​12 traditional Bengali vegetarian dishes that are as good as a non-veg feast

Bengali cuisine is often talked about its non-vegetarian feast of fish, meat, and even eggs. But, did you know that the cuisine also boasts a wide range of equally delicious vegetarian dishes that are paired with luchi and rice? Let us take you on a delicious journey of vegetarian dishes of Bengali cuisine.

Also known as Puchka or Pani Puri, it is one of the most famous street foods in Kolkata and consists of hollow, crispy puris filled with a tangy and spicy mixture of tamarind water, mashed potatoes, chickpeas, and spices. It's a quintessential Kolkata experience.

Aloo kabli is another popular Kolkata street snack made with boiled potatoes, chickpeas, chopped onions, green chilies, and tangy tamarind chutney, seasoned with spices like chaat masala.

A classic Bengali dish that consists of deep-fried puris made with refined flour, oil, and salt, and is served with Aloo Posto, a semi-dry dish made with potato, poppy seeds, red chili, green chili, mustard oil, cumin seeds, salt, and turmeric. The combination is best served as breakfast and people even enjoy it with chai in evening hours.

This is a main course gravy dish made with veggies like bitter gourd, potato, drumsticks, and green bananas.

This main course dish is made with onions and tomatoes, and uses a rich lentil cake made with chana dal and white peas.

As the name suggests, it is a yellow-colored rice dish that also uses ghee, nuts, and sugar.

According to legends, the word “Basanti” means yellow like spring, and the dish gets its bright color from turmeric or saffron. It is traditionally made with aromatic gobindobhog rice, ghee, whole spices, nuts, and raisins. It is mildly sweet pulao and is often served with rich curries like kosha mangsho.

This dish is made with pointed gourd stuffed with mashed potatoes, paneer and nuts, and is served on a bed of onion and tomato gravy.

This snack dish is made with yellow matar and best consumed as chaat with a topping of spices, onions, lemon juice, tamarind chutney, and coriander leaves.

It Bengali mix veg is made with sweet potato, green bananas, banana stem, and taro corn. (Image: Instagram/foodofdebjani)

This is a paneer recipe, which also uses onion and tomato gravy and mild spices. (Instagram/tumpas_kitchen)

This is a traditional Bengali delicacy made with banana blossoms, which are called mocha and are cooked with potatoes, grated coconut, ginger, and spices and makes for a delicious side dish.

This is one of the most popular veg dishes, where the slices of eggplant are marinated in spices and shallow-fried until crispy and golden brown. It is served with kichuri as a side dish and goes well with evening chai too.

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