Dal er Bori or বড়ি is a unique way of preserving lentils by making sun-dried dumplings out of them. Bengali dal er bori recipe is mostly made of kolai dal or urad dal, which is also known as white lentils. Soaked dal is coarsely ground and left to ferment before laying it out in the sun in the form of small dumplings spread over a cloth or mat.
It usually takes 2-3 days to get them ready during the summer, and once done, they can easily last for a year or so in the dry pantry. These can be fried and served along with a dal and rice, or added to numerous vegetable-based and fish-based Bengali dishes. Making this daler bori recipe in Bengali style is both an art as well a science. In this article, I have shared the step-by-step instructions on how to make a small batch of kalai daler bori at home.
Bengali Pantry Must-Have – Dal er Bori
Dal er Bori is an ingenious way of preserving the lentils for a longer period. You will find several other varieties of boris in use in Bengali cuisine. Some of them are musur daler bori, motor dal er bori and the one that we are about to discuss, i.e. kolai dal or biulir dal er bori. Bengali badi recipe doesn’t limit itself to dals only, in fact, there are boris made using chal kumro or ash gourd and lau or bottle gourd as well.
These dal er bori can be utilized in several ways in Bengali cooking, thus supplementing the protein intake. In earlier days, the source of protein was mainly restricted to fish and meat. Meat, being expensive, was often reserved for special occasions. Fish dishes had a regular appearance in everyday cooking, however, it would be denied to several members of the family, such as widows, people observing fasts, etc.
That is why these daler boris or lentil dumplings were a safe option for a source of protein available to one and all. These are plant-based, hence they can be eaten on any day of the week.
How to make Bengali Bori at home using Kolai Dal or Biulir Dal
We need only one ingredient here, and that is Kolai Dal or Urad Dal. To begin with, it is soaked overnight to make it tender. The next morning, after discarding the soaking liquid and washing it a couple of times, it is coarsely ground into a paste. Now, this has to be left for a couple more hours, preferably for the entire day to ferment and rise.
After optimum fermentation, you will see that it has almost tripled in quantity. And it must be releasing a sour smell and appears pale in colour. Now, it is ready to be whisked.
Transfer the fermented dal paste to a mixing bowl and add a teaspoon of Kalo Jeere (Kalonji/Nigella Seeds) and Hing. Now whisk the lentil paste vigorously till it fluffs up and becomes pristine white. To make this easy, I would suggest you use an Electric Hand Beater.
After whisking, it should look like the batter shown in image 4. Now, this Bengali bori recipe is ready to be laid out in the sun in the form of small dumplings to allow them to dry.
You can use a variety of options to lay out these Bengali daler bori on, out in the sun. Some of them are:
- Stainless Steel trays or plates
- Jute Mats
- Wicker mats
- Cotton or linen cloths
- Clean plastic sheets
- Aluminum foils
Here, we have used a plastic sheet to lay the boris on. Once the entire dal er bori batter has been divided into small boris, this sheet is laid out in the sun. Thus ensuring that it got uninterrupted sunshine throughout the day. Here, it took two days of sunshine when the daytime temperature hovered somewhere around 30C to dry these up completely.
Storing options
Once they dry up, you will see the edges peeling away from the sheet below. To make sure that the dal er bori has dried out completely, we laid them out again the next day on a plate. Only this time turning them over so that the base and the inside of the boris get some sunshine.
By the end of the 3rd day, our kolai daler bori was ready to be stored in an airtight container. We placed the jar in a cool and dry place so that it can last us a couple of months.
If you love kolai dal er bori in your dishes, then I would suggest you make a bigger batch of this dal er bori recipe during the summer and store it for later use. Not only these boris are hygienically made, but they also come out to be much cheaper than the store bought ones.
Recipes that use Dal er Bori in Bengali cooking
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Bengali Kolai Dal er Bori Recipe
Dal er Bori or বড়ি is a unique way of preserving lentils by making sun-dried dumplings out of them. Bengali dal er bori recipe is mostly made of kolai dal or urad dal, which is also known as white lentils. Soaked dal is coarsely ground and left to ferment before laying it out in the sun in the form of small dumplings spread over a cloth or mat.
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Mixing Bowl
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Electric Hand Beater
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Mixer Grinder
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Plastic Sheet
- ½ cup Urad Dal or Kolai Dal
- ½ tsp Nigella Seeds or Kalo Jeere
- ½ tsp Hing
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To begin with, it is soaked overnight to make them tender.
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The next morning after discarding the soaking liquid and washing it a couple of times, it is coarsely ground into a paste. Now, this has to be left for couple more hours, preferably for the entire day to ferment and rise.
-
After optimum fermentation, you will see that it has almost tripled in its quantity. And it must be releasing a sour smell and appears pale in colour. Now, it is ready to be whisked.
-
Transfer the fermented dal paste to a mixing bowl and add a teaspoon of Kalo Jeere (Kalonji/Nigella Seeds) and Hing. Now whisk the lentil paste vigorously till it fluffs up and becomes pristine white in colour. To make this easy, I would suggest you use an Electric Hand Beater.
-
After whisking it should look like the batter shown in image 4. Now, this Bengali bori recipe is ready to be laid out in the sun in the form of small dumplings to allow it to dry.
-
Once they dry up, you will see the edges peeling away from the sheet below. To make sure that the dal er bori has dried out completely inside out, we laid them out again the next day on a plate, only this time turning them over so that the base and the inside of the boris get some sunshine.
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Once they are completely dry, store them in an air-tight container in a cool and dark place.