Local Drinks

1. চা

   Chā

   Cha (tea)

   Usage

   The everyday drink across the Bengali-speaking region. Unless you say otherwise it usually arrives sweetened. The Sylhet region of north-east Bangladesh is the main tea-growing area

2. দুধ চা

   Dudh chā

   Dudh cha (milk tea)

   Usage

   Tea brewed with milk and sugar, served in a small glass at roadside tea stalls. The most common way tea is ordered

3. কফি

   Kaphi

   Kofi (coffee)

   Usage

   Borrowed from English. Far less common than tea; at stalls it is usually instant coffee with sugar and powdered milk

4. বোরহানি

   Borahāni

   Borhani (savoury spiced yoghurt drink)

   Usage

   A digestive drink of sour yoghurt with spices and salt. Served at every wedding in Dhaka and Chittagong alongside biryani. A Bangladeshi drink, rarely seen in West Bengal

5. লাচ্ছি

   Lāchchhi

   Lachchi (sweet yoghurt drink)

   Usage

   Yoghurt blended with sugar syrup, black salt and spices; also spelled "lossi". The mango version is called am-lachchi

6. ঘোল

   Ghol

   Ghol (buttermilk / whey drink)

   Usage

   The liquid left after cheese curds are separated from milk, drunk to cool down in hot weather. In Bangladesh the ghol of Solpo in Sirajganj is well known

7. মাঠা

   Māṭhā

   Matha (spiced yoghurt drink)

   Usage

   Yoghurt or buttermilk mixed with spices, sugar and mint. In West Bengal, Bihar and Tripura the same word is also used for plain unflavoured buttermilk

8. ডাবের পানি

   Ḍāber pāni

   Daber pani (green coconut water)

   Usage

   The liquid inside a young coconut, opened for you at the stall. The word for water differs by region — "pani" in Bangladesh, "jol" in West Bengal — so in Kolkata you ask for "daber jol"

9. আখের রস

   Ākher ras

   Akher rosh (sugarcane juice)

   Usage

   Sweet juice pressed from sugarcane stalks, sold on the street in summer; the same juice is also boiled down into jaggery and sugar. Ice is often added, so say no in advance if you avoid untreated water

10. খেজুরের রস

    Khejurer ras

    Khejurer rosh (date-palm sap)

    Usage

    Sweet sap collected in pots hung on date palms in winter and boiled down into jaggery. Drinking it raw carries an infection risk — Nipah virus outbreaks are reported in Bangladesh every winter — so avoid the unheated sap

11. তালের রস

    Tāler ras

    Taler rosh (palmyra palm sap)

    Usage

    Sweet sap tapped from the palmyra palm in summer, known as a Bengali hot-season drink. Like date-palm sap it ferments on its own if left standing, so check that what you are given is fresh

12. বেলের শরবত

    Beler śarabat

    Beler shorbot (wood apple drink)

    Usage

    The pulp of ripe wood apple thinned with water and sugar or jaggery. Drunk in summer in both Bangladesh and India, where it is also called "bel pana"

13. লেবুর শরবত

    Lebur śarabat

    Lebur shorbot (lemonade)

    Usage

    Lemon juice with water and sugar, sometimes with salt. Stalls may use pre-mixed water, so ask for it made with bottled water if you are being careful

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