Dim Pauruti , Dim Pauruti , Dim Pauruti …..
Dekha hain pehli bar sajan ki ankhon main pyar….
Remember this famous parody we (the 80s and 90s kids) grew up singing happily while using the bench in school as our drum? All thanks to this parody I finally can update the blog today. I was going through more than a month-long writer’s block and the after-effect was to not updating the blog. Needless to say, I wasn’t happy about the fact that I am not able to write!
Mehebub was horrified hearing it that I am at all considering the phase as writer’s block! I told him quite harshly that he is nothing but judgemental and recipe writing for sure is a form of writing, may not be glamorous. The dose of harshness was enough to make the man understand my irritation.
Probably to manage the situation he told me that the breakfast was on him. He chose the easiest thing to cook, Dim Pauruti with the help of Pasta. It was then I heard him singing this infamous parody and I went back to the good old school days. Pasta liked the parody as well and happily singing the same. It was fun hearing her singing the parody. It was the moment when I found the material for my blogpost. Fortunately, I had a few pictures of Dim Toast which I clicked a year before to go with the blog post. All I needed was two big fat chunks of Dim pauruti along with my cup of coffee and listening to the song to finish this post.
Dim Pauruti, College/ University Canteen, Cha er Dokan, etc….
When double roti aka Quarter Ruti lightly is toasted and then fried over a mixture of butter (preferably Amul butter) and mustard oil and then coated with a mixture of beaten egg along with onion, and also salt and pepper to the level of perfection, the end result is known as Dim pauruti. You can get it available in the streetside tea stalls or small breakfast shops all through the Bengal. I suppose all the egg-eating Bongs (and non-bongs) are having their favorite chaa-er dokan than makes the best dim toast. I must mention the College/ University Canteens where along with other items you for sure will get this savory delicacy.
“Dada ekta dim toast ar ekta chaa! ektu jhal dio!” I cannot really translate the emotion, however, the literal meaning is “brother please make an egg toast for me and I will also have tea. Add green chilies to the toast!”
Growing up in West Bengal Dim Toast was there all through the years. I do not like to compare it with the savory french toast. French toast has not influenced by the pungency of mustard oil. Neither it is flavored with Amul Butter. Nor they use typical “quarter ruti” aka double roti to make the french toast. Dim toast is the closest competitor to Luchi Torkari breakfast especially when we prefer the breakfast egg-loaded. It is not as sophisticated as french toast, instead, it is earthy. In short, Dim Pauruti is love but not lust.
Dim Pauruti aka Dim Toast, how the dish came into existence!
As the typical bread itself is not having an ancient history of being there in India, needless so say Dim Pauruti for sure is not that old itself. I may not like to compare it with french toast, I really cannot ignore the influence. Let me tell you that French toast is not a french dish, instead, it was given the name after the person who made it first, Joseph French. According to the historical evidence found, a similar dish existed back in the 5th century AD. The dish was known as Pan Dulcis. The Romans used to soak the bread in a batter of egg and milk to make the Pan Dulcis. It is also known as gypsy toast, German toast and also poor knights” (of Windsor).
Bengali Dim Pauruti is almost similar to the french toast, and the difference probably is the use of mustard oil while making it. In the roadside shops, I never have seen them using milk in the batter while making it. Besides, we use fat chunks of double roti to make this. A typical thin slice of sandwich bread has not been used. Last but not the least, we do not soak the bread in egg batter instead we cover the bread with the haft-cooked egg to make our favorite Dim Toast.
I will not dig into the well of history more because it simply does not matter that the humble dim pauruti is not having a heritage or years-long history. What matters is how comfortingly good it is.
Do I need to write the recipe of Dim Toast!
The answer is both Yes and No. I don’t need to write because the recipe is known to the Bengalis. I have to write it because my blog is not only about the recipes but the emotions related to those. Apart from that, there may be a person, who has heard of Dim Pauruti from his/ her girlfriend/boyfriend/ husband/ or anyone and wanted to make it and also wanted to know more; this recipe is for him/ her as well.
Here’s how I make Street-style Dim Pauruti at Debjanir Rannaghar!
- Serves: 1 Person
- Calories: 489
- Fat: 20.3g
- Saturated fat: 6.3g
- Carbohydrates: 57.5g
- Sugar: 9.7g
- Sodium: 1603mg
- Fiber: 4.5g
- Protein: 19.2g
- Cholesterol: 337mg
- Egg: 2
- Double Roti/ Quarter Bread: 1
- Onion: 1 (small)
- Green Chilli: 2
- Butter: 1 Tsp.
- Mustard Oil: 1 Tsp.
- Salt: to taste
- Roughly chop the onion as well as the chilies.
- In a bowl take two eggs along with the chopped onion and also chilles.
- Add salt to it and beat for a while to make the mixture frothy.
- Meanwhile, cut the bread lengthwise if not purchased in pieces.
- Heat a pan and lightly toast the bread.
- Add butter and toast again for 1 minute.
- With the help of a spatula pick up the bread slices and add the mustard oil the pan.
- Spread the oil and then pour the egg mixture and spread it across.
- place the bread slices and lightly fold the omelet over the bread.
- Take the egg covered bread out in a plate and sprinkle some rock salt and serve it hot.
Increase or decrease the amount of green chili based on your preference.
Bengali Breakfast Recipes from Debjanir Rannaghar!
- Luchi (Also known as Nuchi)
- Luchi Sada Aloo Chorchori Breakfast | Sada Aloo Chorchori Recipe
- Narkel diye Niramish Ghugni (also known as Bengali No Onion No Garlic Ghugni or Yellow Peas Curry with Fried Coconut)
- Aam Kola Doi Chire Makha (Also known as Doi Chire)
- Kolkata Style Egg Roll (also known as Egg roll)
- Chatur Parota (also known as Sattu Ka Paratha)
Have you tried the Dim Pauruti recipe from Debjanir Rannaghar!
Do let me know how it came out. Also, I would love to see a picture of the same which you can share here on dolonchttrj@gmail.com. Meanwhile, on Instagram, you can use my hashtag #debjanirrannaghar and in addition, you can tag me at @foodofdebjani.
Here’s the Dim Toast Recipe Pin for your Pinterest Board!
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