Sojne Phooler Bora Bhaja ( Drumstick Blossoms Fritters)

Happy Womens Day To All My Friends

Cooking is an art and most families have special dishes that are handed down generations. Bengali vegetarian has so much variety. Most people think Bengali food is all about non-vegetarian food but the vegetarian side could give any other vegetarian cuisine a run for their tastebuds. You have to taste the green delicacies to make your own decision.

Drumstick Blossoms

          Sojne Phool was available in the markets in Kolkata in the winter months. Sojne Phool Sheem Palong Paturi is a favourite in my aunt in law, Smt. Bithika Chatterji's family. She is an expert with  Bengali vegetarian dishes and I have learnt quite a few dishes from her.  She chops the Sojne Phool, Broad beans, Brinjal, Spinach  leaves, green chilly's real fine. Then she grinds mustard seeds and grated coconut with green chillies to a paste and mixes in salt , sugar and a little mustard oil .Then in a mixing bowl she mixes the paste very well to the chopped vegetables. Later she puts it in an airtight box and steams it. Her Paturi is ready in a jiffy. I have tried it on numerous times and  you could  adopt her recipe as well and see how easy this delicious Bengali vegetarian recipe is.

This winter I made another thing....Sojne Phool Fry.....Phooler Bora in Bengali.
Do try this ...

Sojne Phool has a steam inside the phool that needs cleaning. Throw the stem away. Wash under running water and drain well to dry.

In a mixing bowl , take 2 tbsp White Refined Flour (Maida), 2 tbsp Cornflour, 2 tbsp Rice flour, Salt & Sugar 1 tsp or as per taste, 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder, Red Chilly Powder just a pinch, 1 tsp Poppy Seeds(Posto), water as required and 2 tbsp of hot oil. Beat to make a smooth thick paste. 

Heat a cup of Mustard Oil or Refined Oil in a wok .

Sojne PhoolerlBoraBhaja

Now you could chop the Sojne Phool or simply  coat with the thick batter and then fry in small batches in hot oil till crispy.

Sojne Ful 

      Tip : Add the Poppy Seeds when the batter is ready.     This makes the fry crispier.

         You can add a pinch of baking powder if you desire but adding some hot oil into the batter does the trick.

         You can lightly fry the fritters , remove and cool them and then again fry them in hot oil for extra crispy fritters.

Kolkata Vegetable  Market

Pic courtesy: Partha Chatterji

I would like to wish all my friends A Very Happy Women's Day.....

Smart things come in small packages, says a report. Researchers find women's brains are smaller than men's but more efficient and better at inductive reasoning. Neha Ramu, a 12 year old girl of Indian origin in Britain has proved this, the report says . At 162, Neha's IQ has been judged higher than Bill Gates, Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking as well. 
Cheers To That !!!