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Begun Borir Jhol - 3

Begun Borir Ambol/tok

This is an under 15 minutes easy to make ambol recipe. Ambol is basically a sweet and sour dish that is had at the end of a Bengali meal, before dessert. Begun borir ambol is made with soft brinjals and bori (fried lentil dumplings) is added in the end to give a crunchy texture. Recipe Author: Madhushree
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Course Vegetarian
Cuisine Bengali
Servings 6 people

Ingredients
  

  • 2 nos medium sized brinjals
  • 8 nos bori
  • 1/2 tsp panchphoron see notes
  • 1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder
  • 1/2 tsp Sugar
  • 1 no dried red chilli
  • 3 tbsp Any vegetable oil
  • 1 tsp thick tamarind paste see notes
  • 1 tbsp jaggery powder may need more or less, as per taste
  • salt as per taste

Instructions
 

  • Cut the brinjals in one inch cubes and wash them. Pat them dry and sprinkle some salt and the sugar and massage them all over the cubed brinjals. Let it sit for 10 to 15 minutes till it starts to release water.
  • In the meanwhile, in a small skillet, take a tbsp of oil and when moderately hot, add the bori and fry them over medium flame. Bori burns quickly so you have to keep a watch and stir and as soon as the colour turns golden brown, take the boris out and keep them aside.
  • Drain the water out from the brinjals and fry them over medium heat in a frying pan with the rest of the oil. Lightly toss around and cover for a minute or two until the brinjals are almost cooked. It takes about 5 minutes for this process. Take them out and keep aside.
  • In a bowl, make a slurry out of the tamarind paste, jaggery powder, pinch of salt, turmeric powder and 3 tbsp of water.
  • In the same frying pan, where the brinjals were fried, add 1/2 a tsp of oil (if there is no leftover oil from the frying of the brinjals). When it is hot, add panchphoron and dried red chilli. Let the spices splutter and give out aroma. Just before the colour turns dark, add the tamarind slurry.
  • Stir and add another half cup of water. Keep the flame at medium and let the slurry come to a boil. Simmer and let it cook for a couple of minutes until the raw smell goes off. Then increase the heat and let it boil till the sauce almost thickens.
  • At this point, add the cooked brinjals and coat them with the sauce. Add more water if you feel you need to thin the consistency.
  • Adjust the sweetness or sourness by adding more jaggery or tamarind pulp.
  • Finally when the brinjals are completely cooked and coated in a sweet and tangy sauce, turn off the heat. Transfer to a glass or ceramic bowl and let it cool down.
  • Never keep an ambol in a metallic container. Once it is cool, crush the bori and serve ambol with crushed bori from top.

Notes

  1. Panchphoron is a spice blend of equal portion of nigella seeds, black mustard seeds, fennel seeds, cumin seeds and half of fenugreek seeds. You can use only mustard seeds in place of panchphoron.
  2. If you are using fresh tamarind paste, take a lemon sized ball and soak it in 2- 3 tbsp of water. While making the slurry, discard the seeds and squeeze out as much pulp as you can.
  3. The amount of jaggery powder and tamarind that you use is completely upto your tastebuds. Ambol is supposed to be sweet and sour. Use your own judgement.
  4. If you do not have jaggery powder, use sugar but the flavour is not the same as jaggery.