Name: Badhakopi’r Bora
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 5 servings
Cuisine: Indian

Yields

5 servings

Cooking Time

30 minutes

Ingredients

With the outer leaves (Type 1 and 2)

200g Cabbage (shredded 5mm wide)

8 g Salt
15 g Sugar
¼ tsp Turmeric
¼ tsp Red chilli powder
¼ tsp Pepper
¼ tsp Kaalo jeere (nigella seeds)
1 pc Green chilli (finely chopped)
8 g Coriander leaves (finely chopped)
40 g Maida (plain flour)
40 g Cornflour
½ tsp Baking powder
~200 g Vegetable oil (for frying)

For the aamish version (Type 2) also add:

60 g Onion (finely chopped)
4 pc Ginger
8 g Garlic

With the inner core (Type 3)

150 g Cabbage core (3cm cubes)
10 g Salt (for blanching)
500 g Hot water (for blanching
25 g Maida (plain flour)
25 g Cornflour
3 g Salt (for the batter)
8 g Sugar
1 pinch Turmeric
1 pinch Red chilli powder
1 pinch Pepper
1 pinch Kaalo jeere (nigella seeds)
1 pc Green chilli (finely chopped)
¼ tsp Baking powder
60 g Water (for the batter)
~200 g Vegetable oil (for frying)

Cabbages are delicious when they are in season, but to be honest, by the end of winter everyone is getting tired of cabbages. That is where this badhakopi’r bora (or cabbage fritter or cabbage pakora) comes in. This can be made all year round, even with cabbage that is past its prime. Serve this with dal-bhaat, hot khichuri, or simply as an easy evening snack with tea. They are scrumptious!

We show you the secret to getting the crispiest badhakopi’r bora, plus an ingenious way to use the up the tough core of the cabbage that is usually thrown away.

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Recipe Notes

Method

Using outer leaves (Type 1 and 2)

Shred the outer leaves of the cabbage 5mm wide. Transfer to a bowl.
Add salt, sugar, turmeric, red chilli, kaalo jeere, pepper, green chilli and coriander (for the niramish version), and onion, ginger and garlic (for the amish version).
Mix well, scrunching the leaves with your fists. Set aside for 15 minutes. The salt and sugar will help draw moisture out from the cabbage (we won’t be adding any extra water).
Just before frying, add the cornflour, maida and baking powder, and knead until you get a paste-like mixture.
Drop little dollops of it in oil (temperature 180°C) set on medium heat. Fry the boras until crisp and brown.
Strain from the oil and serve hot.

Using inner core (Type 3)

Divide the core of the cabbage into 3cm cubes, making sure to keep a little bit of the unifying central stem in each piece. This will prevent the leaves from unravelling.
Transfer the cubes to a saucepan. Add 10 g salt and 500 g hot water, and steam the cubes for 2 minutes. Drain immediately, as we don’t want to let the cubes continue cooking.
To make the batter, combine maida, cornflour, 3 g salt, sugar, turmeric, red chilli, kaalo jeere, pepper, green chilli, baking powder and 60 g water.
Dip the cubes in this batter and deep-fry them on medium heat until the outside is crisp and golden.
Strain from the oil and serve hot.

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