Bangladesh Music
The styles of music are classical, folk, and modern. The best known forms of folk music are Bhatiali, Baul, Marthti, Murshidi, and Bhawaiya. The most popular is Baul. Some classical composers are Ustad Alauddin Khan and Ustad Ayet Ali Khan, who are both internationally known. Modern music is also practiced widely. Contemporary patterns are most in the west, and pop songs and band groups are coming up mainly in Dhaka City.
Art
The most common types of art are terracotta, pottery, painting, and literature.
The painting is of two people. The picture below is of a man making a pot.
Food
Rice is the main staple of their diet, and with it they regularly eat fish and dal (spicy lentil-based soup). Except for carrots and cucumbers, all vegetables are fried in oil. Bangladeshis prefer foods spiced with cumin, ginger, coriander, tumeric, and pepper. Friuts that are available are tomatoes, mangoes, litchis, jackfruit, guavas, watermelon, bananas, and papaya. Food is usually marinated in shu'ra (chopped onions and spices marinated in warm cooking oil), and a good shu'ra indicated fine cooking. They don't usually eat dessert, but on special occasions they will have dough fried and boiled in syrup. A light breakfast is typically eaten around 6 or 7 am, followed by snacks (mostly leftovers). Lunch is around 1 pm, an afternoon snack is eaten around 5 or 6 pm, and dinner is at 10 pm. At restaurants, the wealthiest person usually pays for everyone's meal. Eating out is rare for most people, but Chinese food is popular with the middle and upper classes. Food is more traditional.
Main Dish: Korma (Fish)
Note: Chicken, beef, and mutton are commonly used in place of fish.
Ingredients:
1 kilogram fish, such as carp
1/2 cup yogurt
1/2 cup onion paste
2 teaspoons ginger paste
1 teaspoon garlic paste
1 tablespoon coriander paste
6 cardamoms
2, 1 inch pieces of cinnamon sticks
2 teaspoons salt
3/4 cup oil
6 green chilies
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Directions:
Cut fish in large pieces (a small type of fish will not work for this recipe). Add all ingredients except for green chilies, into a cooking dish. Mix well. Cover and cook on low heat. Turn the fish once to make sure that both sides are thoroughly cooked. When the water has almost evaporated, add the green chilies. Cook for a half an hour on very low heat. Serve after the oil begins to float on top.
Dessert: Rasgullas (Fried dough with syrup)
Note: This is a favorite dessert, eaten on special holidays in Bangladesh.
Ingredients:
1 liter milk
Juice of 1 medium sized lemon
1 teaspoon refined flour
2 cups water
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon rose essence
Directions:
Boil the milk and let it cool to room temperature. Skim the cream off the milk. Return milk to boil. When it reaches boil, add lemon juice, and continue boiling until the whey separates. Cover pot for 15 minutes. Take a muslin cloth, and strain the curdled milk. Lightly press to strain out the water. Place a heavy weight on the muslin cloth for about an hour. The end of this product is the dough. Place the dough on a dry surface, and kneed well for about 3 minutes. Add refined flour, and kneed for another 5 minutes. Meanwhile, boil sugar, rose essence, and water in a pressure cooker to form a thin syrup. Make small balls of the dough mixture, and place them in the sugar syrup. Cover and cook for 7 minutes on a medium flame. Refrigerate and serve chilled.
Entertainment
Men enjoy playing soccer, field hockey, cricket, table tennis, and badminton. Televisions, VCRs, and movie theatres are popular in cities, and people enjoy Hindi movies and films from the US. There are no nightclubs in Bangladesh, and families do not travel for pleasure, but they go on picnics. Girls are strongly discouraged from playing sports except for handball. The most popular boys game is ha-dudu or ka-baddi. It's played on a square court. While continually saying "hadud-du-du" one team's player enters the arena and tries to tag as many people as he can. If he returns to his side and has repeated the words without taking a breath, the players he tagged are out and he gains some of his team back. If he is trapped by the opposing team and is forced to take a breath, he is out and the other team gains one member back. The first team to eliminate all the players of the opposing team wins.