I have been lazy..and that too for so many-many months. There are about 4-5 pages worth of stuff I want to bore anyone who cares to visit these pages with. But somehow the recipes and the ramblings never came together. It is probably because it has been mad at work. I actually didn’t have enough time to even check my emails at times, which is saying a lot. I also felt guilt at starting something and abandoning it midway. I thought I need to cook something absolutely smashing to compensate for my absence (not that anybody missed me!). Finally after a month and half into a new year I have decided something is better than nothing. So I am better off at least start the ball rolling.
This time it is dhone pata boda. Coriander or cilantro is mostly used as garnish or at best holds fort as main ingredient of a chutney. You would not have heard something cooked entirely of coriander. And that is what this is. I am heavy handed with my use of coriander at the best of times. To have an opportunity to actually use it as the main ingredient is temptation difficult to resist. I have not heard of anything like this beyond Bengal to I will claim dhone pata boda as ours.
Dhone pata means coriander leaves, while dhone by itself means coriander seeds. I have a couple of times in the early days of telephonic support of cooking from my mom learnt this difference the hard way. My mom would say...ebar dhone jeere tel e de (now put coriander seeds and cumin seeds into the oil) and I would add coriander leaves and cumin seeds. The taste never came out the way I recollected from my childhood. Suffice to say when my mom finally saw me doing this, she managed to hide her astonishment at my ignorance quite well.
Well this dish done not have dhone but has dhone pata.
Bengali cuisine has a horde of ‘bhajas’- fried stuff to be eaten in the second course with dal. Boda basically means something of a dumpling shape fried up. While other bodas need a good dip in the oil, this one has less oil requirement to recommend it.
I cook this often on Sunday lunches when the Monday morning blues have started to set in and you don’t want to spend the rest of the remaining time in the kitchen. With rice revolving in the microwave and dal gurgling in the pressure cooker it takes a total of 10 mins to prep the boda. And that includes searching out the chaler atta (rice flour) and posto (poppy seeds).
Ingredients
This time it is dhone pata boda. Coriander or cilantro is mostly used as garnish or at best holds fort as main ingredient of a chutney. You would not have heard something cooked entirely of coriander. And that is what this is. I am heavy handed with my use of coriander at the best of times. To have an opportunity to actually use it as the main ingredient is temptation difficult to resist. I have not heard of anything like this beyond Bengal to I will claim dhone pata boda as ours.
Dhone pata means coriander leaves, while dhone by itself means coriander seeds. I have a couple of times in the early days of telephonic support of cooking from my mom learnt this difference the hard way. My mom would say...ebar dhone jeere tel e de (now put coriander seeds and cumin seeds into the oil) and I would add coriander leaves and cumin seeds. The taste never came out the way I recollected from my childhood. Suffice to say when my mom finally saw me doing this, she managed to hide her astonishment at my ignorance quite well.
Well this dish done not have dhone but has dhone pata.
Bengali cuisine has a horde of ‘bhajas’- fried stuff to be eaten in the second course with dal. Boda basically means something of a dumpling shape fried up. While other bodas need a good dip in the oil, this one has less oil requirement to recommend it.
I cook this often on Sunday lunches when the Monday morning blues have started to set in and you don’t want to spend the rest of the remaining time in the kitchen. With rice revolving in the microwave and dal gurgling in the pressure cooker it takes a total of 10 mins to prep the boda. And that includes searching out the chaler atta (rice flour) and posto (poppy seeds).
Ingredients
250 gms of Dhone pata (coriander leaves)
3 tbsp rice flour (2 is you use gram flour)
1 tbsp gram flour (besan) [optional]
2 tsp poppy seeds [optional]
1 tsp white sesame seeds [optional]
2 green chillies
Salt to taste
Oil to fry
I like to use the stalks of the coriander as well for any purpose, but if you have time or the stalks are not good then pluck the leaves. Make sure you increase the amount of coriander leaves if you do not intend to use the stalks
Coarsely chop up the coriander and the green chilles. Mix all the other ingredients and add enough water to bind all together. The optional ingredients (apart from besan) lend a crunchiness to the boda. If you don’t have them, don’t worry it would still taste unlike anything you have had before. In case you do not have rice flour , you can use plain flour (maida) or corn flour. Do not increase the amount of besan if at all you are using it. That converts this from a boda to a bhajiya. Make the mixture into flat round shaped(approx) discs, about the size that can fit into the palm of your hand.
In a frying pan drizzle some oil and put the boda for more of a toast rather than fry. Keep pressing and changing the sides it from time to time. Soon enough the rustic fragrance of fried leaves would waft off. You know they are done when you get a dark green bordering on black colour on them. The reason to make them flat discs rather than balls is to allow the insides to be cooked without the use of a lot of oil. Be warned that it does take some time. Mine took about 10 mins on each side.
A perfect accompaniment to mushurir daal and bhaat. A complete meal without a fuss.
3 tbsp rice flour (2 is you use gram flour)
1 tbsp gram flour (besan) [optional]
2 tsp poppy seeds [optional]
1 tsp white sesame seeds [optional]
2 green chillies
Salt to taste
Oil to fry
I like to use the stalks of the coriander as well for any purpose, but if you have time or the stalks are not good then pluck the leaves. Make sure you increase the amount of coriander leaves if you do not intend to use the stalks
Coarsely chop up the coriander and the green chilles. Mix all the other ingredients and add enough water to bind all together. The optional ingredients (apart from besan) lend a crunchiness to the boda. If you don’t have them, don’t worry it would still taste unlike anything you have had before. In case you do not have rice flour , you can use plain flour (maida) or corn flour. Do not increase the amount of besan if at all you are using it. That converts this from a boda to a bhajiya. Make the mixture into flat round shaped(approx) discs, about the size that can fit into the palm of your hand.
In a frying pan drizzle some oil and put the boda for more of a toast rather than fry. Keep pressing and changing the sides it from time to time. Soon enough the rustic fragrance of fried leaves would waft off. You know they are done when you get a dark green bordering on black colour on them. The reason to make them flat discs rather than balls is to allow the insides to be cooked without the use of a lot of oil. Be warned that it does take some time. Mine took about 10 mins on each side.
A perfect accompaniment to mushurir daal and bhaat. A complete meal without a fuss.
