What or Who is a Bong ?

Today, I did not want to write this post. I did not want to steal the light from The President's Health Care bill or from Apple who intend to end economic woes by bumping iPhones with the rich & famous. But then I am pro choice and if my readers choose to know "What is a Bong", or "Why I am a Bong", so be it.

In my 3& 1/2 years of blogging I have got several spam comments asking the same question, I have got e-mails which I have already answered and I have seen this blog being mentioned with "not what you are thinking" within quotes. I had decided to lie low and not come up with a clarification as to Why a "Bong Mom's Cookbook". But I think the time has come for you to know that I am NOT a hookah smoking, dopey Mom who cooks when she is not high and writes when she is. You might be disappointed by the truth but I can't help it.

To satisfy your curiosity my readers, this is a sketchy guide to a Bong, as known in the Indian parlance

Scientific Definition

Bong commonly refers to the Bengali Homo Sapiens (Latin: "wise man" or "knowing man"), the only extant member of the Homo genus of bipedal primates in Hominidae, the great ape family, native to the historic region of Bengal (now divided between Bangladesh and India) in South Asia.

They are considered an Indo-Aryan people although they are also descended from Mongolo-Dravidians, closely related to Austro-Asiatic, Dravidian, Assamese, Sinhalese and Munda peoples. As such, Bengalis are a homogeneous but considerably diverse ethnic group with heterogeneous origins.

Yeah, that helps a lot. If still interested please read this.

Why Bong and Not Bangali or Bengali ?

A Bangali used to be proud of being a Bangali and called himself thus in the times of Satyajit Ray, Chuni Goswami and even Tapas Pal.

With the Dot Com boom and bust, call center gimmick, Dadagiri and Bipasha Basu, The Bangali got westernized and decided to call themselves Bongs. This I think happened only with the people native to West Bengal. The people of Bangladesh still prefer to call themselves Bangali.

What do Bongs eat ?

Anything and everything as long as it is being followed up by Gelusil, Pudin Hara, Joan er Aarak or Nux Vom 30.

To know more about a Bong's staple diet you should visit a traditional Bong home on weekday morning between 7:00AM to 9:00AM. The Bong Male is forced to eat garam bhaat, dal, alu seddho, uchche bhaja and maach er jhol all hot off the stove before he leaves for opish. That is supposed to be the Bong's staple diet and it is a sacrilege if the earning member of the house leaves home without being fortified with this diet.

At all other times you can see this species grazing on phuchka, alu kabli, egg roll and tele bhaja.

How would I know if the middle aged Homo Sapien male I met today morning is a Bong (or a Bangali if you so prefer) ?

If any of the following is true, you have met The Bong

(a)This species was at your local fish market where he was very carefully analyzing the anatomy of various fishes through thick rimmed glasses

(b)The species on his first encounter regaled you with stories about his ambol(acid reflux) and choan dhekur( more reflux) all the while munching on the greasy egg roll that he just bought from a roadside cart.

(c) After being done with the fish or the egg roll as the case maybe, the species proceeds to enlighten you about the current state of Politiks in his state and discusses how Obama's healthcare bill is going to solve water problem in Midnapore. He might also point out how Mamata is going to protest against this with a Bangla Bandh.

How would I know if the middle aged Homo Sapien female I met at my daughter's school is a Bong (or a Bangali if you so prefer) ?

If any of the following is true, you have met The Bong Moms

(a)On first day of the kid's school and even later, this species was at the school an hour early for pickup or rather she was standing there from morning, waiting for school to get over looking harried, worried and visibly distressed.

(b)The species on her first encounter regaled you with stories about how her daughter/son refuses every morsel of food that is offered and how hard it is to feed her/him.

(c) The species then proceeds to inquire whether your child learns Robindro Shongeet and takes Math tuition, both being high up in the Bong parenting realm.

How would I know a Bong Blog if I read one ?

If any of the following is true, you have met The Bong Blogs

(a) The blog will usually be about food, if not a food blog it will mention food, adda, politiks, phootboll , cricket and food in that order

(b) The blog will have a lot of bh-a-a-t, which means lots of talk in thin air, none of which is of any use to anyone

(c) It might look like this

For a more detailed explanation read this Complete Guide by Dhoomketu.

This post will be up there on the Right side bar and so please refer to it when ever you wish. For now satisfy yourselves that I am a regular Bengali Mom from India who lives and blogs from the US.

Update on 03/24/2010: I did not know about the fire at Park Street, Kolkata until late last night. My deepest condolences to those who lost their lives in the Stephen Court Fire.

Three Cups of Tea

How was your weekend ? I wish I could say mine was as tranquil as above.

The weekend was gorgeous after a long line of cold, snowy and rainy weekends. So I went to the park with a book and tea, thinking I could plonk LS in a swing, let BS fend for herself and sit down and read this wonderful book under the shiny blue sky.

I didn't realize that everyone else in the state(?) had the exact same brilliant plan.

The park was spilling over with kids of all ages and sizes, Moms & Dads of all ages and sizes, Grandparents of all ages...ok you get the drift. So though I could drink my cups of tea, I couldn't read a single page of the book.

So I am still going on at the pace of reading only a couple of pages at night every day though I am itching to know how Greg Mortenson managed to open all 50 schools in Baltistan

Currently Reading: Three Cups of Tea

Spicy Egg Muffins -- chasing Monday Blues with Egg White

Forbes published its billionaires list last week. Of the 1011 in the list, 89 are women and a very few of them are self made billionaires. Why do you think there are so few rich women as compared to men ? Do women think it is not worthwhile to amass so much money and there are better things to do in life (that I agree to) ? Is it because they get paid less than the men ? Or is it because the Forbes list is stupid ? What do you think ?

While you ponder over that, lets make some hearty, heart healthy egg muffins to cheer up a dull Monday.

I have loved Kalyn's Egg Muffins from the day I have seen them. Strangely I did not make them until early last week and then once I started I could not stop, for the next 3 days I kept making them. They are super easy and super delicious. I used only Egg White and kicked up the spiciness by several notches.

Due to health reasons, we had hugely reduced our egg intake and did not eat more than 1 or 2 a week. D did not like Egg whites enough unless he made a Frittata. So when ever we are on the low carb diet week, breakfast is a challenge or was, because now I have found these egg muffins which I make with only Egg Whites and still they turn out to be incredibly delicious.

And did I say they were super easy. I did ? Ok then go ahead and follow these steps to make them


Read more...






Original Recipe from Kalyn's Kitchen

Makes about 12 Muffins

Pour out 2 cups of Egg White in a bowl and spice it up with
Red Chilli Powder,
Black Pepper Powder,
a Little Garam Masala
and salt. Give a good stir or two to blend in the spices. I used egg whites out of a carton.
If using whole eggs, beat eggs lightly. You will need about one egg per muffin

Preheat oven to 375F

Grease the silicone cups lightly with oil or non-stick spray. Kalyn says if using regular muffin pan, use two paper liners in each slot and grease inside of the liner.

Layer the bottom of the muffin cups with shredded cheese. I used a pack of shredded Taco cheese. Top it with chopped green scallion(this is important). I have also used some carrots but you can use other veggies like red pepper or mushroom. If you like meat add some sausage. To spice it up I add chopped green chili


Sprinkle some more cheese on top so that almost 1/2 the muffin cup is full. Kalyn says 3/4th full but I went with 1/2

Pour the spiced up egg white so that the muffin cups are now almost 3/4 full and stir gently with a fork . If you have not added green chili add a drop of hot Tabasco in each cup.

Bake them for 20-30 minutes or until the muffins rise like a mushroom cloud. Put in a knife or fork to see if it comes out clean. If yes you are done.

Since I used only egg whites, my muffins went "phichik" and sunk once cooled. At least I think it was the only Egg white formula that did it, Kalyn's muffins did not sink and I think if you are using whole eggs, don't beat all that much and they will not sink. That didn't really matter, they were very very good to eat.

These muffins stay well when frozen. I have refrigerated them for 2 days but have not frozen them yet. But you can put them in Ziploc bags and freeze them too. Warm them up in the Microwave and they are as good as new