Recipe
🥤 DRINK
Borhani
A savory-spiced yogurt drink laced with mint, mustard, and green chili, the cooling companion to a Dhaka biryani feast.
Bangladeshi · easy · serves 6
prep 10 min · cook 0 min
~114 cal · 5g protein · 12g carbs · 5g fat · 0g fiber · 12g sugars · 3g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Borhani is the savoury spiced yogurt drink of Bangladesh, and it is inseparable from the great feasts of Dhaka, poured ice-cold alongside rich biryani and kacchi at weddings and celebrations. Where most yogurt drinks are sweet, borhani is firmly savoury, tangy, and aromatic.
Thin, whisked yogurt is seasoned with a fragrant, complex mix: fresh mint and coriander, roasted and ground spices, mustard, black salt, a little sugar, and enough green chilli to give it a gentle heat and bite. Every cook and caterer guards their own blend.
Its job at the table is precise, to cut through the richness and spice of the meal and to settle the stomach, refreshing the palate between mouthfuls of heavy, fragrant rice and meat. Cool, tangy, and spiced, borhani is the essential companion to a Bangladeshi feast.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian and gluten-, nut-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 6
4 cups plain yogurt
a handful mint leaves
a handful coriander leaves
1 green chili
1/2 tsp mustard powder
1 tsp roasted cumin
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp black salt
2 cups cold water
Instructions
1
Blend the yogurt with the mint, coriander, green chili, mustard, cumin, sugar, and black salt until smooth.
2
Whisk in the cold water to reach a thin, pourable consistency.
3
Chill thoroughly for at least an hour so the flavors meld.
4
Stir and serve very cold alongside biryani.
Dhaka wedding-feast tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Dhaka. Dhaka cooks Bengali fish-and-rice classics, biryani, and an epic love of sweets. Mustard oil, panch phoron spice, and river fish define the Bangladeshi capital's table.
🗺️
Bangladesh. Bangladeshi food is fish-and-rice at its core, famous for mustard-laced hilsa, prawn malai curry, and an unrivaled love of sweets and panch phoron spice. The Bengali table moves through courses, ending sweet.
🌍
Asia. Fermentation is the thread that runs the whole way across: soy sauce and miso, Korean doenjang and kimchi, Southeast Asian fish sauces, the soured batter behind an idli. Chilli is the newcomer among them, arriving only after 1500 with Portuguese and Spanish traders, which makes the heat in Sichuan, Thai and Korean cooking far younger than the fermenting underneath it.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Bangladesh
Bhuna KhichuriToasted rice and moong dal cooked rich with ghee, whole spices, and caramelized onion, monsoon comfort from Dhaka.
Ruti with Aloo BhajiSoft whole-wheat flatbread with a lightly spiced potato-and-onion curry, the everyday Dhaka breakfast.
Shorshe IlishHilsa fish in a pungent mustard-and-green-chili sauce, the prized national dish of Bengal, eaten with rice.
Browse all Bangladesh recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Blender, Whisk.
Storing it: Cool leftover rice quickly and refrigerate within an hour. Keep up to 2 days and reheat until piping hot all the way through.
Make it a Bangladesh meal
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Frequently asked questions
What is Borhani?
A savory-spiced yogurt drink laced with mint, mustard, and green chili, the cooling companion to a Dhaka biryani feast.
Where does Borhani come from?
Borhani is a Bangladeshi dish from Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Can Borhani be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Borhani recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Borhani safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Borhani take to make?
About 10 minutes total (10 minutes prep, 0 minutes cooking), serving 6.
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