Rosh Bora or RoshoBora or Rosbora-- urad dal fritter soaked in sugar syrup

January in most parts of India is very cold but this is the month when the crops are finally harvested. Hence every region in India celebrates this month with different type of sweets. Bengalis enjoy this festival with different types of Pithe or rice cakes in sweet syrup. There are different forms of Pithe and this time I chose one of the yummiest but easy to prepare recipe which is Rashbora or Rosbora. The main ingredient of this is Biulir dal / Urad dal or White split gram lentil. Urad Dal helps improve digestion, good source of protein, controls cholesterol. It is a traditional Bengali cuisine and very sweet. You can use jaggery to reduce the harmful effect of sugar. This can be prepared quickly and is very easy to prepare. Let’s get on with the recipe:-

Preparation Time: - 30 min

Cooking Time: - 40 min

Servings: - 6 persons ( depends upon individual  capacity)

Ingredients:-

For Batter

1. 1 cup Urad Dal / Biulir Dal /White split gram dal
2. 1 tbsp Fennel Powder
3. 1 tsp Sugar (optional)
4. Pinch of salt
5. 1 tbsp grated Coconut (optional)
6. Pinch of Baking soda (Sodium Bicarbonate or khabar soda)  (optional)

For Syrup

7. 2 cup water
8. 2 cup Sugar or ¾ cup Molasses/Jhola Gur/ Jaggery+1 cup Sugar or 1 ½ cup Date Palm Jaggery
9. 4~5 pods of Green Cardamom

10. Sufficient Vegetable oil for deep frying ( I used Sunflower oil but you can use any vegetable oil)

Preparation:-

Make The Bora/Fritters:

1. Wash and soak overnight the Urad Dal or Biulir Dal in little bit of water. Drain the water in the morning and use grinder to make a fine paste.
   
   
   
   
   
2. Now add fennel powder (Mouri/Saunf), sugar, pinch of salt, finely grated coconut and baking soda. I do not prefer baking soda but soda makes the bora / fritters fluffy. Coconut is optional but I prefer this to enhance the taste. Use a hand blender to mix the ingredients thoroughly.
   
   
3. Heat enough oil in a heavy-bottomed frying vessel to deep fry the Boras.
   
   
4. When the oil is sufficiently heated with the help of a tablespoon, scoop up small portions of the batter and release in the hot oil. Deep fry them till they are golden brown. Pick them up from the oil by a strainer and place onto kitchen towel to soak the excess oil.
   
   
   
   

Make The Syrup:

5. While you are frying the bora, start making the sugar syrup on the other burner.
   
   
6. Take either 2 cup of sugar and equal amount of water OR 1 cup sugar + ¾  cup of grated Jaggery in a pan, mix them together till the sugar/jaggery dissolves and place the pan on high heat to make syrup. You can even use 1 ½ cup of grated Date palm Jaggery or Nalen Gur (as we Bengalis recognize) instead of sugar and jaggery.
   
   
   
   
7. When the mixture has come to a boil, lower the heat to medium and let it simmer. Add the crushed and de-husked pods of green cardamom. After simmering for about 15 minutes the syrup will be formed.

Make The Roshbora :

8. Soak the fried bora in the sweet syrup. The fluffy bora will soak up the syrup and become what we had started to create -- the RoshoBora or the Rosh Bora.
   
   
   
   
   
   
9. Let them cool down completely and place the Rosboras inside the Refrigerator for some time till it soaks the syrup completely.

Remove the Rosboras from refrigerator just before the serving.

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As always please feel free to comment, criticize and seek if any help is required. I am all ears.