{"id":315837,"date":"2019-10-23T08:00:47","date_gmt":"2019-10-23T08:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tehelka.com\/?p=315837"},"modified":"2019-10-23T08:00:48","modified_gmt":"2019-10-23T08:00:48","slug":"boror-tenga-an-authentic-assamese-food","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/boror-tenga-an-authentic-assamese-food\/","title":{"rendered":"Boror Tenga \u2014 An authentic Assamese food"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/tehelka.com\/boror-tenga-an-authentic-assamese-food\/58-7\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-315854\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-315854 alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/tehelka.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/58-216x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"216\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/media\/2019\/10\/58-216x300.jpg 216w, https:\/\/tehelka.com\/media\/2019\/10\/58-302x420.jpg 302w, https:\/\/tehelka.com\/media\/2019\/10\/58.jpg 384w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 216px) 100vw, 216px\" \/><\/a>Boror Tenga is a traditional red lentil curry from Assam. In Assamese Bor means pakoda or fritters and Tenga means sour. In Boror Tenga, soft red lentil fritters are cooked in a spicy and sour curry made of tomatoes, onions, potatoes, and bottle gourd. It is medley of beautiful flavours and textures.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">Ingredients<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">(1cup = 240ml; 1tbsp = 15ml; 1tsp = 5ml) for the red lentil fritter \u00bd cup red lentils , washed and soaked in water for at least 1 hour<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">1 pinch asafoetida<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">1 green chilli<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">1 inch ginger , peeled and chopped<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">Salt , to taste<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">Vegetable oil , for deep frying for the curry<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">2 tbsp mustard oil<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">2 tsp panch phoran spice , see notes for substitute<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">2 bay leaves<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">1 dried red chilli<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">2 cloves garlic , finely chopped<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">1 onion , chopped<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">2 tomatoes , pur\u00e9ed<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">\u00bd bottle gourd , chopped<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">\u00bd cup boiled potato , grated or mashed<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">2 tsp coriander powder<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">1 tsp red chilli powder<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">1 tsp turmeric powder<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">Salt , to taste<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">5-6 stalks Fresh coriander leaves , for garnish<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">Instructions to make red lentil fritters<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">Drain the soaked red lentils. In a small kadhi\/wok, heat the vegetable oil for frying.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">In a blender jar, combine the soaked red lentils with green chilli, ginger, and asafoetida. Add a little water and blend to a smooth paste.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">Remove in a bowl and whisk it with your hands till the batter is light and fluffy. This will ensure that the lentil fritters are very soft. Add salt and mix one more time.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">When the oil is hot, carefully drop spoonfuls of batter into the hot oil. Do it in batches so that the oil is not crowded.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">Fry till the fritters are golden brown. Remove from oil onto an absorbent kitchen paper. The good thing about lentil fritters as that they don\u2019t absorb a lot of oil.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">To make the curry<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">Heat mustard oil in a pan till it just begins to smoke.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">Reduce flame to low and add the panch phoran spice, bay leaves, and dried red chilli.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">One the seeds start to sputter, add onions and garlic. Mix well and cook for a couple of minutes till the onions start\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">to soften.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">Add tomato puree. Mix well and cook covered for 2-3 minutes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">Now add all the powdered spices, bottle gourd, and 2 cups of water. Mix it all well and cook covered for 5-6 minutes till the bottle gourd is cooked.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">Mix in the grated boiled potato. Adjust seasoning and let the gravy simmer for 2 minutes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">Just before serving, add the fried lentil fritters to the curry and reheat if required. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves and serve hot.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">letters@tehelka.com<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">(Recipe compiled from the internet)<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Boror Tenga is a traditional red lentil curry from Assam. In Assamese Bor means pakoda or fritters and Tenga means sour. In Boror Tenga, soft red lentil fritters are cooked in a spicy and sour curry made of tomatoes, onions, potatoes, and bottle gourd. It is medley of beautiful flavours and textures. Ingredients (1cup = [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":315854,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[23,2205],"tags":[1758,11890],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315837"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=315837"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315837\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":315930,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315837\/revisions\/315930"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/media\/315854"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=315837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=315837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=315837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}