Kumro Phul'er Bora
Light, crisp batter-fried pumpkin flowers—plus a bonus stuffing option!
- Cooking time30 minutes
Calories78kcal
If you have been following our channel for some time, you are sure to have encountered this batter recipe before. It is my maternal grandmother's recipe. Instead of chickpea flour or rice flour, this recipe uses a mix of plain flour and semolina that produces a light but crunchy (not crispy) exterior. It stays crunchy even after an hour of frying even in Calcutta's humidity!
Kumro phool, that is, pumpkin flowers, are popular in Bengal. The preparation for kumro phool'er bora is very similar to that of bok phool'er bora. Just get rid of the stalk inside, wash, dry and batter-fry.Inspired by how Italians stuff their squash blossoms with mozzarella or ricotta, we have also shown you a version of pumpkin flower fritters that have a stuffing of fresh chhana or cottage cheese.
We flavour the chhana the same way that we flavour the chhana for chhana'r paturi—which is to say sparingly. This keeps the fresh milky flavour of the chhana intact. The cottage cheese stuffed pumpkin blossom fritters tend to lose their crunch quickly because of the water in the cottage cheese. If you make these make sure you eat them as soon as they come off the oil. As you can probably imagine, they are scrumptious!
Frequently Asked Questions
Ingredients
- 12 kumro phul (pumpkin flowers)
- 70 g maida (all-purpose flour)
- 30 g sooji (semolina)
- 1 tsp posto (poppy seeds)
- ¼ tsp turmeric
- ¼ tsp red chilli powder
- 3 g salt
- 12 g sugar
- 5 g mustard oil
- 120–135 g water
- oil for deep-frying
For the filling (optional)
- 50 g chhana (fresh, homemade cottage cheese)
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ tsp sugar
- chopped green chillies
- a few shavings of smoked Bandel cheese
Makes 2–3
Method
- Remove the central stalk-like stamen/pistil. Trim the stem if it's too long.
- Wash the flowers thoroughly, and leave them to dry completely.
- Prepare a batter with maida, sooji, poppy seeds, turmeric, red chilli powder, salt, sugar, and mustard oil.
- Disperse the mustard oil into the flour. If preparing ahead of time, you can leave the batter at this stage.
- When you are ready to fry, heat oil for deep-frying.
- Finish making the batter, by adding 120–135g water to the mixture. Combine well.
- Dip each flower in the batter, shake off any excess, and gently lower it into the hot oil.
- Take your time and fry on medium-low heat (~180°C oil temp) until crisp and golden.
- Consume hot with rice and dal.
For stuffed pumpkin flowers
- Mix together chhana, salt, sugar, green chillies, and a tiny bit of smoked Bandel cheese.
- Stuff a portion of the chhana mixture in the centre of the pumpkin flower.
- Seal the mouth as best as you can, and dip it in the batter.
- Fry on medium-low heat until crisp and golden.
- These don't stay crisp to too long so consume them right off the pan!
