Bora with Podina is a delicious and traditional Bengali snack
My new snack of choice!
I feel like I’ve just made one of my biggest and best food discovers in years! Bora with podina raita is a traditional Bengali snack. It’s been served in Bengali households to friends and family for generations. I can assure you I’ll now be making this one often for my family and guest too.
I cut the bora into circles and then into bite size pieces
Bora with podina raita is one of those Bengali dishes which seems to have been left off the menu at most Indian/Bengali restaurants. I’d never heard of it until my friend Mo (Mohammed) the owner of my new local Indian restaurant – Table Talk – suggested I give it a try. This is his recipe which I am so happy to be able to bring you through my blog.
The recipe serves three to four peckish snackers or you could serve it with other snacks for a larger group.
This is a must-try traditional Bengali snack!
Cut the ‘bora’ into bite sized pieces with a knife or cookie cutter and not any bigger. For best results, serve the bora nice and hot and the podina raita very cold from the fridge. This is what I did. Good suggestion Mo!
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Bora with Podina Raita
Ingredients
- 125ml (1⁄2 Cup) masoor dhal (orange lentils)
- 750ml (3 cups) rice flour
- 1⁄2 onion - finely chopped
- 1⁄2 Bunch fresh mint
- 1⁄2 Bunch coriander
- 10-15 Fresh green chillies
- 400g Plain yogurt
- A pinch of turmeric powder
- Maldon salt to taste
- Vegetable 0il for deep frying
Instructions
- Wash then soak lentils for a half hour and then drain.
- In a sauce pan add 1 pint of water, the finely chopped onion, a teaspoon of salt and 1⁄2 a teaspoon of turmeric.
- Cook over a medium heat until lentils are soft and the water is almost all gone.
- Once lentils fully cooked, pour them into a bowl and mix in three cups of rice flour.
- Mix thoroughly with your hands until you have a smooth dough. (mix everything while it is still warm as this makes it easier).
- On a flat surface, roll it out the dough until it is 2-3mm thick. I separated the dough into smaller balls to make this easier.
- Cut out bitesize pieces (or different shapes using cookie cutters) and deep fry in oil until crisp.
- FOR THE PODIAN RAITA
- In a blender, blend 1⁄2 bunch of fresh mint, 1⁄2 bunch of fresh coriander, 10-15 green chillies (more if you like it extremely hot and less if you don't) and two tablespoons of water to make a paste.
- Add the above paste to the yogurt and mix until smooth.
- Refrigerate for at least 45 minutes.
- Note: This dish is best consumed with piping hot ‘bora’ and ice cold ‘podina raita’. The ‘bora’ also go nicely with chopped onion salad & spicy tomato salad but remember piping hot ‘bora’ and ice cold condiment.
Mina Joshi
Friday 8th of February 2013
Oh and sprinkle some pepper or chilli powder lightly before serving.
Mina Joshi
Friday 8th of February 2013
Dan
I think it would work perfect. You could just roll out a large sheet, prick the rolled out sheet and then cut into diamonds and fry them.
Sounds yummy.
Dan Toombs
Tuesday 5th of February 2013
I was thinking about using the same recipe rolled thin and with a stuffing like samosas. What do you think Mina?
Mina Joshi
Tuesday 5th of February 2013
We make something similar too but use ready milled flour and lentils. We roll ours really thin and don't allow them to fluff up. This must taste really lovely and fresh with the raita.