Most British-Indian restaurants are run by Bangladeshi families, and ours is no exception — our kitchen traces back to Sylhet. The food cooked at home in those kitchens looks very little like a menu curry.
This guide covers what a Bengali household actually cooks, the ingredients that define it, and where you can taste that influence on our Richmond menu.
The Sylheti store cupboard
Bengali cooking is built on a short, precise list rather than a long spice rack.
- Mustard oil — pungent, heated to smoking before use, the defining flavour of the region.
- Panch phoron — a five-seed blend of cumin, fennel, fenugreek, nigella and mustard, used whole.
- Fresh green chilli, turmeric and ginger, used far more than powdered chilli.
- Shatkora — a Sylheti citrus that gives beef and lamb curries their bitter-fresh lift.
- Rice, always, and dal at nearly every meal.
How a Bengali meal is built
A home meal is served in courses on one plate: rice first, then dal, a vegetable bhaji, then fish or meat, finishing with something sour or a little sweet.
Portions of meat are smaller than a restaurant serving, and the sauces are drier — the food is designed to be eaten with a lot of rice.
Fish before meat
Bengal is a river delta, and freshwater fish is the everyday protein. Mustard-based fish curries, fried fish with nigella seeds and light fish stews appear far more often than lamb or chicken.
Meat is celebration food: khurzi lamb, slow-braised shanks and beef with shatkora come out for Eid, weddings and guests.
What this means on our Richmond menu
We cook the British-Indian classics properly because that is what most guests come for. Alongside them we keep house dishes that reflect how we eat at home — drier bhunas, whole-spice braises and celebration lamb we cook to order for catering.
If you want to taste the difference, order a bhuna next to a tikka masala and compare them side by side.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Bengali and Indian food?
Bengali cooking uses mustard oil, panch phoron and freshwater fish heavily, with drier sauces and smaller meat portions than the North Indian dishes most UK menus are based on.
What is shatkora?
A Sylheti citrus fruit with a bitter, fragrant rind, cooked into beef and lamb curries. It gives a fresh, sharp finish that no other ingredient replicates.
Can I get Bengali home-style dishes at Jaflong Tandoori?
Yes. Our bhuna, dal and slow-braised lamb dishes follow the house method, and we cook celebration dishes such as khurzi lamb to order with 48 hours' notice.
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