Kushtia, the traditional district of Khulna Division of Bangladesh, has a long history. The existence of the Kushtia district has been observed from very ancient times. In the second century AD, Ptolemy made a map showing several islands in the Ganges basin. It is believed that this small island is Kushtia. The traditional food of the Kushtia region is kumro bori or (Ash gourd nuggets).
It is now a traditional Bengali dish across the country. The practice of cooking with various vegetarian curries (spinach, cabbage, sajne data) and fish is very old. Kumro bori adds extra flavour to foodies. Desi punti fish maya chela or maurla fish or catch eggs, roe fish cooked with kumro bori increases the attraction to food. Shugun can be cooked and eaten with various curries kumro bori throughout the year because prepared kumro bori can be preserved throughout the year.
Kumro bori curry is a favourite dish of many of us. Pills are mainly made during winter. They are also sent to their relatives’ houses to eat themselves. Many people do not know this is funny.
How to prepare the food.
How to make kumro bori:
In earlier days, girls made kumro bori by pounding dal into powder overnight and drying it in the sun for the whole day. Now you don’t have to grind the dal overnight. With the help of a pulse pulverizing machine, many pulses can be pulverized into pills within an hour. But the hard work is not less. Although this kumro bori can be made throughout the year, it is mainly made in winter, which is why many people make kumro bori during this time.
Kumro bori is mainly made from rice, pumpkin and mashkalai dal. Apart from mashkalai dal, this pill is also made from another dal. After drying in the sun, its good taste is obtained by soaking the dal the day before making the pills.
After that, the soft inner part should be left and grind if there is a rice pumpkin. Then the kumro bori should be washed very well. After washing, tie it to a clean thin cloth and hang it overnight.
After that, the water of the dal should be strained and pounded in a sieve or use a grinding machoine. Now mix pumpkin with dal. Mix very well with your hands until the dal-pumpkin mixture is light. Then spread the tea or cloth in the hot sun and make a small gap in the shape of a pill and dry it. It can be stored long after drying in the sun for three to four days.
Then take a bowl of water, drop a little in the form of a pill, and test it. If it is floating and not dispersing in the water, then understand and do not burst. And if it sinks or spreads, it should be rubbed more. Spread the tea or cloth in the hot sun and keep it dry by making a small gap in the shape of a pill. After drying the pills in the sun for three to four days, it is better to remove the pills and hang them on a cloth to dry them.
If dried well and stored in a clean airtight jar, it can be used for cooking throughout the year. However, kumro bori is good with fresh pulses and ripe gourds during the Paush-Magh months. During hot weather, when the gourd is old or the plant is not lit, the kumro bori turns sour and is likely to burst. Besides, keeping kumro bori for a long time is impossible.