I know it’s not a stylised pic, but I’ve ‘discovered’ this amazing Bengali breakfast dish & I had to tell you about it. My mum has had it from childhood but I refused to try it when she’d suggest it. I am talking of doi cheere.
It’s not only a Bengal dish tbh, for when Sanjukta Datta took me to the Taj Guwahati for breakfast (happy Bihu to all my Assamese friends) & I asked for an Assamese breakfast, doi cira (I think they pronounce ch as s) was one of the dishes that they brought. I loved it as it reminded me of doi korma which I used to have by the bowl on Saraswati pujo bishorjon day in Kolkata. Traditionally made with mishti doi and cheere (flattened rice/ poha), fruits and in doi korma, batasha too.
I had to go off bananas for a bit when my blood sugar soared post Covid and we had to work on bringing it down.
A few evenings back I had an upset tummy which drained the life out of me. Sometimes I don’t know if it’s ‘Covid fatigue,’ ‘Loosies fatigue’ (in this case) or just ‘Kalyan being lazy’.
On hearing this my nutritionist, Dr Ria Ankola, told me what to eat the next day & said ‘avoid eggs & have doi chire kola for breakfast. Banana will give you electrolytes.’
Don’t tell Ria, but I had a fried egg and a ragi toast in the morning.
I tentatively tred doi cheere thay evening. Tok doi of course. Unsweetened packaged dahi.
Much to my ancestors’ embarrassment, I had to Google to see whether you need to soak the cheere. ‘Yes’, said a recipe on @ndtv_food food. Rinse it under water first.
I added the wet cheere to the dahi and a diced ilaichi (small) banana and literally a pinch of @bugyaal jaggery (Ria didn’t approve as diabetics can’t eat jaggery too, but I said, ‘it was just a pinch’). I put the mix in the fridge for a few minutes and then had it. It was heaven!
To make up for lost time, I had it again today with some apple too. Best to be ready in case my banana privileges are taken away again. Tasted brilliant!! And since this wasn’t with mishti doi and sugar etc, it was more to the muted sweetness levels I prefer.
It suddenly struck me that in a year when I have to be off sugar on the festive day, I couldn’t think of something more apt to wish you #shubhonoboborsho, happy Bengali new year with.
