Haas-er Dim Bhapa | Bengali Bhapa Dim | Duck Egg Bhapa

“Hey lunch will be Dim Bhapa and Bhat! You can make some Begun Bhaja and there’s some leftover Sona Moong Daal. We are good to go I suppose!” I told Mehebub last Sunday. Needless to say, he was hoping for some Mangshor Jhol and I was not ready to cook the meat separately for us apart from the meal I was cooking for Direct from Debjanir Rannaghar platter. Hoping for a bit better dinner he asked “what’s for dinner?” and I replied ” Bhat and Dim Bhapa!” By then he was horrified and we decided that he will make some luchi and I’ll make some Aloo chorchori for dinner. The Bhapa Dim will be my working lunch the next day. Though we ended on ordering fried chicken from KFC as both of us were not in a mood to cook anything.

What I didn’t inform Mehebub was the bhapa was cooked with Haas-er dim aka Duck egg. Basically, it was Haas er Dim Bhapa or steamed duck egg. He does not like mustard-based gravies much while both I and pasta love anything and everything with mustard. Needless to say, bhapa is the mother’s and daughter’s favorite. We purchased around 30 duck eggs for the order of Sunday and I utilized 22 for the same and ended on making our beloved bhapa with the duck egg. I must say the lunch was super satisfactory for both I and Pasta and Mehebub had Haas er dim er mamlet (read Bengali Omelette fried with mustard oil).

Well, this is not a family recipe! Almost every eggetarian Bangali cooks Bhapa dim with mustard paste and we are no exception. Along with the mustard, I prefer to add some coconut paste and yogurt to make the gravy more flavorful. In addition, I use little Posto Bata to make it more delicious. Mustard oil is a must and so is green chili. I prefer to use duck egg however, you can for sure use a regular egg.

I am a true blue ghoti! What else can you expect from me? I love my portion of rice with the rich, thick mustardy gravy cooked with either animal protein or veggies and even with cottage cheese aka chana. Needless to say, my blog is having several recipes of mustard-based dishes. I will be sharing the recipe links below!

Bhapa stands for steamed. In Bengali households, we steam veggies, chicken, mutton, egg, and most importantly fish and seafood and also Chana to make various types of Bhapa. We even make Bhapa shondesh which is a dessert. The savory items mostly call for mustard paste. We mostly take the mixture of protein and species in a metal box which we adorably call tiffin box and then steam the same over the water bath to make our favorite bhapa!