Bhorta is, Kolkata-native chef Asma Khan explains, the Bengali pronunciation of the Hindi word bharta, meaning mashed – it’s an important distinction, too, because, although spiced mashed vegetables, seafood or meat are found in many regions of the Indian subcontinent, bhorta is particularly dear to Bangladesh and the neighbouring Indian province of West Bengal.
Indeed, according to British Bangladeshi food writer Dina Begum, it’s the “quintessential soul food of Bangladeshi cuisine”, repopularised by post-independence efforts to rediscover the country’s culinary traditions and served with panta bhat, or fermented rice, at Pôhela Boishakh (Bengali New Year) celebrations each spring. Adiba and Arafat, the husband and wife team behind the Spice Odyssey website, write that: “In Bangladesh, a country marked by a huge chasm between the rich and the poor, the once austere mishmash of vegetables … has become the gamechanger – marking the return of the privileged to the food of their forefathers. The gradual incorporation of bhorta … as a celebratory food at home and abroad is a tale of how sharing common food as a ritual can become a marker of cultural and national identity.”
