Posto Borar Jhal / Bengali Curry with Poppy Seeds Fritters

This is a family recipe which belonged to my late grandmother. She got this recipe from her mother-in-law and I have grown up watching my mother and aunts cooking this curry over and over again!! So...passed on through generations, this recipe had been tried and tasted and loved for ages.

This curry is a spicy one with a medium consistency gravy and soft poppy seeds fritters. If you love eating posto / poppy seeds, then you are going to love this one as well!!

Make the poppy seeds paste with little water and add the turmeric powder, red chilli powder, flour, green chillies, little coriander leaves and salt.

Mix them well.

Drop a little dollop of the paste into the hot oil and shallow fry them until golden from the outside.

Posto Bora Diye Jhal / Bengali Curry with Poppy Seeds Fritters

Serves 4

Ingredients:

For the fritters:

¼ cup poppy seeds

2 green chillies – chopped

A few coriander leaves – chopped

½ tsp turmeric powder

½ tsp red chilli powder

A little sprinkle of flour

Salt

Oil to fry

For the curry:

1 medium potato – cut into wedges

1 tsp kalojeera / nigella seeds

1 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp red chilli powder

1 tsp cumin powder

1 tsp coriander powder

Salt

2 tbsp mustard oil

Method:

Make the fritters:

First make a smooth paste of the poppy seeds with minimum water. Make sure that the paste is smooth and is not grainy. Check the consistency by pressing a little of the paste in between your index finger and thumb.

Transfer this paste into a bowl or plate and add in the salt, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, green chillies, coriander leaves and salt. Mix them well.

Heat oil in a pan / kadai and drop a little dollop of that prepared paste into the oil. Shallow fry the fritter and transfer them to a clean bowl / plate. Repeat this process until you are finished with all the paste.

You can use white or mustard oil to make this curry. I have used white oil to fry the fritters and mustard oil to make the curry.

Make the Curry:

Heat the mustard oil in a kadai / pan and shallow fry the potato wedges until they become golden from the outside. Take them out of the pan and keep aside.

Temper the rest of the oil with kalojeera / nigella seeds.

In the meantime take all the masalas, i,e. Turmeric powder, red chilli powder, cumin and coriander powder in a cup and make a smooth paste by mixing them with some water.

Pour this paste into the kadai when the nigella seeds start to sizzle.

Give a good stir as soon as the paste touches the oil and stir until the oil starts to separate from the masalas.

Slowly add 1 and ½ cup of water to them and let it come to a boil.

Now add the fried potato wedges and put cover.

Cook until the potatoes become soft from inside.

Add water if the water reduces in this process to keep the right consistency of the curry, which is neither thick nor very thin, and then add the prepared poppy seeds fritters to them.

Simmer covered for 3-4 minutes more or until the fritters become nice and soft and the curry thickens a bit with oil floating on top of them.

Taste and adjust the seasonings and switch off the flame.

Serve hot with some rice and lentils.