In the Cauldron

Edition #05

By: Zadie Bramen
Hello and Welcome to the latest edition of 'In the Cauldron' our recipe blog where we create and share Harry Potter/IG seasonal baked goods for you try out.
So what will our newest creation (otherwise known as recipe) be? Well that is a great question. And so it is my pleasure to say that this recipe was brought to us by a guest contributor; Kiara ZamiraBona.
This was spurred by a conversation about flobberworm fritters, and well here we are!
So what are you waiting for, time to go preheat that oven (or not if you're anything like me) and get baking.

Flobberworm Fritters

Today we are switching things up, by begining this recipe with an introduction.

Flobberworm Fritters, otherwise known as Brinjal fritters, or Beguni (pronounced bay-goon-ee) in Bengali, is a batter-coated deep-fried crispy snack. This is very popular in West Bengal in India. It is made from brinjal, otherwise known as eggplant, and is eaten along with rice and lentils during main meals to add the crispiness to one's lunch or dinner.

But it's not just that, it has several health benefits. Brinjals are rich in vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants! They prevent ageing, give energy, and protect from infections! They are also considered antidiabetic!

Brinjal Fritters

Ingredients:
1 Brinjal (eggplant), sliced into long thin strips.
Water (for the batter)
1 cup of Chickpea flour
Salt to taste
1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
1/2 tsp Cumin seeds
1/2 tsp Nigella seeds (optional)
1/2 tsp Panch phoron (five-spice; nigella seeds, cumin seeds, fennel seeds, fenugreek seeds, and black mustard seeds)(optional)
Mustard oil, for deep frying

Recipe:

Cut brinjal into thin slices. The key is to keep the brinjal slices thin, or else brinjal may remain raw.
Season the slices with salt to taste and a pinch of turmeric powder.
Separately mix chickpea flour batter, salt, and the rest of the turmeric powder. Add the water in slowly to form a smooth batter.
Season with cumin seeds. Some people also use nigella seeds. Five-spice, if used, replaces both cumin and nigella seeds.
In a deep pot, or pan add oil and heat. Coat brinjal slices evenly in the batter and deep fry in mustard oil until brown and crispy! (Or about 5 minutes.)

Allergy Edition

As a fellow allergy buddy, I of course had to include a quick guide to making the above recipes allergy free! I hope if this is relevant to you, it makes sense and you enjoy it just as much as I did :D

Swaps:

*This recipe can also be made using pumpkin instead of brinjal, in which case, it is called "kumroli" (coom-roll-lee) in Bengali. Pumpkin is called "kumro" (coom-roe) in Bengali.
*All spices are optional, and can be adjusted to suit your preference and needs.
*Mustard Oil can be switched with another oil, just make sure the replacement oil had a high smoke point.
* Chickpea flour can be replaced with rice flour, almond flour or buckwheat flour!

Hopefully by now you have followed our recipe and come up with something delicious, and so we have a small challenge for you! If you have decided to follow our recipe why not take a picture of it and tag us on social media, the top five entries (judged for presentation and taste of course) will recieve a special IG prize to help their characters get baking as well!
And just in case you forgot; our socials are worldofpotterus ~ Instagram and Facebook and worldofpotter.us ~ TikTok.

This edition we would like to offer Kiara a massive thank you for sharing this recipe with us! It was an honour to be allowed to share this with everyone.
We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did and if you have a recipe you would like to see featured in our next edition don't hesitate to drop Zadie an owl