Jhinger Roshogolla
Ridged gourd and lentil fritters in a poppy-based stew
- Cooking time40 mins
Calorieskcal
Jhinga (or, jhingey) is a type of spongy gourd that is best eaten in summer, which, let’s face it, is most of the year if your habitat is the plains of Bengal. Jhinge’s best quality is that it soaks up flavours, and becomes succulent and juicy.
This recipe was named "jhinge’r roshogolla" by Barsha’s grandfather for three reasons. Aside from the tongue-in-cheek humour, the name alludes to how both the ridge gourd and the lentil fritters swell and soak up the sauce just as a roshogolla soaks up syrup. Even the visual of the jhinge and the fritters simmering in the pale stew has a resemblance to how roshogolla look when they are being vigorously boiled in a milky white syrup. Lastly, this recipe has no chillies, or anything remotely hot—in fact it is quite mild, creamy and sweet. This too is a reason why her grandfather chose to call it jhinge’r roshogolla.
Call it what you will but there is no denying that this recipe is delicious, especially on a hot day. It is supposed to be served as the first course and at room temperature (not hot) just like shukto. In fact, this is very much in the spirit of a shukto—the absence of chillies, the milky light texture, the mild bitterness of the fenugreek seeds, the ginger, the lentil fritters—all clues points to this being a shukto. Or at least, no one would bat an eye if you called this jhinge’r shukto instead of jhinge’r roshogolla, but where is the fun in that?
Frequently Asked Questions
Ingredients
For the dal'er bora
- 50 g motor dal (soaked 2 hours)
- 5 g ginger
- ¼ tsp salt
- oil for frying
For cooking
- 15 g poppy seeds (soaked 2 hours)
- 5 g ginger
- 10 g mustard oil
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tsp methi seeds (fenugreek)
- 600 g jhinge
- 12 g salt
- ¼ tsp turmeric
- 18 g sugar
- 300 ml hot water
- 100 ml hot milk
- 1 tsp ghee
Method
- Soak the motor dal and poppy seeds for at least 2 hours.
- Grind the dal with 5 g ginger and ¼ tsp salt. Keep the grind coarse to preserve texture.
- In an oversized dish, whip the dal well to incorporate as much air as possible.
- Fry the dal'er bora in large dollops until golden-brown. Set aside.
- Grind the soaked poppy seeds with 5 g ginger. Set aside.
- Peel the jhinge, leaving some of the skin on, in case the jhinge is very tender, so that it does not disintegrate easily. Divide in 4-cm cross sections.
- Heat mustard oil. Temper with bay leaves and methi seeds.
- Add jhinge, salt and a touch of turmeric, and fry on low heat, covered, for about 12 minutes, until the jhinge has softened.
- Add hot water and sugar.
- Once it comes to a boil, add the dal'er bora and allow them to simmer in the liquid for 2–3 minutes.
- Mix in the poppy seed paste. Check that the jhinge is cooked, and the bora have soaked up the liquid.
- At the very end, add hot milk, and when it comes to a boil, turn off the heat. Don't overcook or the milk may curdle.
- Finish with ghee.
