Bangladesh: Masoor Dal and Roti, Doodh Cha and Piyaju
Bangladesh holds a special place in my heart- back in 2018, I did some relief work there with Rohingya refugees from Myanmar. It was such a joy to work with the Bengali hospital and relief organization staff and to care for these warm and beautiful people.
It was SO hard to pick a dish for Bangladesh- there are so many amazing options and I had so many great suggestions from sweet Bengali friends, but the more I thought about it, I kept coming back to some of my favorite moments in Bangladesh: dal with warm roti in the mornings, Nurul, one of my favorite little patients, begging for cha every day, my coworker, Eve, yelling “Piyaju time!!” and all of us snacking together, patients and staff alike. These are such simple, every day dishes but, to me, they felt so meaningful and brought back lots of sweet memories.
Starting our morning off right with dal and roti!
Masoor dal is a lentil soup often served for breakfast, with rice or roti. It can be a bit spicy but is balanced by the warm, buttery roti. Roti is like a mix between a flatbread and a tortilla, made with atta (whole wheat flour) and water. When covered in ghee and topped with dal, it’s SO good and very filling! The taste was really close to what I had in Bangladesh, so it was really fun to share this dish with my mom, who was visiting from Florida!
Cha with a side of alligator planter…
The doodh cha (cool name, right?) I made was DELICIOUS and tasted exactly how I remembered. This milky sweet tea is similar to chai and the recipe I found used orange pekoe tea with milk, cardamom, clove, ginger and sugar. Definitely not a healthy tea, but a great sweet treat, especially on a cold or rainy day! I loved sipping cha with Nurul and seeing the big smile on his face.
Sweet babe getting his cha on!
Another happy customer, enjoying canteen time!
Lastly, I made piyaju! This was a favorite afternoon treat and a whole bagful from the stall across the street was usually demolished in minutes. Piyaju is also made of lentils but blended into a paste mixed with onions, peppers and spices, then deep fried. I will say my piyaju didn't have as much flavor as I remember, so I’m not sure if the recipe was different or if I got the proportions wrong.
Piyaju!
Piyaju time on the unit!
It was SO fun to recreate some of my favorite memories and get to share them with my mom. Such a special moment for me. I really miss Bangladesh and this was a really great way to reminisce.