Bengali Food Vocabulary: Rice, Fish, Sweets and Ordering with Confidence
A tasty guide to Bengali food words, dishes and ordering phrases, from everyday rice and fish to famous sweets like roshogolla.
Bengali culture and cuisine are inseparable. The saying মাছে ভাতে বাঙালি (machhe bhate Bangali) — "Bengalis are made of fish and rice" — sums up a food culture where rice and fish are central.
Staples
- ভাত (bhat) — cooked rice
- ডাল (dal) — lentils
- রুটি (ruti) — flatbread
- লুচি (luchi) — fried puffed bread
- পরোটা (porota) — layered flatbread
- তরকারি (torkari) — vegetable curry
- ভর্তা (bhorta) — mashed dish
- ঝোল (jhol) — thin curry, broth
Fish and meat
- মাছ (machh) — fish
- ইলিশ (ilish) — hilsa, a beloved fish and the national fish of Bangladesh
- চিংড়ি (chingri) — prawn
- মাংস (mangsho) — meat
- মুরগি (murgi) — chicken
- খাসি (khashi) — goat
- ডিম (dim) — egg
Vegetables and fruit
- আলু (alu) — potato
- বেগুন (begun) — aubergine
- কুমড়ো (kumro) — pumpkin
- শাক (shak) — leafy greens
- আম (am) — mango
- কলা (kola) — banana
- কাঁঠাল (kanthal) — jackfruit
Sweets
Bengali sweets, মিষ্টি (mishti), are famous across South Asia:
- রসগোল্লা (roshogolla) — syrupy cheese balls
- সন্দেশ (shondesh) — soft milk sweet
- মিষ্টি দই (mishti doi) — sweet yogurt
- পিঠা (pitha) — rice cakes, especially in winter
The word মিষ্টি means both "sweet" and "sweets".
Taste words
- ঝাল (jhal) — spicy
- মিষ্টি (mishti) — sweet
- নোনতা (nonta) — salty
- টক (tok) — sour
- তেতো (teto) — bitter
Drinks
- চা (cha) — tea
- কফি (kofi) — coffee
- জল / পানি (jol / pani) — water
- লস্যি (lassi) — yoghurt drink
- ডাবের জল (daber jol) — coconut water
At the restaurant
- একটা মেনু দিন — ekta menu din — Please give me a menu.
- আমাকে একটা ভাত আর মাছ দিন — amake ekta bhat ar machh din — Give me rice and fish.
- ঝাল কম দিন — jhal kom din — Please make it less spicy.
- বিল দিন — bill din — The bill, please.
- খুব সুস্বাদু হয়েছে — khub shushwadu hoyechhe — It was delicious.
Dining customs
Meals are often eaten by hand, using the right hand. Guests are generously fed, and refusing a second helping may require polite insistence. In many households, courses are served in a traditional order, starting with something bitter and ending with sweets.
Practice
- Learn ten food words per session.
- Read a Bengali menu online.
- Order a meal in Bengali.
- Look up unknown dishes.
English Bangla Dictionary
Offline English–Bangla dictionary with meanings in proper Bengali script
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