Sylheti cuisine (Sylheti: ꠍꠤꠟꠐꠤ ꠞꠣꠘꠗꠣ) represents the food culture of Sylhetis. It comprises tangy sour Hatkora to spicy hot chicken tikka masala, confectionery Tusha Shinni to savoury Nunor Bora and the fermented fish Hutki Shira. Hatkora is a common fruit and used to cook different dishes with fish and meat. Enriched with Vitamin C and antioxidants, Hatkora curry is best eaten with rice.[1] Though Sylhetis are mainly rice and fish eaters, their culinary system is distinctly different to non-Sylhetis.[2][3] Multicultural people of Barak Valley to Surma valley,[4] and the Sylheti diaspora have influenced the Sylheti food and flavours practiced for ages. Among them, the culinary system of Khasi, Kuki and other tribes are noteworthy.[5] The cuisine of Sylhet has grown up depending on the availability of plants and animals in the region. Mainly indigenous with some variety, food culture is performed among the Sylhetis that received some external influences as well. When the 360 disciples of Shah Jalal arrived in this region, they not only brought their distinct cultures but also brought distinct cooking styles of their own.[6] Which included many meat dishes along with chicken, beef and goat cooked Mughlai, Middle-Eastern, and Northern Indian style. Mughlai Porota, Pilau, Korma, Kalia, Roast, Biriyani and Kofta for curry dishes while Zardah, Firni and Kheer for desserts have been also included.[2]
According to a hearsay, Bakarkhani was invented in the middle of the 18th century. It is believed that Bakarkhani was first made by the people of Sylhet.[7][8] Sylhetis learnt making Bakarkhani from the Afghans who stayed in Sylhet after defeated by the Mughals in 1612. Later many Sylhetis came to Dhaka and started making Bakarkhani commercially.[9] At present most of the of Dhaka's bakarkhani sellers are from the Sylhet Division.[10][11] From the second half of the 19th century, Europeans and Muslims introduced biscuits and loaves in the Sylhet region that attracted the Muslim community highly.[12] It gained popularity by the Hindus much more later.[13] In London, in the 1940s some entrepreneurial Sylhetis began setting up cafés and introduced curry and rice to the menu. But lack of confidence saw the Bangladeshis refer to their food as Indian.[14] In the United Kingdom, more than 8 out of 10 Indian restaurants are owned by Bangladeshis,[15] 95% of which come from Sylhet.[16] Sylhet is not known for its cuisine, though 80% to 90% British curry-house trace their roots directly to Sylhet.[17][18] Chefs from Sylhet region developed the British curry to a greater extent since the 1960s.[19] Chicken tikka masala, invented by the Sylhetis is regarded as Britain's National dish since 2001, by Britain’s foreign secretary Robin Cook.[20][21] The birthday celebration of the British Prime Minister Tony Blair's daughter at a Bangladeshi restaurant proves the popularity of Sylheti cuisine.[22] Historian Lizzie Collingham, in her 2005 book Curry: A Biography, coined that the Sylheti curry cooks converted “unadventurous British palates” to a new flavour spectrum.[23]
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