Happy Friday, everyone! Here’s a few fun facts about Bangladesh:

– the country earned it’s independence in 1971.

– “Bong” is a nickname for people whose mother tongue is Bengali (this applies to people in Bangladesh and some parts of India – check out Desihomecook’s comment on this post.

– The weather is terribly dangerous. Floods, cyclones, tornadoes, and tidal bores are almost yearly occurrences. According to Wikipedia:

In September 1998, Bangladesh saw the most severe flooding in modern world history. As the Brahmaputra, Ganges and Meghna spilt over and swallowed 300,000 houses, 9,700 kilometres (6,027 mi) of road and 2,700 kilometres (1,678 mi) of embankment 1,000 people were killed and 30 million more were made homeless with 135,000 cattle killed, 50 square kilometres (19.3 sq mi) of land destroyed and 11,000 kilometres (6,835 mi) of roads damaged or destroyed. Two-thirds of the country was underwater. There were several reasons for the severity of the flooding. Firstly, there were unusually high monsoon rains. Secondly, theHimalayas shed off an equally unusually high amount of melt water that year. Thirdly, trees that usually would have intercept rain water had been cut down for firewood or to make space for animals.

– mustard oil and mustard seed are indicative of the regional cuisine, making an appearance in most dishes.

Mustard fields in Bangladesh. Photo courtesy of http://ishouldcocoa.wordpress.com

– the most common way to eat meat is either in a curry (spicy sauce) or on a kabob. Bangladeshi also enjoy adding fruits and nuts to meat dishes.

– puffed rice (Jhaal moori) is common street food, served up with mustard oil and aromatics

Street vendor selling Jhaal Moori. Photo courtesy of http://ishouldcocoa.files.wordpress.com