|| JAMAI SASHTI || জামাই ষষ্ঠী || Simply put, it can be called Son-in-law’s Day. And in order to celebrate the day, Bengali sasuri maa’s aka mother-in-law usually prepares an elaborate jamai sashti menu list that often includes the best of Bengali traditional recipes from her culinary repertoire!

Long before the huge list of commemorative days came into its existence, Bengal was already in the great leagues of celebrating a day exquisitely dedicated to the sons-in-law of the family. Jamai Sashti, as Bengal, proudly announces, is one day when the jamais of this state fare a notch better than the rest of the world’s counterparts. 

Jamai Sashti History

Post-marriage, it almost becomes a ritual for the sons-in-law of the family to dress up in their best and trot towards their in-law’s house, accompanied by the daughter of that house! There was a time when the son-in-law’s arrival would send frenzy among the welcoming party, where a bevy of the ladies of the house would welcome him in a traditional way. This would often include a platter holding a lighted lamp (prodip), rice grains (dhaan), tender grass (durbo), and either sandalwood paste (chandan) or yogurt (doi) to put a mark (tilak) on the forehead. 

As it is Sasthi or the sixth day of the month of the lunar calendar, everything was offered in the figure of 6! 6 kinds of fruits, and 6 types of sweets, and on his lunch plate, there would be a minimum of 6 side-dishes to be served along with rice dishes. 

With the passage of time, a wave of modernization has swept off some of these rituals. Gender equality is the contention here. Previously, male appropriation was widely practiced as they were considered to be the breadwinners of the family. Parents would often entrust their son-in-law to the well-being of their daughter.

Cut to the present when women are equally capable of taking care of themselves, the ritualistic relevance of this festival has somewhat diminished. 

Jamai Sashti privilege for current-day Jamais

All that remains of this Jamai Sasthi festival is the gastronomic celebration amidst the Bengali bhodroloks! The widespread popularity of the festival can be easily guessed by the fact that recently the West Bengal Government issued a notification whereby declaring a half-day official leave to the employees of the state so that they can spend the rest of the day with their family.   

This day calls for the mothers-in-law to brace up with unusual culinary skills and present mouth-watering delicacies. Usually, the Jamai Sashti Menu includes multiple servings of non-vegetarian dishes that include Meat, Fish, Chicken, and Eggs.

This is a compilation of some of the popular yet easy-to-cook bengali ranna recipes. With just a week left, here’s something for you to start planning.

Jamai Sashti Special Recipe Menu List: Welcome Drinks & Sherbet

Aam Pora Shorbot or Aam Panna Recipe

This Bengali Aam Panna or Aam Pora Shorbot is refreshing and organic summer beverage that keeps our body healthy and cool. 

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Virgin Mango Mojito Recipe

This simple mango mojito recipe is a summer favourite fresh mango drink recipe, also perfect for every member of the family. I would say, bring out your biggest pitcher and make a big batch of this mango mojito mocktail recipe using season's fresh mangoes, a handful of mint leaves and lemons.

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Tuk-tak Appetizers before the special Jamai Sashti Bhuribhoj

Thai chicken meatballs

These Thai chicken meatballs are downright addictive. With perfectly balanced flavours, these come together in no time. Even if you don't have red curry paste in your pantry, neither the time to make some, you can still make these Thai-style chicken fritters in a jiffy.

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Aloo Chop Recipe | Bengali Potato Fritters

Aloo Chop is a deep-fried snack where a patty of spiced mashed potato is dipped in a batter before deep-frying. It is a popular evening snack, often served with a bowl of muri or puffed rice, sliced onion and a couple of green chillies.

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Dimer Devil | Egg Croquette Recipe

Dimer Devil, also Egg Croquette is a very popular Indian street food, particularly famous in the eastern states of India. Here, hard-boiled eggs are cut in halves, the yolk is mixed with a spicy mix and then stuffed back into the egg whites. The egg halves are then joined and coated with a keema or potato cover and battered fry.

This dimer devil is a Bengali style evening snack, often served with a bowl of puffed rice, sliced onion, green chillies and a cup of tea.

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Kolkata Fish Fry Recipe | ভেটকি মাছের ফিশ ফ্রাই

This Bengali Fish Fry is popular street food from Kolkata, that hardly needs an introduction. Beautifully carved Bhetki (Barramundi or Seabass) fish fillet, marinated in onion, ginger, garlic & chilli juice before dipped in an egg wash & breaded for frying them to perfection.

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Pulao, Biryani, Luchi & everything in between

Basanti Pulao | Bengali Sweet Pulao Recipe

Bengali Basanti Pulao recipe, a befitting easy pulao recipe for all Bengali festivities. Bengalis love rice and they love festive cooking.

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Mutton Keema Kofta Biryani Recipe

This Keema Kofta Biryani recipe is one of our favourite mutton keema recipes. With just an extra step of making the mutton keema koftas, this Keema Biryani recipe comes together as a wholesome meal for the whole family. Here, I have shared the more elaborate version of making the luxurious Kofta Biryani which can be a meal fit for the kings.

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Orange Pulao Recipe

This Orange Pilaf or Orange Pulao is one of those recipes that uses minimum ingredients but offer maximum gastronomic satisfaction!

It is perfect for those special occasions when you are expecting a bevy of guests and need to cook something special

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How to make perfect Bengali Luchi

Bengali Luchi bread is a deep fried poori made using maida. It is crispy, melt-in-mouth and is served with Mutton Kosha, Bengali Aloo Dum or Cholar Dal.

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Hinger Kochuri│Bengali Hing ke Kachori Recipe

This Hinger Kochuri is an Easter Indian flatbread recipe where pastry dough balls are stuffed with a pungent & spicy filling made of Asafoetida or Hing, and then flattened and deep-fried. It is puffy, crispy and a perfect side to a potato curry or perhaps cholar dal, if you are a lentil lover like me.

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Jamai Sashti Special Veg Menu – Bengali Niramish Ranna Recipe Ideas

Bengali niramish aloo dum recipe | নিরামিষ ছোট আলুর দম

This baby potato or choto alur dom is a grand recipe in its own ways. On one side it is a simple recipe that calls for absolutely pantry staple ingredients, yet this choto alur dom only seldom makes an appearance on the everyday menu. The preparation of these baby potatoes may look elaborate, but in the end, it is absolutely delightful to have these curried small potatoes served with luchis or porotas.

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Chanar Dalna Recipe | ছানার ডালনা রেসিপি

One of the most popular Bengali Vegetarian recipes, this ছানার ডালনা রেসিপি Chanar Dalna is quite a common affair in a Bengali household. Jewel of Bengali food, this is a no-onion, no-garlic Niramish ranna recipe which uses chena or paneer koftas in a curry.

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Aloo Phulkopir Dalna | Bengali Cauliflower Curry Recipe

This Aloo Phulkopir Dalna (Bengali Cauliflower & Potato Curry) recipe is a perfect example of Bengali niramish ranna or Indian vegetarian cooking. It is vegan, gluten-free, paleo-friendly, nut-free and a complete plant-based Indian curry dish. Here, cauliflower florets are cooked with potato cubes in pantry basic Indian spices. If you are looking for easy cauliflower recipes for rice, then you are in luck!

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Narkel Shorshe diye Chana Bhapa Recipe

Chana Bhapa is a unique Bengali cottage cheese recipe where the 'chana' or homemade paneer is steamed in a gravy of freshly ground paste of mustard seeds. Also known as a recipe of paneer bhapa (where bhapa means steamed), this chanar recipe in Bengali cuisine stands its ground for being one of its kind.

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Jamai Sashti Special Non-Veg Menu – Bengali Macher Recipes

Shorshe Bhapa Ilish | Bengali Hilsa Fish Curry Recipe

This shorshe bhapa ilish recipe is one of the most classic and favourite fish recipes for every Bengali out there. This hilsa curry is made using hilsa or ilish, a fish belonging to the herring family. It is native to the Bay of bengal and hence widely popular in Eastern Indian and Bangladeshi cuisine.

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Chingri Macher Paturi | Steamed Prawns in Banana Leaf

Chingri Macher Paturi is a traditional Bengali dish that is steamed in banana leaves. This recipe is easy to follow and perfect for seafood lovers who want to enjoy authentic Bengali flavors. In this blog post you will get step by step guide to marinating the prawns in spices and coconut, wrapping them in banana leaves, and cooking them to perfection. Whether you are a seasoned cook or a beginner, this steamed Chingri Macher Paturi recipe is sure to impress your taste buds.

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Macher Matha diye Pulao | Bengali Fish Head Pulao

This Macher Matha diye Pulao made with Rohu fish head is like macher matha diye muri ghonto which usually uses fragrant gobindobhog variety of rice. Here, I have used famous Indian rice, Basmati. Eating a fish head requires practice and patience, but once mastered it opens the doors to relishing several fish head recipes.

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Daab Chingri Recipe | Prawns cooked in Tender Coconut

This Daab Chingri recipe belongs to the annals of Bengali heritage cooking, which often enjoys the high rank of occasional festive cooking. A traditional Bengali festive meal gets an instant upgrade when this dish of daab chingri in made as a part of it. Here, prawns are cooked in a coocnut based gravy inside a tender coconut. This process of cooking makes it uniquely delicious and flavourful.

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Jamai Sashti Special Recipes – Bengali Mangsho Recipes

Kosha Mangsho Recipe | Bengali Mutton Curry Recipe

Kolkata-style kosha mangsho recipe, which is essentially a spicy dry goat meat curry, and serve it with some rice. If you want to take the game up by few notches then make the combination of luchi-kosha mangsho, and you would find the Bengali going weak at his knees.

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Niramish Panthar Mangsho recipe | Bhoger Mangsho Ranna

This is the no-onion, no-garlic Bengali Mutton Curry recipe which is often used to prepare the mutton curry offered to the deity as 'bhog'. Spiced with Indian spices like black peppercorn, cinnamon and cardamoms, this meat curry or mangshor jhol is a highlight of the Bengali recipes.

Here in this post, apart from sharing my family's niramish panthar mangshor jhol recipe, I will tell you why this Bengali mangshor jhol is called 'niramish' and what is the purpose of this kind of cooking. Let's start with understanding the concept of 'niramish'.

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Kosha Murgir Mangsho | Bengali Chicken Kosha Recipe

This Bengali Chicken Kosha is a timeless classic dry chicken curry recipe that is richly aromatic with Indian spices. The word 'kosha' means the spices and rest of the ingredients have been slow-cooked in their own juices and oil to release most of their aromatics. Often paired with luchis or Bengali pooris, or Basanti Pulao, this chicken kosha is saved for special meals!

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Bengali Chicken Rezala Recipe

Best thing about dishes like Chicken Rezala recipe is that it basically includes very simple ingredients which completely make it perfect for festive cooking over busy weekends. It’s a simple one-pot recipe which goes so well with rice, paranthas (Indian breads) or simply with rotis.

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Bengali Moglai Porota | Mughlai Parantha Recipe

Popular Kolkata Street Food, this Moglai Porota recipe is an adapted version that is suited for home cooking. So, if you are looking for Snack recipes, then this Mughlai Paratha recipe is a wonderful option.

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Bengali Chutney Recipes

Kacha Aamer Chutney | Bengali Green Mango Chutney

This Kancha Aamer Chutney (Chatni) or Green Mango Chutney is probably the best summer special chutney to go with simple and light summer dishes. Plus, it has absolutely zero oil, and by that, I mean no oil or butter in any form whatsoever! And….takes barely 10 minutes to get this ready. Oh! Did I tell you it practically needs only 3 ingredients and a Pressure Cooker (or Instant Pot)?

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Bengali Tomato Jelly Chutney Recipe

This sweet Bengali tomato chutney is perfect when you have season's fresh tomatoes flooding your local farmer's market. You can quickly turn a big bunch of ripe tomatoes into this delicious tangy yet mildly spicy tomato chutney. This tomato jelly has a very good shelf life so that you can enjoy a spoonful of this for next couple of weeks.

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Paka Kodbel Makha Recipe | Bengali Wood Apple Chutney

This Bengali-style paka kodbel makha or wood apple chutney is a classic chutney recipe that uses the fleshy pulp of কদবেল or wood apple mixed with a generous helping of mustard oil with salt and chopped green chilies.

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Jamai Sashti Special Mishti Recipes

Pranhara Sandesh Recipe

Pranhara or Kancha Golla is a variety of sandesh, a Bengali sweet dish which is widely popular for its simplicity and melt-in-mouth taste. Like most Bengali sweets, it is also made with fresh cottage cheese of cow's milk or chenna, a bit of condensed milk and a couple of drops of rose extract.

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Bengali Chanar Jilipi Recipe

Chanar Jilipi is a very popular Bengali Sweet from India's eastern state of West Bengal. Chanar Jilipi is an Indian sweetmeat made with fresh cottage cheese of cow's milk mixed with semolina and flour, shaped into a 'figure 8 knot' followed by deep frying and soaking in a simple syrup. This is a very popular Bengali sweet dish and can be found at most of the sweet shops selling Indian sweets or Mithai.

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Bengali Sweet Pantua Recipe

Pantua recipe, much like other recipes of Bengali sweets, is a milk sweet dish where cow's milk, in particular, is curdled to get some cheese which in turn gives these scrumptious sweets.

A very popular variety of sweet at a Bengali mishti'r dokan (Sweet shop), Pantua is a kind of Indian doughnut, hailing from the eastern parts of the country. Here, fresh cottage cheese is kneaded into a dough using a touch of flour, before dividing into balls for deep frying and then dipped in sugar syrup.

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Sweet Boondi Recipe

Sweet Boondi or Mishti Bonde is a very popular Indian sweet where small fritters made with chickpea flour is dunked in sugar syrup. It is vegan (if not fried in ghee or clarified butter), gluten-free, dairy-free, nuts-free Indian sweet dish, very popular during Indian weddings and festivals.

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Bengali Nolen Gurer Payesh Recipe

This nolen gur or khejur gurer payesh is somewhat a winter delicacy, especially made during the Sankranti when the date palm jaggery is available in the markets. So, around 15th of January, you will see most Bengalis making a variety of delicacies using the season's fresh khejur gur, including this chaler payesh.

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