A Significant element of a meal - Greens
An acquired taste - Shaak - bhaja Majority of us Bengalis have grown up having a multi - course meal starting with korola bhaja ( fried bitter gourd) or neem pata bhaja ( crisp fried neem leaves and not curry leaves), along with a portion of Shaak - bhaja (stir fried green leafy veggies) gradually moving on to the main dishes comprising of bhaat (rice), daal (lentil soup), some vegetarian dishes like chocchori ( a Bengali version of mix - veg) and a non - vegetarian preparation, may be a fish / chicken / mutton curry . Finally to finish it all off, we would have something sweet like mishit doi / rosogolla / payesh / sandesh or some simple tomato chutney !! Among all these did anyone notice the change of flavours where all your taste buds are ignited gradually ..starting with bitterness of korola (may be the bitterness clears your palette and increases your hunger), slowly proceeding to the spicy main dishes and then sealing the deal off with sweetness ? Believe me,