Veg: Postor Bora

Why Postor Bora? 

As I married into a family from Birbhum, West Bengal, I came to learn many of the dishes that are typically from that region. My in-laws all loved these dishes and I thought it would be good to learn some dishes from West Bengal as I already knew many from East Bengal, where my ancestors were from. My mother-in-law was phenomenal in cooking dishes with poppy seeds. She taught me how to cook this dish. 

Ingredients and Quantity (or Amount)

1. Poppy (posto) seed (1/2 cup)

2. Onion (1 medium sized)

3. Green chili (2 pieces)

4. Flour (2 tablespoons)

5. Mustard oil (2 tablespoons)

6. Salt (to taste)

Method

Add poppy seeds in a bowl with ½ cup of water. Then blend in a blender or create a paste if you have a shil-nora (stone grinder). Do not make a smooth paste. Leave it a bit coarse. 

Then add crushed onion, green chili, salt to the blended poppy seed. Add some flour to bind the mix together. Mix with hand and make 5 or 6 round ball shaped pieces and then press them flat (about ½ inch thick). 

Heat a pan and add oil. When the oil is hot, add the poppy seed patties into the pan. Fry 3 minutes each side and when both sides are brown, take out of the pan and place them on a plate. 

Serve with hot rice. 

© 2020 Sati Mukherjee. All Rights Reserved