Posto Bora (Poppy Seed Fritter)

There is a popular notion here that after a year of marriage, a Bengali woman gradually dominates the household from the kitchen till every nook and corner of the house is under her control, including husband, pun intended ;). So when she cooks from simplest of the items or the lavish ones, she expects compliments for her efforts and preparations and the poor hubby has no option but to sputter out some mind blowing adjectives such as Wow, dish tastes awesome, you have magic in your fingers and OMG that's all you got? If he forgets complimenting then he's had it. For the whole day he would be made feeling guilty about why he did not say a word about the dish, no matter how it tasted? Well that was me soon after my marriage. I used to wait for his compliments even if he had raita !!
Posto dishes are delicacy when it comes to Bengali rannaghor (kitchen) specially Ghoti(West Bengal) people relish this in their daily course of meal.

 There is also a fallacy that Bengalis are hard core non veg, which is partly true but could adapt themselves to veg dishes and if there are dishes likePosto Chingri, Posto Bora, Posto Chicken then with some Kalai er dal(Urad dal) and Aloo posto (Potato mixed with poppy seed) with rice he can have a tummy full. Recently for quite some times the weather is very pleasant and cloudy. So one becomes relaxed and this Poppy seeds fritters being a simple dish was the order of the day. In this posto seeds are soaked in warm water and then coarse to ground. Add a little bit of this and that and these fritters are ready !!

Ingredients:
3/4 cup Poppy seeds(posto)
1 Onion finely chopped
2-3 Green chillies
1 tsp finely chopped ginger 
1 tbsp chopped Cilantro (optional)
1 tbsp Rice flour
1 tbsp All-purpose flour (maida)
 Salt to taste
Mustard  oil for frying + 1tsp in the batter

Method:
Wash the posto seeds as it has fine dust in it. Use a fine strainer for better grip. Soak poppy seeds in warm water for 2-3 hours (soaking period provides better results). Then if you have sheel nora (grinding stone is the main kitchen aids in Bengali household) add green chillies and sprinkle very little water, grind the poppy seeds till you get a coarse texture.
Another process is to grind it in a coffee blender without adding water (poppy seeds has soaked enough water so no additional water is required). Now take a bowl, transfer the poppy seeds paste, add onions, green chillies, rice flour, all-purpose flour, ginger and season it with some salt and 1tsp mustard oil. Mix thoroughly. Heat oil in a pan and make sure mustard oil reaches at smoking temperature to ward off any raw smell and on low flame slide down small round cakes of the mixture and deep fry to a golden brown. Just mind that should be done on low flame otherwise posto will remain half cooked from inside. Drain off the excess oil by placing the fried balls on tissue paper. Serve hot with Kalai er Dal(Urad dal) and shada bhaat(steamed rice).

Tips:

• Use very little water to grind the poppy seeds mixture otherwise you will have tough time to bind the mixture for frying.
• Fry on low heat and turn both sides to check if it is fried properly.
• You can also avoid deep frying process by using non stick pan and make tikkis little flat so that heat can penetrate and use just 2-3 tsp oil.