Bhojpuri cuisine is a style of food preparation common among the Bhojpuri people of Bihar, Jharkhand and eastern Uttar Pradesh in India, and also the Terai region of Nepal. Bhojpuri foods are mostly mild and tend to be less hot in terms of spices used. The cuisine consists of both vegetable and non-vegetarian dishes.
Breads Various kinds of breads are consumed in Bhojpuri cuisine. Roti or is prepared almost every day and eaten in all three meals. Millet breads are also cooked occasionally, depending upon the season.
Paraothhas are prepared for breakfast. Paraothhas are usually stuffed with vegetables, , , or . Sometimes, layered paranthas with spices like are also prepared.
Occasionally, deep-fried breads like puri, dalpuri (also called dalahipuri), lichui, , and kachauri are also prepared. Puas (sweet pancakes) are also commonly cooked in monsoon season or on religious occasions.
Special breads exclusive to the region include:
/ – puffed wheat bread which is stuffed with and spices and then fried – a hard, unleavened wheat bread which is eaten along with chokha. Comes in many different kinds. is a kind of litti which is stuffed with sattu and spices. / / – dal-stuffed bread which is either steamed or fried. The dough can be made using wheat flour or rice flour or semolina. / – a soft, thin and double-layered roti – a thin batter spread over a skillet or tava like a dosa or – these are fermented sweet fritters, usually made in bulk to be given to married daughters. Flour is mixed with jaggery and water, then left to ferment. After fermentation, the batter is beaten and balls of it are fried in ghee. – -flavoured bread Dhuska – made by frying a batter of rice and lentil flour and served with aloo ghugni / chhole and eaten for breakfast – considered a dessert or a biscuit-like snack, usually prepared during On special occasions, breads like , stuffed naan, and rumali roti are also prepared.
Rice dishes Rice is one of the staple foods of the Bhojpur region. Plain-boiled rice is eaten almost every day with dal, bean gravies, and curries.
At ceremonies or on special occasions, Polao is commonly prepared in the region, which is a aromatic rice dish cooked in oil or ghee. Polao, along with Kadahi gos (a traditional mutton curry dish prepared in kadahi) or Kadahi murg (chicken curry), is a complete meal which is called Polao gos.
Other common rice dishes include:
– rice cooked with salt and spices. Vegetables (green peas, carrot, cauliflower, tubers), chhena, and dal badis (lentil balls) are also added. Served with raita. – rice cooked with jaggery or sugar, and dry fruit and saffron are added. – partially cooked rice is mixed with beaten curd or yoghurt. Spices are added to enhance the taste and flavour. – rice is cooked in milk with ghee, dry fruits, sugar, and spices like cardamom. This dish resembles kheer, with a thinner consistency. – often consumed as a convalescent food, but also prepared on Makar Sankranti and in Magh month. is mostly consumed with pickle, , papadam, and yoghurt. is a variant of flavoured with lemon juice.
Lentils and pulses
Dal – lentils are mostly cooked into soups and consumed with rice and rotis. Various kinds of lentils are used in Bhojpuri cuisine, like (pigeon pea), (split chickpea), (mung bean), (yellow peas), and (vigna mungo). However, is most commonly cooked. It is often flavoured with dry mango, , and jaggery. Dal pitthi / pithori – small wheat dumplings are made and cooked along with , giving it a thicker consistency. Dal pitthi is a combo in itself, like or . – prepared from fermented . is soaked in water and left to ferment, after which it is husked and ground into a paste. Salt, spices, and pulp of () are added. Small dumplings are made out of the batter and dried in the sun before frying in hot oil. are added in vegetable preparations or rice dishes. Phulvara – fritters made using flour powder. Known as locally. batter is prepared with spices like black pepper and asafoetida. Small dumplings from batter are fried in hot oil. A hole is made in their centre using a wooden stick. It is served with chutney or dipped in yoghurt.
Peas and beans
Ghughni – a curry made of soaked and boiled peas or chickpeas. Variations of the dish use different types of peas or chickpeas, such as black gram, green peas, or white peas. – a spicy curry made by mincing peas or beans and sometimes even vegetables. Matar ka nimona is the most common variant. Nimonas are also made with and . It is a popular winter dish.
Vegetable preparations Preparation methods (stir-fried vegetables) – chopped vegetables stir-fried in vegetable oil with spices and condiments. Rasiya / rassewali bhaaji or jhol (vegetables with gravy or soup) – vegetables cooked with soup or gravy. For example, or . Sometimes peas or pieces are added to make aloo matar jhol or aloo chhena jhol. Bhariya / kalauji (stuffed vegetables) – vegetables like (bitter gourd), (aubergine), , (okra), or capsicum are stuffed with a special spice-mix and then cooked. (mashed vegetables) – vegetables like aubergines, tomatoes, and tubers are charred or barbecued and then mashed. They are then cooked with spices. Different variations of chokha include baingan chokha, aloo chokha and tamatar chokha. Aloo chokha is stuffed in flatbreads like paranthas to make aloo paranthas.
Common vegetable dishes
– a local variety of pumpkin called (from Sanskrit: Kushmanda) is cooked using aromatic spice blend called panch phodan. This dish is specially prepared for the festival Chhath Puja. Baigan adauri (baigan badi) – aubergines are cooked in mustard oil with onions, tomatoes, potatoes, peas, greens, spices, and Bhojpuri , a special kind of urad dal badis. It is served with rotis, makuni, or paranthas. – sponge gourd variety called is cooked with chickpeas. This dish is a balanced meal and consumed as a light meal for lunch or dinner.
Leafy vegetable preparations
– refers to leafy green vegetable preparations. Leaves of various plants are used for preparing include chaana, bathua, methi, palak, sarson, matar, karmi, and noni. Chaana ke saag is most commonly prepared. It is often mixed with leaves to enhance the flavour. mixed with is seasoned with . It is often prepared in marriages. Karmi ke saag is prepared on Rishi Panchmi festival. Sometimes, tubers (potatoes) and (cottage cheese) are also added to . Girwach / rikwach – leaves of are coated with a batter of gram flour and spices. Coated leaves are then folded and deep-fried in hot oil like fritters. They are commonly consumed in monsoon season in the months of Shraavan. Sakauda – Spherical fritters made from leafy vegetables such as spinach. They are eaten on their own or prepared as chaat.
Yoghurt-based dishes
Kadhi badi – a yoghurt-based curry cooked with gram flour. Fritters called are added to it. It is eaten with rice. – yoghurt is mixed with flattened rice and eaten with jaggery or fruits. It is specially prepared for Makar Sankranti festival or as breakfast option. Dahi phulvari (dahi bada) – lentil flour fritters called are prepared and soaked in flavoured yoghurt. It is specially cooked during marriages and Pitru Paksha. Dahi phulki (dahi puri) – miniature crisp puris / phulkis soaked in flavoured yoghurt and stuffed with mashed potatoes or chickpeas. Raita – these are prepared using adding crushed or minced vegetable to flavoured yoghurt. Vegetables used to make raita include lauki, kakkdi (cucumber), onion, and . Often boondis (raindrop-sized fried gram flour balls) are also added to make boondi raita. Sometimes sweet raita is also prepared using bananas.
Staple diet Wheat (ganhum गँहूम्) and rice (chaaur चाउर) are the staple cereal. Maize (makai मकई), barley (jai जई), and pearl millet (bajra बाजड़ा) are also often consumed in Bhojpuri cuisine.
Lentils (daal दाल), beans (lobiya लोबिया, rajma राजमा), green vegetables (tarkari तरकारी), leafy vegetables (saag साग), paneer (पनीर), fish (machhari मछरी), and meat (sikaar सिकार) are major constituents of the average diet. Mutton, lamb and chicken are eaten; beef and pork are avoided.
Breakfast A heavy breakfast or a brunch is traditionally called while a light breakfast is called . Breakfast in the region is bread-based and includes a variety made up of whole wheat or refined wheat flour such as roti, puri, parathas, especially sattu paranthas, chhena paranthas, and vegetable-stuffed parathas. These are served with saag-bhaaji, dahi (yoghurt), or raita. Breakfast is often accompanied with yoghurt-based drinks like mattha, chhachh, or banarasi lassi.
(or ) – this is a sattu-stuffed wheat bread somewhat between kachori and litti. Typically eaten for brunch.
– a fried bread made from fermented batter of rice and lentils. It is accompanied with chickpea-based dish like or .
or / – another typical breakfast of Bhojpur region. This dish is prepared on a big makeshift stove locally called a . There is also a Bhojpuri song that mentions this dish:
or matar ka bhuja – a popular winter breakfast in Bhojpur region and is prepared by frying (flattened rice) and (peas) separately and then mixed.
with – flattened rice eaten with thick yoghurt. (jaggery) tops the dish. It is specifically prepared on Makar Sankranti.
On special occasions lapsi-puri, kheer/sevai-puri, pua-dahi, or chhola-puri are commonly served as breakfast. A more common breakfast served as street food includes puri bhaaji, chana, kachori, and jalebi.
Lunch Lunch is rice-based and includes dal (split lentils cooked with water, turmeric powder, and salt), sabzi korma (vegetable or meat cooked in rich but mildly-spicy and balanced gravy), chokha (boiled, roasted, and mashed potatoes, eggplants, tomatoes mixed with several herbs and seasoning), chutney (dhaniya ka chutney or coriander chutney is the most traditional chutney of the region with rich flavours of coriander, green chilli, garlic, lemon, and mustard oil), bhujia (pan-fried potatoes cut in finger shapes), pickles, and maybe roti instead of rice. On special occasions, several rice dishes like pulao or biryani are served.
Snacks Generally served with tea in the evening. Most snacks are deep fried and salted. A common substitute is a handful and generous amount of dry fruits like kishmish (raisins), badam (almonds), khajur / chohara (dates), zameeni badam / chinia bedam (peanuts), akharot (walnuts), chillgooza (pinenut), kaju (cashews), pista (pistachios), and anjeer (dried figs) soaked in milk.
Dinner Dinner is also roti-based and is eaten with different vegetable preparations, such as:
– stir-fried vegetables sauteed with spices and tubers. These are generally dry vegetable preparations, cooked without any gravy. Variations include parore aloo ki bhujia, bhindi aloo ki bhujiya, karele aloo ki bhujiya, kundru ki bhujiya, and chathail / kantola ki bhujiya. Rasili bhaaji – wet vegetable preparations which include some gravy or soup. Examples include aloo gobhi ki rasili bhaaji, kathal ki rasili bhaaji, and aloo parwal ki rasili bhaaji.
Sometimes, roti is broken into a bowl of hot milk (which can be sweetened) and then eaten; this is called doodh-roti. Sometimes, litti is grilled over charcoal or is baked in a clay oven and then eaten with chokha or murga (chicken korma). Dinner may change at special occasions and can be replaced by meat dishes like korma (meat with gravy), kebab, or kofta (meatballs with spicy gravy) and is served with tandoori roti (harder than the usual pan-baked roti) or naan and salaad (salad).
Satvik bhojan Satvik bhojan, a lacto-vegetarian diet excluding garlic and onion, is traditionally prepared during festivals such as Chhath Puja, Makar Sankranti (Khichadi), Saraswati Puja, Ram Navami, Vishwakarma Puja, Deepawali, and Nag Panchami in Bhojpuriya households.
Non-vegetarianism