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Indian food laced with Bengali lingo!
The Bengali owner of an Indian restaurant in Edinburgh serves not only tingling, delicious dishes to customers but also teaches the basics of the Bengali language that they can use while visiting India or Bangladesh.
The Bengali owner of an Indian restaurant in Edinburgh serves not only tingling, delicious dishes to customers but also teaches the basics of the Bengali language that they can use while visiting India or Bangladesh.
Indian food is a key element of British everyday life and you can walk into an Indian restaurant in almost every town and village in Britain.
The popularity of Indian food had led Robin Cook, former foreign secretary, to famously remark that Britain's national dish was chicken tikka masala.
Restaurant industry sources say that a large number of owners of Indian restaurants are of Bangladesh origin. The menu cards in their restaurants invariably use Bengali words.
Similar is the case with menus in restaurants offering south Indian fare.
But not every avid consumer of Indian delicacies is well versed with the names and the ways in which they are pronounced.
Noonu Miah, owner of the popular Pataka restaurant in Edinburgh, believes that customers need to be equally at ease ordering Bengali dishes as they are when ordering dishes with French or Italian words.
Miah has now created a phrase book including key Bengali expressions customers can use when speaking to waiters - such as "murgh (chicken)", "kemen achho? (how are you?)", and "donyavad (thank you)". He hands out the book to diners at his restaurant.
Customers are yet to decide whether the dishes are tastier when the order is placed in Bengali, but thanks to the growing interest in the language, Miah says he has also launched a series of informal afternoon Bengali classes for those who want to learn more.
Miah, who has run Pataka since 1991, told the local media in Edinburgh: "A lot of customers go to French restaurants and can easily understand the menu, or even order in French - and the same goes for Italian and Spanish restaurants - why not in Bengali?
"A group of students came in one day and were asking me questions like 'How would I order this in Bengali?' and said they would really like to learn. I mentioned it to a few other customers and they thought it was a great idea.
"People can come along and have a snack and we can discuss what kinds of phrases they want to learn. So many people will travel to India and Bangladesh for holidays now that it will be useful for them to know some of the language. People seem to want to learn more and more now and are keen to have some knowledge of three or even four languages."
Edinburgh's only Asian councillor Shami Khan said: "If people can learn a few words in Bengali to be able to read the menu and order their food, then that is great.
"I would encourage any other restaurants to promote their culture and language in this way if they would like to."
He added: "It is also very useful for the customers - they can go on holiday to India or Bangladesh and know a few phrases.
"If people really want to study the language seriously, then they can always follow it up by taking classes held elsewhere in Edinburgh, but this is a great way to get people interested."
