BHAHJEES

By bhahjee is meant fried. The two most generally approved vegetable bhahjees are those made of bringals and pulwals. The following are the condiments, &c., used:—Mustard oil according to the quantity of vegetable to be fried, a little ground turmeric and chilies, and some salt.

88.—Bringal Bhahjee

Take young full-sized bringals; wash them thoroughly, and slice them about an eighth of an inch thick; dry them, steep them for half an hour in the ground condiments and salt, fry in oil, and serve up hot.

89.—Pulwal Bhahjee

Take a dozen or more pulwals—a most excellent and wholesome native vegetable,—scrape or pare away very finely the upper green coating, divide them lengthways into two pieces, clear away all the seeds, &c., wash, drain away all the water, and steep them in ground turmeric, chilies, and salt for half an hour or longer; then fry them quite crisp in melted mustard oil. They are much liked by some Europeans.

N.B.—The vegetable called ram’s horns or lady’s fingers, known by the natives as dharus, makes an excellent bhahjee; so does the kerrella, a small green and intensely bitter native vegetable, which comes into the market in March and April; it is not, however, well suited to the European taste.