Planning for a tea party with your favourite acquaintances?  And confused as how to go about dishing up that unique, yet easy-to-do recipe? Tea is very much part of our Bengali lifestyle without which occasions remain incomplete. So, sit back, get relaxed and have a cup of tea. Celebrate summer with a candlelit evening high tea, and serve season-inspired recipes your guests are sure to enjoy.

Stay energised with light savoury snacks. Try these and make up a meal plan for that perfect fun time along with hot cups of tea that your guests will surely enjoy. Whether you serve it in your garden or inside your home, rest assured, for the guests it will be memorable! 

By Salina Parvin

Nimki

Nimki, also known as 'namak para', is a traditional North Indian snack made of white flour. It is a tasty, light, crunchy snack that can be made anywhere, any time without much hassle. The best thing about nimki is that it can be stored for a long time without using any kind of preservatives.

Ingredients

2 cup white flour

½ tsp kalojira (aniseed)

4 tbsp ghee

½ cup water

Salt to taste

Oil for deep fry

Method

In a bowl, mix flour, salt, kalojira, and ghee. Now add water to it and make the dough. Keep it aside, covered with a wet cloth for 15 minutes. Roll the dough into thin chapatis. Cut them into shapes of your choice with a knife. 

Now heat oil in a deep pan. Deep fry the nimkis on low heat till they turn brown and crispy. When done, remove from heat and set aside on a paper towel to drain oil and cool. Store in an air tight container so that it lasts long.  



Tip

Make sure you fry Nimkis on low heat. If the flame is high the Nimkis will turn brown quickly and will remain raw and soft inside.

Murali

Muralis are crunchy, white, sugar coated sticks that are great as snacks. These too can be stored for long in air tight containers, and just like nimkis, taste great with tea.

Ingredients

2½ cup all purpose flour

2½ tbsp milk powder

Water as needed

Oil for deep frying

2 cups sugar

½ tsp baking powder

Pinch of salt

Method

In a bowl, pour flour, milk, baking powder and salt. Mix well and add water to it. Knead well and make the dough. Make four parts from the dough. Roll each part out with about ½-inch thickness. Then cut the slab into finger long sticks. 

Now heat oil in a pan. Deep fry the sticks on low heat until crunchy. Make sure these do not turn red. 

For the sugar coating -

In a saucepan, mix 1 cup of water with sugar. Stir on medium heat to make thick syrup. Then add the fried sticks. Allow the sticks to cool. Store and serve.

Murki

This is a simple sweet dish made with khoi and jaggery. The dish is very popular in both Bangladesh and West Bengal. In West Bengal it is called 'upra' and prepared during festivals.

Ingredients

250g khoi (popped rice)

250g grated jaggery

1 cup water

1 tbsp ginger juice

Method

Pour 1 cup of water in a pan and add jaggery. Keep the pan on medium flame. Keep on stirring until the jaggery becomes sticky. Now switch off the gas and after three minutes add khoi and ginger juice. Mix continuously with a spatula for the proper coating of jaggery. Allow it to cool down. After cooling, store the murki in air tight containers.

gur-er-cake 

(coconut and jaggery cake)

Ingredients

1½ cup rice powder

1½ cup jaggery

½ cup grated coconut

2 eggs

1 cup milk cream

1 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp cardamom powder

½ cup ghee

Pinch of salt

Method

Fry rice powder slightly, as you do before cooking semolina. Beat eggs with a pinch of salt. Add jaggery and cardamom powder to it. Mix well and add all ingredients one after another. Make a smooth and thick batter. Grease a mould of about 6- inch diameter with ghee and pour the mixture in it. 

Pour water in a steamer for steam baking. Place the mould in the steamer and steam-bake for 1 hour. Keep the lid on so that the steam does not escape. When baking is done, remove the mould and prepare to serve cold.

Tip

You may use rice-cooker or even pressure-cooker for steam-baking. Instead of steam-baking these can be baked directly in an oven. Sometimes women in rural areas bake them in earthen ovens.

Muri makha/jhaal muri

Puffed rice (muri) is one of the most favourite snacks of Bengalis, and is usually a mixture of muri, chanachur, chopped green chillies, and onions tossed in mustard oil. Almost every household consumes this delicacy along with tea in the evening, or sometimes also between meals. One can find muri makha in probably every corner of the city. 

Ingredients

4 cup puffed rice

½ to 2 cups Bengal gram vermicelli

¼ cup peanuts

2 boiled potatoes, peeled and cut into small pieces

2 tomatoes, chopped and seeded

1 cucumber, chopped

2 onions, chopped

3 green chillies, finely chopped

1 tbsp coriander leaves, finely chopped

2 tbsp mustard oil

1 tbsp tamarind paste

For spice mix -

4 tsp roasted cumin seeds powder

1 tsp salt

1 tsp black salt

1 tsp mango powder (amchoor)

1 tsp roasted red chilli powder

½ tsp garam masala powder

4 slices of lemon for garnishing



Method

Combine all the spices together. Set aside. Heat one teaspoon of oil in a small pan on medium heat, add peanuts and roast, stirring continuously till lightly brown. Allow it to cool down. Just before serving jhaal muri, mix all the ingredients with spices. Toss them properly. You may adjust all the ingredients to your taste. Serve and enjoy.

Dim er jhal-pitha 

(spicy egg pitha)

In northern districts of the country, pithas are prepared throughout the year as afternoon snacks or to entertain guests. It requires few ingredients and can be prepared in a fairly short time and hence is popular. 

Ingredients

1½ cup rice powder

4 eggs

½ tsp ginger paste

¼ tsp garlic paste

1 bay leaf paste

¼ tsp cumin seeds powder

½ tsp red chilli powder

¼ tsp turmeric powder

¼ cup chopped onion

3 green chilies, chopped

Salt to taste

Oil for deep frying



Method

In a bowl, beat eggs thoroughly. Mix all the ingredients except oil. Make a thick batter. Heat oil in a pan. Take one tablespoon of batter at a time and release in the hot oil. It takes less time to fry these pithas and they remain golden yellow and soft inside. Serve with mint or coriander leaf chutney. 

Onion pakora

Onion pakora is a deep fried snack made with chickpea flour, salt, spices and a main ingredient like onions or vegetables. Pakoras are very commonly prepared in most Bangladeshi households and is a popular snack. It is easy to prepare when you have a sudden guest at home and you to serve something special. 

Ingredients

1¼ cup thinly sliced onions

¾ tsp ginger-garlic paste

3 green chillies, chopped

Few mint leaves, chopped

Few coriander leaves, chopped

¼ cup chickpea flour

2 tbsp rice flour

2 tbsp corn flour

½ tsp red chilli powder

¼ tsp turmeric powder

Salt to taste

1 tbsp very hot oil

Oil for deep frying

Method

Wash and peel onions. Slice them thinly. Chop chillies, mint and coriander leaves. Mix together onions, salt, chillies, ginger garlic paste and leaves. Mix well and set aside for 10 minutes. Add the flours, chilli powder, and turmeric powder. Mix together. 

Add one tablespoon oil to a pan and heat it. When it turns very hot, add it to the mixture. Mix well to make a tight dough. Now heat more oil in a deep pan. When the oil is hot enough, drop small portions of the mixture in it. Fry on a medium heat until they turn golden and crunchy. Drain them on a kitchen tissue. Fry onion pakoras in batches till you finish the entire mix. Serve hot with tea.

Lobongo lotika

Lobongo lotika is a traditional Bengali sweet which has mawa as stuffing and wrapped like a small parcel, and then dipped into sugar syrup. Lobongo (clove) is used as a star ingredient here to keep the parcel in place along with imparting its own flavour.

Ingredients

To make the outer dough - 

1 cup flour

2 tbsp oil for kneading

15 cloves

Pinch of baking soda

Water to knead the dough

To make the filling -

250g mawa

Pinch of clove powder

Pinch of cardamom powder

Pinch of nutmeg powder

To make the sugar syrup -

1 cup sugar

½ cup water

2 green cardamoms

Method

In a pan, mix sugar and water, cook on low heat. Add 2 cardamoms into it and boil the syrup till it starts thickening. Mash mawa with hand and make it into a smooth ball. In a heavy bottomed pan, heat mawa without any oil for 3-4 minutes. 

Add all the powders mentioned above in the filling section. Keep aside to cool. In a bowl add flour, baking soda, salt and oil, mix thoroughly. Add water and make a soft dough. Cover it for 15 minutes. Divide the dough into 12 equal round balls. 

Now roll the balls like small puris, place 2 teaspoon mawa stuffing at the centre and wrap the opposite ends to look like rectangles and then fold the remaining two ends to make a square wrap. 

Seal the centre by inserting one clove and prepare the rest of the squares. Heat oil in a frying pan and fry the lobongo lotika until brown. Dip them in sugar syrup. Make sure that both sides are getting drenched in the syrup. Serve at room temperature.

Gur-er-malai cha 

(cream tea with jaggery)

Ingredients

3 cups milk

5 tsp black tea leaves

Jaggery 

2 cardamoms

4 tbsp cream or malai

Method

In a pan, boil the milk. When milk is fully boiled, add cardamom and tea leaves. Boil well. When your tea leaves come in beautiful colours automatically, add jaggery and mix well. Put out from stove. Put cream or malai in a cup and then add tea from the top of cup and serve.

Photo: Sazzad Ibne Sayed