Bori/ Dried lentil dumplings

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The other day I was talking to my mother, she told me that my dida use to prepare boris at home. Honestly, these days no one does that. Bori is an integral part of Bengali cuisine. Bori is added to many sabjis as well as machher jhol and some boris like noksha/goyna bori is served fried as an appetizer. My mother often complains that the bori available in the market nowadays are adulterated. Hence, thought of making them at home. The ones I am sharing here is kolai/urad daal r bori which is mostly added to sabjis and fish curry.

What I have written in this blog is kolai daal r bori but you can also prepare moong daal (split and husked yellow lentils) or masoor daal (red lentils). In earlier days, hand was used to incorporate air in the batter by a continuous motion in one direction. But you can use a balloon whisk or even an electric beater. I have always used an electric beater and this reduces the work tremendously.

Bori

Cuisine: Bengali (Indian)

Preparation time: 15 minutes+soaking time

Drying time: 2 days in direct sunlight

Servings: 50 boris

Ingredients

1 cup Kolai/ Urad daal
½ tablespoon kalojeera/ nigella seeds
1/2 tablespoon hing/ asafoetida

Directions

Soak kolai daal for at least 5-6 hours or overnight.
Grind the daal to a fine paste with a minimum amount of water possible. (I used 3 tablespoons of the water in which the daal was soaked)
To the paste add kalojeera and hing. crush the kalojeera a bit between your palms. This will help open the seeds and spread the aroma in the entire batter.
Whip the mixture with whisk, hand or electric beater to incorporate air into the mixture.
The mixture will almost double in size.
Drop one dollop of the batter in a bowl of water. If the batter floats it is ready else continue whipping.
Take a tray. You can either put some oil on the tray or line the tray with baking sheet.
Now put the batter in a piping bag with a bigger nozzle and start dropping the batter on the tray. you can also put the boris with your hands.
You can make the boris according to the size you like. But smaller boris dry faster, therefore, it is advisable to make smaller boris.
Dry them in sun for few days till they dry properly.
Store them in an air-tight container. You can also let them soak the sun rays at intervals if you plan to use them for a longer time.

Notes

Make sure you have sunny weather before you start preparing boris.
Do not add lot of water while grinding the daal else the boris will flat when you pipe the batter.
Alternately, you can dry them in the oven at 80 degrees for 5-6 hours.
Once they are dry they will come out of the tray/ baking sheet automatically.
Do not try to pull them out as they may break in the process.
It is very important to dry the boris completely as they stay longer on complete drying.
If you do not have a piping bag, you can use a milk packet or your hands to put the bori. Traditionally, in Indian villages, women use their hands to put boris.

Step by step instructions to prepare bori at home

Soak kolai daal for at least 5-6 hours or overnight. Grind the daal to a fine paste with a minimum amount of water possible. (I used 3 tablespoons of the water in which the daal was soaked)

To the paste add kalojeera and hing.

Whip the mixture with whisk, hand or electric beater to incorporate air into the mixture. The mixture will almost double in size.

Drop one dollop of the batter in a bowl of water. If the batter floats it is ready else continue whipping.

Take a tray. You can either put some oil on the tray or line the tray with baking sheet. Now put the batter in a piping bag with a bigger nozzle and start dropping the batter on the tray. you can also put the boris with your hands.

You can make the boris according to the size you like. But smaller boris dry faster, therefore, it is advisable to make smaller boris. Dry them in sun for few days till they dry properly.

Thank you for stopping by. If you like the recipe do not forget to hit like. If you prepare this dish and publish your photos on Facebook and Instagram do tag #theepicureanfeast. Also for queries you can mail me epicureanfeast2019@gmail.com