally get at a modern fast food joint.
It is easy to see why
Bihari fast foods are healthier. When preparing Dahi Chura, you only need to
add Dahi (yogurt) with chura (beaten rice), both of which are available in
market. Add sugar or jaggery as per your taste, and you have enough for the
day.
Similarly, you only need to add water to sattu that can be made of
anything – chana (gram), maize, bajra, moong or barley – to name just a few
here. Again, powdered sattu can easily be had from the market. Sattu can be
sweet or salty depending upon your taste. Add sliced onion, lemon and salt to
make it salty. Use just sugar to make it sweet.
Even if in the case of cooked
food, you need to do a very little preparation. Take the example of Litti
Chokha, which has become a signature cuisine of Bihar. No elaborate cooking setup
is necessary. All you need is atta dough and sattu. Make balls of dough filled
with sattu and roast them over heat.
Of course, you need to add salt, chilies
and other ingredients to give a taste and flavor to your litti. To prepare
chokha, you can use either brinjals or potatoes. Boil, peel and mash them. Add
salt and may be a little of sliced onions. If you wish, you can sauté a little
in very little oil.
For most Biharis, the
staple foods are bhaat, daal (dal) and sabzi (sabji). Bhaat is boiled rice.
Unlike the rice cooked in the western part of India, the people in the East,
especially in Bihar and Bengal, like to eat plain boiled rice with dal and
sabzi. Dal can be made of anything from gram, rahar, masur, bajra, moong or any
other pulse.
Sabzi refers to vegetables cooked either in oil or with gravy. Fried
potatoes are an easy and popular sabzi. Many other vegetables can also be used in
this way. Chokha made of potatoes or brinjals are also used with Daal and
Bhaat. Chutney (sauce), achar (pickles), papad and dahi are other items people
like to eat with Bhaat, dal and sabzi.
