Kumro Phool Bhaja or crispy Pumpkin blossoms make for a delicious summer starter. Fried pumpkin flowers are so simple and easy to prepare – just quickly whip a batter, dredge the flowers in it, fry them in hot oil to a crisp brown and eat them hot! These wonderful and savoury pumpkin blossom fritters will disappear as fast as you serve them!
In Bengali, kumro means pumpkin, phool is flower and bhaja is fry. Discover a whole new delicious world with these edible, healthy and yummy pumpkin blossoms. This great tasting pumpkin flower fritter recipe is definitely a keeper!
Fresh, sunshiny-yellow Kumro Phool look so beautiful when in bloom.
Kumro Phool Bhaja Bengali Recipe:
Bengalis relish any kind of bhaja with their lunch. In the right season, you can get to savour crisp and delicious pumpkin flower fritters. The deep-fried, crunchy fritters can be devoured as a snack or served as a side dish with meals.
How to make kumro phool bhaja with pumpkin flowers:
I have some freshly plucked pumpkins flowers from my kitchen garden ready to be made into crispy fried savoury starters.
- To make this easy pumpkin flower recipe, firstly carefully remove the stem and stigma of each pumpkin flower.
- Then rinse the blossoms and set aside to dry.
- Next take besan, rice flour, Nigella seeds, salt, turmeric and chilli powder in a mixing bowl.
- Mix all the ingredients together and then add water, a little at a time, to make a thick batter. Keep aside.
- Heat oil for deep-frying in a kadai. Add 1tbsp of hot oil to the prepared batter and mix real well.
- Then dip a pumpkin blossom in the fritter batter.
- Coat the blossoms well.
- Gently drop the kumro phool into the hot oil.
- Keep placing batter-coated kumro phool into the pan to fill it up. After about a-minute or two, when the underside is fried, turn over the pumpkin blossoms fritters, one by one.
- Keep flipping the fritters over until crisp and golden. Remove the pumpkin fritters with a slotted spatula on to a paper towel to remove excess oil.
- Serve hot Bengali Kumro Phool Bhaja with steamed rice and dal.
If you are looking for more pumpkin recipes, do check out Kumro Tarkari and Kumro Chechki.
Pumpkin Flower Fritters Recipe details below:
Kumro Phool Bhaja Recipe
Ingredients
- Pumpkin flowers – 6
- Besan Chickpea flour – 6tbsp
- Rice Flour - 3 tbsp
- Turmeric – ¼ tsp
- Kala jeera Nigella seeds – ½ tsp
- Chilli powder – ¼ tsp
- Salt to taste
- Water – 1/3 cup
- Hot oil – 1 tbsp for batter
- Oil for deep frying
Instructions
- To make pumpkin blossom fritters, first cut off the stem and gently remove the stigma from inside each flower. Rinse well under running water and keep the flowers aside to drain off water.
- Take a mixing bowl and add chickpea flour, rice flour, kala jeera, salt, turmeric and red chilli powder. Combine well.
- Add water, a little at a time, and make smooth batter.
- Heat oil in a wok over medium heat.
- Drizzle 1 tbsp of hot oil on the fritter batter and blend well.
- Dip each pumpkin blossom in the batter and slowly release into hot oil. Do the same with rest of the kumro phool till the wok is almost filled. Allow the fritters to be fried for a minute or so and then gently flip them over. Once they turn a uniform golden-brown, remove the fritters with a slotted spoon onto absorbent paper to drain excess oil.
- Serve Kumro Phuler Bora hot with ketchup.
