Government of Bihar

Bihar state is famous for its rich history as much as it is known in India for accommodating its simple and straightforward masses who love variety of foods. The inhabitants of this state are therefore realistic and of course known in the country for a sense of hospitality. This distinction doesn’t end here. They always love good food. In fact Bihari cuisine is famous in entire northern region of the country due to it being distinct in many aspects. As the state is culturally vibrant its food varieties are vividly known in the country. Its extensive richness in agriculture and various other resources are known to the world but equally do marvel state’s diverse food culture.

Unique feature of Bihar’s food or multi-cuisine is that it maintains simplicity yet remains one of the most appealing food choices in the country. Its freshness and goodness in both vegetarian and non-vegetarian foods always give mouthwatering feel to everybody willing to taste a food which any food lover admire and can’t ignore. As rich culture and tradition of this region prevails since many centuries, inhabitants of Bihar always like the nutritious diets of their choice. It is worth noting that people usually prefer vegetarian food as much as they explore other varieties from the array of non-vegetarian dishes they love to eat.

Famous Dishes of Bihar

The food culture of this state is mainly of vegetarian nature when it comes to portraying traditional Bihari food habits is concerned. No matter what dish you choose from the Bihari cuisine you can easily analyze that they are very much simple still popular and full of taste and most importantly it takes no additional efforts for their preparation. Equally are Bihar’s dishes satisfying for food lovers exploring variety because they all don’t have any type of complex ingredients? Such meals bring a sense of satisfaction in a person who feels fuller after eating them. Some of the notable dishes of Bihar are as follows

Litti Chokha

The lip-smacking taste of Litti Chokha, savoured by one and all, needs no introduction. It is your grand welcome to the food of Bihar, in all its ghee-dripping glory. It consists of wheat and sattu with spices, kneaded into round spicy balls, dipped in ghee. The texture of Litti along with the crunchy crust makes it a foodie’s delight. Chokha is prepared by mashing boiled vegetables (most common being potatoes, brinjal, tomatoes), adding spices and chopped onion, garlic etc and served with Litti as a complimentary delicacy.

Sattu or fried gram flour forms a distinctive element of Bihari food and cuisine. The sattu is mixed with spices and filled in wheat dough balls, rolled and cooked with ghee on a hot plate to form sattu paratha which is also called makuni.

Sattu Sarbat

Sattu drink or sattu ka namkeen sharbat is very popular traditional summer drink, originated in Bihar.

Kadhi Bari

Kadhi Bari is again an exclusive dish from Bihar. This is served with steamed rice and not usually with roti. Besan or gramflour is the main ingredient. You can have this dish any time of the year, but it is mostly had in summers. Accompaniments should be some dry subzi or pakodas, even dry baris or fritters which are not dipped in the gravy or kadhi can accompany this dish. Top the kadhi with achaar and some sweet chutney and exclusive Bihari khana is ready.

Khichdi

Special Bihari Khichdi is known in whole state and is prepared by mixing rice, dal and different types of seasonal vegetables. All ingredients are mixed together to cook in such way that they offer distinct food taste as a combination dish. Ghee is served with this dish to enhance its taste.

Chana Ghugni

Chana Ghughni is a spicy-tangy evening snack item from the food of Bihar. Extremely common yet equally delicious, this mouth-watering snack is prepared in almost every household of Bihar. Boiled chickpeas, fried with onion and spices along with “Chuda ka bhuja” (flattened rice) makes it a perfect answer to satisfy your hunger! Flattened and dried gram is also used to make other salty snacks.

Pittha

Prepared in a local style, Pittha is very much like famous momos but they offer different taste and are prepared either in salty or sweet depending on one’s choice. Semi-circular/ball shaped Pitthas are prepared from soft rice flour crusts, channa daal lentil paste, or poppy seeds are steamed in water/ milk to give the final shape.

Laddoo (Maner)

When the talk is about Bihari cuisine, one cannot forget the laddoo of Maner. Laddoo is a ball shaped sweet made of gram flour, sugar, ghee. Though, it is sold in every sweet shop, the laddoo made in Maner, about 30km west of Patna, are famous and the best.

Tilkut (Gaya)

Tilkut is a sweet made in the Indian states of Bihar. This is also known as "Tilkatri". It is made of pounded 'tila' or sesame seeds (Sesamum indicum) and jaggery or sugar. The best tilkut is said to be from Gaya. References to this dry sweet is found in the Buddhist literature as palala. Normally, three types of tilkuts are available — the refined sugar tilkut is white in colour, the sakkar tilkut is made of unrefined sugar and is light brown in colour and the gur tilkut is made of jaggery and is dark brown in colour. Each of these varieties have their own flavour. The circular shaped savoury is called tilkut and the smaller nut-sized ones are called tillouri. Tilkut is generally associated with Makar Sankranti, the harvest festival and eaten during this time.

Belgrami (Udwant Nagar)

Belgrami is another sweet preparation of Bihar, which is made from cheese, sugar and ghee. The place in Bihar that is most famous for this sweetmeat is Udwantnagar, which falls between Arrah and Buxar.

Kheer Makhana (Darbhanga)

If you have come to Bihar and not tasted Kheer-Makhana, then your trip is as good as incomplete. It is a sweet dish prepared with milk, sugar and makhana, considered to be a specialty of the Darbhanga region of north Bihar.

Silao Khaja (Nalanda)

Silao village situated 25km from biharsharif and 8 km from rajgir, is known for its ancient tradition of khaja making. A sweetmeat prepared with maida (wheat-flour), sugar and ghee, it is available in many varities – chandshahi, round, palvidar and Gandhi topa. Amongst these, the one with rectangular shape is the most popular.

Dahi-Choora

It is beaten rice usually served with the coat of creamy curd and sugar or jaggery and it therefore remains best breakfast choice in the wintertime. Once baked mildly with an addition to peas and onions and it looks tasty to eat.

Malpua

The luscious and mouth watering malpua, which is a speciality of bihar is prepared from a combination of maida milk banana grated coconut cashew nut raisin sugar water and green cardamom, fried in ghee

Khoye-Ki-Laai (Barh)

Barh, a smaal town in patna district that lies between bakhtiarpur and mokama is famous for laai, a ball or cake-shaped sweet that is prepared with ‘khobi’ or ‘ramdana’ seeds, ‘khoa’ and sugar. Ramdana or Amaranth in English is now a days getting popularity world wide as one of the super foods, however, this super food has been present in Bihari cuisine since time immemorial.

Chandrakala / Pedakiya

Very similar to Gujia, Chandrakala is another heavenly dessert for those with a sweet tooth. Stuffed with sweetened khoya, coconut, cardamom powder and dry fruits in a crispy covering and dipped in sugar-syrup, Chandrakala is a dish from the traditional food of Bihar that is enough to sweeten your senses!

Balushahi

A sweet, porous flour cup, enclosing a litany of flavours in the Khoya inside – that’s the Bihari food dish, the Balushahi for you. Every time you bite into one, you don’t just taste a sweet. You taste the love of the wonder, that is the food of Bihar. The sweet is filled with mildly sweetened khoya and spices like cardamom and cinnamon, sometimes even flavoured with the opulent saffron for added taste and fragrance. The flour bowl is then closed and deep fried until perfection.

Parwal ki Mithai

Biharis sure seem to have a sweet tooth. Yes you read that right, they even turned the plain old vegetable like parwal/patol (pointed gourd) into a sweet dish, reverberant of the food of Bihar, and it tastes heavenly. The inner pulp of the parwal is scooped out, bolied, dipped in syrup and filled with sweet khoya preperation. The end result looks as royal as it tastes!

Bhunja

In the evening, a range of bhunjas are consumed like chura ka bhunja (beaten rice shallow fried with sliced onions, chopped green chillies and green peas), makai ke lawa (popcorn), chana ka bhunja, mungphalli dana, masaledar murhi (puffed rice mixed with chopped green chillies, onion, coriander leaves, salt and a few drops of mustard oil) etc. These bhunjas are prepared at home. In villages there used to be a common kitchen specially meant for bhunjas called kansari. Today, mostly in the urban areas of Bihar, bhunjas are prepared and sold by vendors. Most of them roast the grains in hot sand or salt, while being constantly heated in a kadhai or earthen handi.

Bihari Thali

It is composite food choice from Bihar whose ingredients keep changing on the basis of the specific seasons but commonest of its ingredients that remain constant in this dish throughout the year include rice, roti, achar, chatni, dals and milk besides variety of sweets.