Bori ~ The Bengali Sun-dried Dumpling

Bori or Bengali sun dried dumplings are usually made with urad dal. But occasionally you will come across bori of masoor dal / red lentils, mug dal / yellow lentils and matar dal / split peas lentils. First you have to make the paste from the lentils before seasoning them with salt or other spices. After the seasoning boris are given the shape of small dollops with a string curl in the head, in rows on soft cotton cloths. Earlier, when sheel nora or the Bengali flattened stone mortar pestle was the sole appliance available to the Indian kitchen, women from each and every house used to make their own boris. As a result boris from different houses had different tastes and textures.  You can read here for more Bori details.

In my husband’s village some women still make their own bori, some even run small bori businesses. This year when I went there I had the opportunity to watch one of our relative, who also has her own bori business, in live action. In every batch she makes about 5 kg bori. She works alone and her work is so fast paced that it’s difficult to take notice what exactly she is doing at a time.

• Whipping the batter.

• Giving bori using a pipinh bag.

• Giving bori by hand.

Making bori might seem like a lot of work but if you have a week of sunny sky and a dry weather you can make enough bori to last for a year. Besides now you have the grinder and the wire whisk as your cheat sheet. So if you are becoming too home food sick, give the bori making a try. Make sure you have a sunny weather before you start making the batter as the longer the boris stay under the sun the longer they will last.

Bori ~ Bengali Sundried Dumplings

Bhaja Bori (These boris are eaten with dal and are tiny in shape)

Ingredients:

250gm urad dal

2 tbsp nigella seeds

1 tbsp poppy seeds

Salt & sugar – as per taste

Method:

Wash the urad dal under cold water until clear water runs through.

Soak the urad dal over night in water.

In the morning, drain the water and put all the soaked lentils inside a grinder.

Add a splash of water, not more than that. The paste has to be thick. So the less water you add the better.

Grind until smooth. Check by squeezing a little paste between your thumb and index finger. If the paste appears too dry to grind smooth add another splash of water. This will do the trick.

Pour the urad dal paste in a large bowl.

Add the poppy seeds, salt and sugar. The less sugar you add the longer time the bori will stay fresh. Also you can add more than the specified amount of poppy seeds. Poppy seeds make the bori crunchy.

Start whipping the paste with wire whisk or hand until the batter has tripled in volume. It should be airy and light. If the paste is too stiff to whip add one or two splash of water to loosen it.

Take a bowl of clean water and drop a little drop of that batter into the water. If the stringy end of the batter floats your batter is ready. If the end sinks and is only halfway floating you need to whip it more. The more you whip the tastier and crispier the bori will become.

Once the batter is ready, pour it inside a piping bag.

Grease a steel plate and pipe small amounts of the batter to give bori.

Jholer Bori / Biulir dal er Bori (These boris go into the curry)

Ingredients:

250gm of urad dal

1 and ½ inch ginger

1 tbsp fennel seeds

2 bay leaves

¼ tsp hing / asafoetida

Method:

Wash the urad dal under cold water until clear water runs through.

Soak the urad dal over night in water.

In the morning, drain the water and put all the soaked lentils inside a grinder.

Add a splash of water, not more than that.

Grind until smooth. Check by squeezing a little paste between your thumb and index finger. If the paste appears too dry to grind smooth add another splash of water. This will do the trick. The paste has to be thick. So the less water you add the better.

Pour the urad dal paste in a large bowl.

Make a smooth paste of the ginger, fennel seeds, bay leaves and hing / asafoetida. Keep aside.

Start whipping the urad dal paste using your hand or wire whisk until the batter has doubled in volume. If the paste is too stiff to whip add one or two splash of water to loosen it.

Now add the prepare masala paste and whip again.

Take a bowl of clean water and drop a little dollop of the batter. If the batter floats then the batter is ready.

You can use a piping bag to make this bori or you can give medium size boris using your hand (follow the gif to see the method).

Hinge r Bori (These boris go into the curry)

Ingredients:

250gm of urad dal

2 tsp or more hing / asafoetida

1 tsp nigella seeds

Method:

Wash the urad dal under cold water until clear water runs through.

Soak the urad dal over night in water.

In the morning, drain the water and put all the soaked lentils inside a grinder.

Add a splash of water, not more than that.

Grind until smooth. Check by squeezing a little paste between your thumb and index finger. If the paste appears too dry to grind smooth add another splash of water. This will do the trick. The paste has to be thick. So the less water you add the better.

Pour the urad dal paste in a large bowl.

Add the hing / asafoetida.

Start whipping the urad dal paste using your hand or wire whisk until the batter has doubled in volume. If the paste is too stiff to whip add one or two splash of water to loosen it.

Take a bowl of clean water and drop a little dollop of the batter. If the batter floats then the batter is ready.

You can use a piping bag to make this bori or you can give medium size boris using your hand (follow the gif to see the method).

Matar Dal er Bori(These boris go into the curry, chorchori and ghonto)

Ingredients:

250gm of matar dal / split peas lentils

1 tsp nigella sees

Method:

 Wash the matar dal under cold water until clear water runs through.

Soak the matar dal over night in water.

In the morning, drain the water and put all the soaked lentils inside a grinder.

Add a splash of water, not more than that. The paste has to be thick. So the less water you add the better.

Grind until smooth. Check by squeezing a little paste between your thumb and index finger. If the paste appears too dry to grind smooth add another splash of water. This will do the trick.

Pour the matar dal paste in a large bowl.

Start whipping the matar dal paste using your hand or wire whisk until the batter has doubled in volume. If the paste is too stiff to whip add one or two splash of water to loosen it.

Take a bowl of clean water and drop a little dollop of the batter. If the batter floats then the batter is ready.

You can use a piping bag to make this bori or you can give medium size boris using your hand (follow the gif to see the method).