Sunday, September 05, 2010

Dimer Devil or Bengali Deviled Eggs

I stumbled upon this hilarious limerick, which was once doing the rounds in the cyber world. May I request you to read it with some passion and empathy for the poet. It apparently is written by a some inane Bengali school teacher, who has chosen to remain anonymous. And I can understand why!

Through the jongole I am went
On shooting Tiger I am bent
Boshtaard Tiger has eaten wife
No doubt I will avenge poor darling's life.
Too much quiet, snakes and leeches.
But I not fear these sons of beeches.
Hearing loud noise I am jumping with start
But noise is coming from damn fool's heart
Taking care not to be fright
I am clutching rifle tight with eye to sight.
Should Tiger come I will shoot and fall him down,
Then like hero return to native town.
Then through trees I am espying one cave ,
I am telling self - "Banerjee be brave"
I am now proceeding with too much care
From far I smell this Tiger's lair
My leg shaking, sweat coming, I start pray
I think I will shoot Tiger some other day.
Turning round I am going to flee
But Tiger giving bloody roar spotting Bengalee
He bounding from cave like footballer Pele
I run shouting "Kali Ma tumi kothay gele"
Through the jongole I am running
With Tiger on my tail closer looming
I am a telling that never in life
I will risk again for my damn wife!!!!

But what all wife-loving, o-phiss-going Bengali dutifully does is bring back deep-fried Dimer Devil for his wife for the evening jol-khabar.

IMG_0724 Dimer Devil or Deviled Eggs (Bengali style) is minced meat (sometimes even vegetables) stuffed with boiled egg. The word "deviled" is applied to a multitude of spicy dishes. The culinary world defines "deviled" as “food grilled or fried after coating with condiments or breadcrumbs”. Which is close to this traditional Bengali recipe.

To get some egg on egg action happening, I will try and write down this recipe in steps so that its easy for your to understand.

Ingredients for Dimer Devil are:

4 hard boiled eggs, cut into halves
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For the mince meat coating:

250 grams mince meat (beef or goat meat)
2 medium size potatoes, boiled
Half cup crispy fried onions (I used readymade)
Handful of chopped coriander
4-5 green chilies, very finely chopped
1 heaped tablespoon of ginger-garlic paste
Half teaspoon garam masala (clove, cinnamon, black and green cardamom powdered together)
2 bay leaves
Quarter teaspoon of black pepper powder
Quarter teaspoon red chili powder
Salt

IMG_0704 Cook the mince meat with little water, bay leaf, ginger-garlic paste, black pepper and red chili powder. Dry up all moisture and discard the bay leaves. Leave to cool.

Mash together the boiled potatoes, fried onion, coriander, green chilies, garam masala powder, and salt.
IMG_0703 Add to the mixture the cooked mince meat and mix well. Use your hands, they work the best. 
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For the final step:

2-3 tablespoons corn starch
Enough bread crumb
1 egg, beaten
Oil for deep frying

IMG_0708

Take each halved egg between your hands, dust it with a little corn starch and start shaping the mince meat mixture around it, giving it a natural oval shape. They should be reasonably sized, enough bite to get satisfied with a couple of them for each person.
IMG_0710 Roll each first on the corn starch, then dip in the egg batter and lastly on the bread crumb. Dust any extra bread crumb. Keep aside. You could prepare this and keep in the fridge and deep fry just before serving.

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Heat oil in a wok. Deep fry each Deviled Egg till golden brown.
IMG_0714 IMG_0715 It is rumored that the Dimer Devil is top in the world of chop-kat-let! Its time you too took eggs where no egg has gone before and make this very seductive symphony of eggs and mince meat.

IMG_0717 Serve your Dimer Devil with thin slices of onion and tomato ketchup. I served mine today with some chopped salad and rustic fries or like they say in Bengali – finger chips.

IMG_0721 IMG_0720 IMG_0723 IMG_0716

7 comments:

tojo said...

pree,wow!i'll make these,for my lunchbox,definitely!

GB said...

Me likey!!! yum yum and drool drool. also love your crabby salt n peppa set! when may I invite myself over....if only I'd known you while we were still within driving distance!!!!

Sayantani Mahapatra Mudi said...

byapok kobita...porchi ar haschi.
ei dimer devil akdom notun. mainly alu diyei banai amio tabe eta pele hubby amar khub khushi habe.

Gouri Guha said...

Enjoyed the poem and a smile on my face...typical Bangali ish-tyile.

Yummy Dimer Devil. This is a bit different from mine...I use only potatoes...spiced up...but the mince meat will no doubt enhance the taste.
ekbar try korbo.
Good sharing.

Satya Raj said...

Thanks Pree for sharing this recepie...i really used to miss these devils we used to get in Patna...i am surely goin to try this...my brothr also like it...

Anamika said...

I tried this recipe last Saturday and it turned out very well. I also copied your photo composition idea, took a picture and posted it on my Facebook page. Thanks!

team ecoSycle said...

Yummy Dimer Devil recipe.I tried too today... I love the cutlery you used . the allo fry et all , its yum.I can almost smell it!