Assamese Boror Tenga Recipe (Vegetarian Sour Curry With Masoor Dal Fritters)

'Tenga' is a popular Assamese Sour Curry dish that is served as the last course in a traditional Assamese meal. Tomatoes, lime and  Thekera are usually used as the souring agents and this Assamese Boror Tenga Recipe is one of the types of tenga. Assamese cuisine is so vibrant and uses a lot of seasonal and locally available herbs and spices. Like the Bengali cuisine, the Pas Phoron (Panch Phoran , the five spices) are used for tempering the dishes. Whole spices  makes the dishes more flavourful. Usually, fish is marinated and added in the tenga. However in this vegetarian version, Masoor Dal Fritters are added to make the tenga, protein rich, wholesome and also tasty. Course : Side Dish Ingridients : For the lentil fritters: 1/2 cup Masoor Dal (Whole) , soaked for 30 minutes 1 Green Chilli , soaked with masoor dal 1 pinch Asafoetida (hing) Salt , to taste Oil , to deep fried For the gravy: 1 Onion , finely chopped 4 Tomatoes , finely chopped 1 Potato (Aloo) , cooked and mashed 1 cup Bottle gourd (lauki) , peeled and cubed 1/8 teaspoon Turmeric powder (Haldi) 1 teaspoon Red Chilli powder 1/2 teaspoon Coriander Powder (Dhania) Salt , to taste For the tempering: 1 teaspoon Mustard oil 1 teaspoon Panch Phoran Masala 2 Bay leaves (tej patta) 1 Dry Red Chilli , halved For garnish: Coriander (Dhania) Leaves , a handful finely chopped Instructions To begin making Assamese Boror Tenga Recipe (Vegetarian Sour Curry With Masoor Dal Fritters), Wash the dal twice and soak it  for 30 minutes with green chillies. Adjust the addition of green chilli depending on its heat level.After half an hour, transfer the soaked red lentils/masoor dal & chillies into a mixer grinder and grind the contents to a coarse paste, with adding very little water if required. We need a thick paste to be formed to fry.Add salt, asafoetida and mix well, do a taste check. If you feel the salt or green chilli is less, you can add at this stage.Heat oil in a deep frying pan for frying.Once the oil is hot, poon out small portions of the batter into oil and fry them till they are golden. Take them out and drain them on a kitchen towel. DO the frying in batches. Do not overcrowd the oil in deep frying pan since the frying becomes slow and the fritters might lose their crunchiness. Keep them aside till the curry is almost done.Heat a kadai with mustard oil. Once the oil is hot, add the bay leaves, saute for a few seconds till the aroma arises. Immediately add dry red chilli and saute for a few seconds. Add panch phoran masala and give it a quick mix.Immediately add the onions so that the panch phoran masala doesn't get burnt, add pinch of salt and fry the onions in tadka till they turn light brownish and appears cooked.Now add the chopped tomatoes, turmeric powder and mix well.Cook the tomatoes over low heat till they become mushy. Now add the bottle gourd, red chilli powder, coriander powder  and adjust salt levels.Once the bottle gourd is sauteed for a minute, add about 2 cups of water and cook covered for 6-7 minutes or till the time the bottle gourd is cooked.At this stage, add the mashed potato to the tenga and mix well.Adjust water levels if required and cook for another 3-4 minutes and switch off.Add the masoor dal fritters, mix well and garnish with chopped coriander.Serve Assamese Boror Tenga Recipe (Vegetarian Sour Curry With Masoor Dal Fritters) with a meal of Assamese Amitar Khar Recipe, steamed rice, Assamese Bilahir Tok Recipe and a dessert like Assamese Style Dil Pasand Recipe for an Assamese inspired lunch.