Paan is a chew of betel leaf filled with a stuffing such as lime paste or spices, eaten as a digestive after a meal.
Pabda catfish. Found in clear as well as muddy rivers, streams, ponds an lakes in the Indian subcontinent and Burma.
Jhol is a type of curry. Most curries will have their own distinctive combination of spices for tempering the oil, forming the base of the curry, and adding in batches for different flavour profiles. This is a curry of pabda fish, on of the many catfish of Bengal, with an onion-ginger paste base for the curry/sauce, and a fair amount of chilli powder, generating the red colour. Siddharth Dasgupta says that this is probably his most favourite fish dish.
Panch phoron is a mixture of five spices used commonly in Bengal. Every household will have its own preferred recipe. Garam masala is more common to northern India, as the "hot spices" are preferred to chillis in the cold winters. In southern Indian vegetarian cooking, the equivalent is sambhar powder and in western India, goda masala and kholombo powder. In Punjab, tandoori masala is the most common, and in Bengal panch phoron which gives the food of this area its unique flavour. It comprises equal amounts of cumin, fennel, fenugreek, mustard and wild onion or nigella seeds.
Cottage cheese made from curdled bottled milk, like a cross between Ricotta and tofu. It can be fried and curried.
