It’s pronounced bhawrta and not bharta, says my friend Nayana Sengupta Afroz, 45, a culinary expert from Dhaka, Bangladesh. I shrug and tell her it’s the same thing—Bengalis pronounce it bhorta, but for the non-Bengali population, it’s bharta. She sticks to her guns: This is not the Indian bharta. It’s the Bangladeshi bhorta, spelt and pronounced the same way whichever part of the world you are in. The argumentative Indian in me retreats quickly at the possessive tone of her voice.

Speak to any Bangladeshi and you will hear the same tone of ownership about this once-humble dish that has come to define Bangladeshi cuisine. Essentially a mash, the bhorta’s evolution from the rural kitchen to a gourmet meal, cutting across all economic strata, is well summed up by its status as the chosen dish for the nationwide Pohela Boishakh (new year) celebrations, alongside panta bhat (fermented rice). The pulao and hilsa can take a break.

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View Full Image Bhorta platter.

The bhorta’s genesis in the Bengal region exemplifies the close connection between biodiversity and uncultivated foods. According to the book Food Sovereignty And Uncultivated Biodiversity In South Asia, the traditional bhorta is a “mashed preparation of leafy greens mixed with onion, garlic, green chillies and (optionally) mustard oil.... The ingredients may be steamed lightly along with rice or simply mashed by hand. A bhorta is only partially cooked at most and the final preparation does not contain added water." In some areas of Bangladesh, bhorta is also known as chana or bata (literally, ground, verb).

The bata was common to both Hindu and Muslim Bengalis in erstwhile East Bengal. The riverine topography supports more than 100 different leafy greens, be they foraged from water bodies or forests, or cultivated (for example, the tender leaves of jute plants). Similarly, there are almost 500 varieties of fish. Epic poems and folk narratives of undivided Bengal, such as the medieval Mangalkavyas, refer frequently to both; indeed, the earliest known reference to Bengali food—in an eighth century couplet in proto-Bengali (Apabhramsa)—describes a meal of rice with fresh cow-milk ghee, a jute-leaf mash and small fish cooked in banana leaves.

Nothing much seems to have changed in 13 centuries: Research indicates that uncultivated foods still constitute nearly 40% of the diet in biodiversity-rich rural Bangladesh. Among the very poor and landless, the dependence is nearly 100%. Not surprisingly then, the bhorta occupies a critical place because it requires minimum fuel, very little oil and no expensive spices. It is, however, intriguing that this poor man’s comfort food has become a nationally acclaimed dish.

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View Full Image Chingri Sheddho Bhorta.

The text with an Instagram post of an avocado bhorta declares with obvious pride: “I was born in North Dakota (US). My husband was born in Bangladesh. We live in the upper Midwest. This is what we eat." The Bangladeshi Students Association of McGill University, Canada, hosts “Bhorta Nights" to enable the “entire McGill community to know more about the vibrant Bangladeshi culture".

Says Australia-based Suparna Salahuddin, 40: “A massive Pohela Boishakh mela is organized in the Sydney Olympic Park, and the main attraction is the stalls with panta bhaat and a huge range of bhortas." Back home, the legal stamp of approval comes from the Dhaka University’s law faculty, which held a “Bhorta Utshab" (festival) in June 2015 to celebrate the monsoon. So the bhorta also transcends the seasons—from Boishakh to Ashadh and beyond, a defining statement of the quest for an indigenous identity.

This national obsession with the bhorta is a fairly recent sociological phenomenon. Nasrin Imam Hazra, 47, a Bangladeshi teacher married to an Indian, says: “Two cultural strands—Bengali and Islamic—run in parallel to create a composite and unique national identity in post-1971 Bangladesh."

The push came in the wake of much turbulence. In 1947, East Bengal separated from India and became East Pakistan, bound by a common religion. In 1971, it fought fiercely to break away from West Pakistan on the grounds of conflicting culture and language. Both these ruptures had a huge impact on the Bangladeshi identity. If the break with West Pakistan led to the rejection of Urdu and a repudiation of biryanis, kormas and kebabs, later in the decade, the then president, General Ziaur Rahman, amended the constitution to uphold Bangladeshi nationalism, making it clear that the Bengalis of Bangladesh, a Muslim-majority country, were different from the Bengalis of India, notwithstanding the shared heritage of history, food, music, language and literature.

To replace that which was lost, the Bangladeshi looked deep within: to the regional roots of the simple bhorta, the potpourri of greens, peels, vegetables, fish and meats. Since then, there has been an ongoing tussle about whether Bangaliyana—Bengalihood—should be defined by culture or politics.

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View Full Image Lau-patay Lyata Maach Bhorta. Photo: A.B.M. Akhtaruzamman

In her cookbook Bosha Bhat To Biryani: The Legacy Of Bangladeshi Cuisine, cultural historian and writer Niaz Zaman says: “The liberation of Bangladesh led to a search for its indigenous cultural roots as well as its indigenous foods. Bhajis (simple sautéed vegetables) and bhortas had always been part of the Bengali diet…not something offered to guests or served at hotels. After liberation, however, Bengali foods were, so to say, rediscovered."

According to Dhaka-based social anthropologist Anisa Zaman, the bhorta was a staple in large Muslim households, both because of affordability and the easy availability of ingredients and cost. “In the late 1970s, the bhorta made its way out of domestic kitchens and entered the public space," she says.

In a June 2007 feature titled “Brick Lane Food Revival", by Guy Dimond, in Time Out London, Ansar Ahmed Ullah, a community worker there, says, “There has been a revival of home-style and proper Bengali and Bangladeshi cooking in small cafés over the past two or three years (earlier synonymous with the curry)." The trend, he says, started with the young Bangladeshi immigrant’s longing for home-style food. Afroz agrees: “The bhorta gained popularity worldwide through Bangladeshi students. It was an easy-to-make, economical meal, and the Bangladeshi restaurants picked it up."

The bhorta was, and continues to be, eaten in both Hindu and Muslim families. The former, who call it bata or bhatey, use onions, green chillies and mustard oil or, sometimes, coconut and mustard or poppy-seed paste, while Muslims add garlic. In the pre-Independence days, “economic conditions didn’t permit lavish menus, and a little bhorta was sufficient for an entire family’s requirements, with rice", says Anisa.

From its roots in thrift to its emergence as a socio-cultural phenomenon—boosted, no doubt, by its low-oil, low-spice health quotient—the bhorta story gets a new commercial dimension in restaurants. Consider Hotel Niribili, a restaurant located about 65km from Dhaka, on the outskirts of Tok Bazar, Gazipur district. Despite its middle-of-nowhere location, it has become a tourist attraction because of the vast range of bhortas it offers. Says owner Tota Miah: “On weekends, we have more than 100 bhortas. On weekdays, it averages 70-80."

With prices ranging from Bangladeshi taka 10-50 (around ₹ 8.5-43) per dish, the restaurant is sold out every day; the guest list includes Bangladesh President Abdul Hamid.

Niribili’s rich bhorta repertoire boasts of aloo (potato), begun (brinjal), three types of sheem (hyacinth bean), dhenrosh (okra), chichinga (snake gourd), korola (bitter gourd), lau (bottle gourd), tomato, shorisha (mustard seed), peyaj morich (onion and chilli), roshun (garlic), kumra (pumpkin), dhone pata (coriander), four types of kochu (taro), badam (peanuts), around seven types of shutki (dried fish), eight types of fish and many more, each different from the other. It also has around 40 types of bhaji and shaak (greens), including shapla (water lily) and kochur doga (stem of aroids).

“People eat rich meats and fish every day and the taste buds get jaded," says Tota Miah. “Bhortas bring back the ruchi (interest); they revitalize taste and function like a palate cleanser."

Back in Dhaka, chef Abdur Rouf Jewel of the Ruposhi Bangla Hotel, soon to become the InterContinental Dhaka, says that while bhortas are not part of the hotel’s regular fare, they maintain exclusivity with high-priced bhorta buffets during festivals, which are very popular.

According to socio-cultural anthropologist Arjun Appadurai, food can function as an equalizer or create distance and segmentation.

In Bangladesh, a country marked by a huge chasm between the rich and the poor, the once austere mishmash has become the game-changer, marking the return of the privileged to the food of their forefathers. So the gradual incorporation of bhorta as a celebratory food at home and abroad is an unusual tale of how sharing common food as a ritual can become a marker of cultural and national identity.

View Full Image Okra Bhorta. Photo: ABM Akhtaruzamman

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Awe for okra

A recipe from Dhaka-based culinary expert Nayana Afroz

Dhenrosh Bhorta (Okra ‘bhorta’)

Serves 2

Ingredients

12-15 okra of the same size

4 dry red chillies

1 medium onion, finely chopped

5-6 pods of garlic, finely chopped

1 and half tbsp mustard oil

Salt, to taste

Method

Chop off the two ends of the okra and rub with mustard oil. Dry-roast on a skillet. When soft, mash them. Separately mash the fried red chillies into the garlic and onion, breaking them with fingers. Add mustard oil and salt and mix with the mashed okra. Serve with steamed hot rice.

Optionally, roast chopped onions, garlic and tiny shrimps in half a teaspoon of oil. Grind coarsely and mix with fried and crumbled dried red chillies and mustard oil and add to roasted and mashed okra.

With inputs from Aamon Pratik Zaman in Tok Bazar, Gazipur, Bangladesh.

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