Paturi is a Bengali dish, which comes in both vegetarian and non-vegetarian varieties. The leaves of the plant play an important role in the preparation of this dish, as the ingredients are wrapped in the leaves and tied with twine and cooked on low flame or steamed.
Vegetarian options of paturi include paneer, dal, sandesh etc., while non-vegetarian options include machher (fish) paturi. Fresh water fish are mainly used to make machher paturi.
The word paturi is related to the leaves used in cooking, the ingredients of the dish are wrapped in the leaves and cooked. Banana leaves, bottle gourd leaves or pumpkin leaves are used in cooking this dish. That is, the foodstuff which is prepared wrapped in leaves can be identified as Paturi.
Paturi is not much mentioned in the diet of Bengalis in ancient and medieval times as compared to the present time. However, a mention of Paturi's preparation can be found in the Banshulimangal, a bengali kavya (poem), written by poet Mukund Mishra. Paturi is one of the dishes that Rukmini prepared for Swami Dhusdatta, mentioned in this Kavya. In the Kavya, there is a mention of macher (fish) paturi with mustard.[1]
Paturi can be prepared with a wide variety of ingredients, both vegetarian and non-vegetarian. However, among non-vegetarian dishes of paturi, fish dishes are more prevalent.[2] Different types of paturi are prepared from different fish like Bhetki paturi, Ilish paturi, Koi paturi,[3] [4] Rui paturi etc. Apart from fish, there are egg dishes too, and even fish egg dishes are made.[5] [6] [7] Paturi is also prepared with prawns, known as chingri paturi.[8]
Paturi has many vegetarian options. Vegetarian Dal paturis are prepared using pulses (edible legume), among which Mushur dal paturi is notable.[9] [10] Paturi is also prepared from dairy products, such as paneer—a fresh acid-set cheese common in cuisine of India—and chhana, a kind of acid-set cheese. Paturi prepared using these dairy products are known as Paneer Paturi and Chhanar Paturi respectively.[11] [12] [13] Paturi is also prepared with sandesh, a famous Bengali dessert made from milk.
| Dish | Photos | Plant leaves (as a wrapper) | Ingredients | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Main | Essential | Other | ||||
| Neeramish (vegetarian) paturi | ||||||
| Dal Paturi | Gourd leaves | Dal (pulses) | Green chillies, turmeric powder (haldi) and mustard oil | Onions, garlics, black cumins, coriander powder, tomato, ginger | ||
| Paneer Paturi | Banana leaves | Paneer | Black mustard seeds, turmeric powder (haldi), mustard oil, green chillies | Poppy seeds, coconut | ||
| Sandesh Paturi | Banana leaves | |||||
| Chhanar paturi | Banana leaves | Chhana | Mustard seeds, flour and green chillies | Poppy seeds, sugar | ||
| Amish (non-vegetarian) paturi | ||||||
| Bhetki paturi | Banana leaves | Bhetki (Barramundi) | Mustard seeds, mustard oil, turmeric powder (haldi) and green chillies | Coconut, Tok Doi (yogurt) | ||
| Ilish paturi | Banana leaves | Ilish | Mustard seeds, mustard oil, turmeric powder (haldi) and green chillies | Poppy seeds, coconut, Tok Doi (yogurt) | ||
| Koi paturi | Gourd leaves | Koi (Anabas) | Mustard seeds, mustard oil, turmeric powder (haldi) and green chillies, onions | Garlic, cumin powder, coconut, coriander powder | ||
| Rui paturi | Banana leaves | Mustard seeds, mustard oil, turmeric powder (haldi) and green chillies | ||||
| Chingri paturi | Gourd leaves/Banana leaves | Chingri (Prawn) | Mustard seeds, mustard oil, turmeric powder (haldi), green chillies | poppy seeds, coconut, Tok Doi (yogurt), sugar, garlic | ||
| Dim paturi | Banana leaves | Egg or fish egg | Mustard seeds, mustard oil, turmeric powder (haldi) and green chillies | Poppy seeds, coconut | ||
The basic method of making paturi is to wrap the main ingredient in leaves along with spices and cook it on low flame or steam. Some cooking styles may be associated with this basic method of preparing each individual paturi. In some cases, at the time of cooking rice, fish with spices is wrapped in leaves and steamed by the steam generated in handi.[15] [16] Paturi is served with hot rice.[3] [15]