Kacha Posto Bora (Poppy seed small cakes)

Posto bora is a rare delicacy cooked in the bengali household. Also known as poppy seed cakes, these posto (poppy seed) boras (small round cakes) are yummilicious.

It is rarely made may be because poppy seeds are expensive and these boras are so mouth wateringly tasty that you need to make lots of them. Easy to cook and make here is the recipe. Can be eaten with steamed rice and plain daal.

Ingredients :::

• Posto / poppy seeds – 1 cup

• Green chilies – 3 finely chopped

• Green chilies – 2 for grinding

• Onion – 1 finely chopped

• Maida / besan – 3 to 4 tbsp

• Salt & sugar to taste

• Mustard oil for frying

Method:::

• Soak the posto in water along with a pinch of salt for 30 minutes.
• Now in a grinder add the posto with the water and 2 green chilies. Make sure the mixture turns in to a smooth paste with no grains visible. 
• Now in a bowl add chopped onions, green chilies, ground posto and mix well. Add salt and sugar. Some like it sweet and some like it salty. 
• Add the seasoning as per your taste. Add the besan or maida so that it binds well and the mixture no longer remains runny. Now add a little bit of mustard oil and mix well.
• In a non-stick pan, heat little bit of oil. Make small round cakes and gently put them in the pan one by one. 
• Fry them in the medium heat so that they don’t burn. Turn the boras once they are done to cook on the other side.
• Once done, drain the boras in a paper towel. You posto bora is ready to eat. Serve hot.

Alu Posto

Alu posto is the most common form of poppy seeds use in Bengali cuisine, at times the potatoes are also replaced with ridge gourds, onions, aubergine, or even chicken.

 Ingredients:

• Potato chopped in cubes ~ 3 medium sized potatoes, peeled and cubed
• Poppy seeds (Khaskhas/Posto) ~ 5-6 heaped tbsp of the Poppy seeds paste or posto bata
• Green Chillies – 2-3
• Dry Red Chillies ~ 2 (optional)
• Whole Jeera (Cumin seeds) ~ 3/4th tsp loosely packed
• Salt
• Turmeric Powder
• Sugar ~ 1/2 tsp or none according to taste
• Oil ~ for Cooking
• Mustard Oil ~ 1 tsp of mustard oil to sprinkle on the top

Method:::

1. Grind the posto/poppy seeds to a fine powder. I use the coffee grinder which can be used to dry grind only. So afterwards I mix it with water to make a paste. The consistency of the paste should not be too watery. If you are wet grinding make a paste at one go.
2. Cut the potato in cubes and soak in water , else they develop black spots.
3. Chop or slit the green chillies.
4. Heat oil in a Kadai/Pan. Mustard Oil is preferred.
5. Add the whole Jeera/Cumin seeds and wait till they sputter. You can add 2-3 dry red chillies too.
6. Add the potato cubes in the oil with a pinch of haldi/turmeric powder.
7. Saute the potato lightly till they develop a golden tinge. Do not over or deep fry them.
8. Add the posto/poppy seeds paste
9. Cook on medium heat till the paste has uniformly coated the potatoes
10. Add little water (around 3/4 cup), adequate salt, and the chopped green chillies.
11. You can sprinkle very little sugar if you want.
12. Cover and cook till the potatoes are done. Also I make it dry so I wait for the water to dry up.
13. At this point you can add about 1 tsp of mustard oil and stir well before you remove from heat. Take care that the potatoes don't get mashed up though

Tips- Adding about 1tsp of mustard oil before you remove from heat, gives a magic taste into it..