Bangladesh is indeed one of the most Muslim-friendly countries to visit if you're a halal traveller. The country is rich with beautiful natural landscapes, scenery and wildlife. The beauty of Bangladesh’s rivers is incomparable to any other. Apart from the country’s natural and dazzling beauty it is also a country rich in culture and hospitality. If you're a Muslim traveller in love with beautiful surroundings and connecting with the people of the land, Bangladesh in indeed a destination that you must have in mind when planning your next halal holiday.
Apart from looking forward to all the beautiful views Bangladesh has to offer to our eyes, there is so much the country has to offer our taste buds as well! Food from Bangladesh, although similar in some ways to Indian food, it has its own distinctions and additions that make them unique and one of a kind, and since Bangladesh is one of the most Muslim populated countries in the world finding halal restaurants and food is not a very hard task. If you are a fan of yummy curries, with heaps of spices, flavor and fragrance along with desserts mainly with a ghee (clarified butter), cheese and milk base, this cuisine is just for you!
Find a Halal Restaurant near you in Bangladesh
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So if you are planning to head out and travel to Halal-Friendly Bangladesh, here are the seven most taste bud-tingling dishes that you must give a go!!!
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The first in my list is a mouth-watering Bengali delicacy served as a dessert. This dessert is served as little soft balls which are made out of paneer (cottage cheese ), sugar and flavored with saffron, pistachios, nuts and dried food. A bite of this dish has a mix of these different flavors but the more prominent taste of paneer (cottage cheese) is what makes it very delicious. You could literally skip a meal and have a few of these little dessert balls, and trust me it would all be worth it!
Since this dish is very famous throughout the country, you'd be able to find it in many restaurants or even road side stalls for very cheap prices!
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This is one of the most popular, flavorful and fragrant rice dishes of the country! it has a vegetarian and a non-vegetarian version, but the most popular version of tehari is with beef which is cooked with an abundant mix of spices which include cinnamon, cardamom, garlic, ginger, bay leaves, mace, cumin, pepper, chili and nutmeg, which all add to the unique flavor of this dish.
This dish is quite different from the classical biryani in India, because the curry and rice are not layered but it is tossed all together and cooked so that even a mouthful of rice would give out the delicious taste of the main curry!
If you are not fond of beef the chicken version of the dish and the vegan version are heavenly and delicious as well.
If you to travel Bangladesh, this is a halal dish that you must try, especially for lunch!
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This is such a simple potato dish but it is packed with amazing flavors specially coriander and chilies .Specially for all the halal vegan travellers out there this is going to be your all time favorite potato based dish ! If you are a big fan of mashed potatoes for breakfast this dish is just for you, but this is not the typical mash potato which is simple which includes salt, pepper and butter. It has an amazing masala and an Asian curry kick to it, and I'd recommend having with this flat bread such as chapatti or paratha. It'd taste amazing! but if you're more of a rice person this dish would do great with rice as well!
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This is yet another dish of Bangladesh which is a plate of mashed goodness! if you're a fan of eggplant , this is a dish that does this beautiful vegetable so much justice and once again, it's vegetarian! (who ever knew vegan dishes could be this flavorful and tasty!)
In this dish the eggplants are first roasted to give it an amazing smoky flavor and later turned into a mashed curry with the addition of mustard oil, chilies and coriander.
The absolute highlight of this dish is the smokiness of the eggplant and this would be a great pair with plain white rice or any flat bread! yum !
If you are an absolute sweet tooth and a die-hard fan of pancakes, this dish is just for you! The Malpua is a festive dish made by Muslim families specially during the Eid festival season.
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The best way to describe a Malpua is to call it a “pancake for dessert," because it's not the typical English breakfast pancake that we all know and love. Malpua contains other tasty ingredients such as semolina, and in most of Bangladesh it contains grated coconut as well, and it's flavored with cardamom which gives it a unique taste, and furthermore, this pancake is fried with ghee (clarified butter) and soaked in sugar syrup. Talk about a complete sweet overdose! But trust me, with all the beautiful ingredients the taste and the aroma of it is so fabulous that it'd keep you munching more and more Malpua daily during your halal holiday at Bangladesh!
Picture Credit - Karthika Gopalakrishnan, www.archanaskitchen.com
This is a dish that you must try if you are a halal traveller who loves seafood. After all, the taste of seafood is amazing in its own ways!
Machcher Jhol is a Bangladeshi sea foodstew which is very big, and bold in flavor. This dish contains a mix of flavors that include mainly potatoes and tomatoes, which gives the stew a red colour along with spices and flavors such as turmeric, ginger, garlic, chili and onions.
This is an amazing comfort food that pairs with white rice so well that you can you wouldn’t need anything else on the plate than this curry and rice.
Picture Credit - Sanjaykhilar, commons.wikimedia.org
This is another Bangladeshi sweet delicacy which is a famous street snack in the country. Like the dish “sandesh” the “Chena gaja” is prepared using cottage cheese but with the addition of semolina. The two ingredients are mixed, shaped into rectangular squares, and fried. After that, sugar syrup is drizzled to generously coat the chena gaja.
If you are a fan of deep-fried sweets, this is a dish that you must give a go during your halal visit to Bangladesh!
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