Showing posts with label Bengali dessert. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bengali dessert. Show all posts

Tuesday, 1 May 2018


Sandesh is a famous Bengali sweet. And this time I am presenting it with famous Belgian chocolate. Out of Kolkata it is very difficult to get good sandesh in shops but you can make it on your own and relish with your family. Already I had shared few famous sandesh recipes with you. Now time to share something different. Currently I am in chocolate country Belgium. So I tried some fusion with sandesh and Belgian chocolate. Actually few days back one of my friend suggested me …”when you are in Belgium, you should try some fusion with Belgian chocolate and our sandesh”. And I really liked his words. As a result I tried it and this came out mind-blowing. Thanks to my friend for that wonderful suggestion.
Now your turn, please try it and I am also waiting for your feedback.


Sandesh with Belgium chocolate
Chocolate Truffle Sandesh

Ingredients:

Milk – 1 ltr
Sugar – 2/3 cup
Lemon juice – 2 tsp

For truffle:

Choco chips or any plain chocolate bar (without dry fruits) – 100 gmsFresh cream – 50 mlFor decoration: 
Choco chipsDry fruits

Recipe:

Heat milk in a vessel and then add a few drops of lemon juice. As a result the milk will scramble and turn into chenna (paneer or cottage cheese) and will look like spongy lumps. Then strain water and keep chenna in a bowl. Now add sugar and mix it very well to make a smooth creamy texture. Now put it in a non -stick pan and stir in low flame for 5 minutes. When the dough is separated from the pan remove it from flame. Now keep it in a plate. Mix it very well. The dough should be used immediately to make round shapes of sandesh.

How to make truffle:
Take chocolate bar (I have used choco chips). Then heat 50 ml fresh cream in a pan but do not boil it. So the ratio I used for truffle is 2:1 for truffle. Now take a pan with some water and keep a bowl on the pan, the bowl bottom can touch the water. This process is called double boiler. Put chocolate in the bowl and heat it in low flame. As a result chocolate will melt and add fresh cream. Stir it. Now truffle is ready.

Now you have to stuff the truffle in the sandesh. This process is just like kachori or other stuff recipe. Take a sandesh and make a hole and put some truffle and again make round sandesh with help of your palm. Decorate with some chocochips and dry fruits.

When you give round shape to the sandesh after stuffing, please be careful and use your clean hand otherwise chocolate will be smeared on sandesh and obiviously it will not look good.

Sunday, 15 April 2018


poila boishakh, nabonorsho, cake art, fondant
Poila Boishakh theme cake

Subho nabobarsho 1425…..poila boisakh means Bengali new year started today. This day obviously very special to all Bengali. Actually Bengalis are very fond of food and festival and we wait throughout the year for our famous Durgapuja. But we have lots of occasions to celebrate with some sumptuous food and rituals. Poila boisakh is just one of them. In Bengali we have a famous proverb “bangalir baro mas e tero parbon”(in 12 months Bengalis have 13 festivals) and Poila Boisakh is the first festival of the year. How we celebrate this day…..generally in Bengal in this day maximum shops start their new account with some puja, which is called khata puja and that khata (book of account) is very special, that comes with red cover and knot with a thread, called ‘kheror khata’. Now a days so many people stay out of Bengal for their jobs. So they always try to make a gathering with their Bong friends with some cultural programmes.
Nabo Borsho theme cake toppings created with fondant

Crafting Nabo Borsho theme cake



Nabo borsho themed cake art with fondant
Poila Boishakh/ Nabo borsho theme cake art

For the last 10 years I am also out of Bengal, even out of India. So we also celebrate our Poila Boisakh with some bong friends with some mouthwatering dishes. And this time I made a cake on Poila Boisakh theme, where I tried to present few stuffs related to the occasion. As the gathering was arranged with the famous pot-luck concept, along with my cake, there were many mouthwatering traditional Bengali dishes brought by my friends. The menu includes dimer devil, Bengali pulao, chicken curry, mutton curry, bhapa ilish, amer chatni. The food was well accompanied by famous Bong adda with card games (taser adda). Overall, it was a fantastic day spent with some adorable friends. We enjoyed it thoroughly.
nabo borsho special menu
Poila Boishakh menu; PC: KInjal Mandal

One of the pic in this post is taken by my friend Kinjal.

Subho Naboborsho!!

Sunday, 24 September 2017

Mango Baked Yogurt, this in a dessert with mango flavor and made of curd. Everybody knows that “Mishti Doi” is a very famous Bengali dessert. But this baked yogurt and mishit doi is fully different. I am saying this because I heard many people saying that both are same, but making process and taste both are fully different. I hope all will enjoy this easy recipe. And the actual cooking time is only 40 seconds, so I guess one of the quickest dessert recipe you can think of. I believe my recipes are always very easy but tasty and this time I am sharing one of my very easy and yummy dessert recipe. Hope you all will love it.
According to ingredients the below recipe will be for 4 persons.
Preparation time 5 minutes and cooking time only 40 seconds.

Ingredients:

Hung curd – 1 cup
Condense milk – 1 cup
Cornflour – 1tbsp
Mango pulp – 2-3tbsp
Mint leaves – for garnish
mishti doi or baked yogurt with mango
Mango Baked Yogurt

Recipe:

1. Take a mixing bowl and add condense milk and hung curd.
2.  Mix it very well with a whisker.
3.  Add corn flour and mix, don’t allow to make a lump.
4.  Add mango pulp, here I had used canned mango pulp.
5.  Mix well and you should get a smooth texture.
6.  Now take an individual dessert bowl and for this quantity you should need 4 bowls.
     Pour the mixture and keep it in microwave. Switch on the oven in micro mode full power for 40 seconds.
8.  Open the microwave door and if you can see the bubbles in edges of the bowls that means your baked yogurt is ready and immediately take out from the oven.
9. Garnish with mint leaves.


Let me know how did it turn out at your end. If you like the recipe, please let me know through comment or share in social media.

Checkout my other dessert recipes by clicking here. You can find more Bengali dessert recipes here.

Tuesday, 14 April 2015


Channar payesh is very popular dessert of Bengali cuisine. Tomorrow is Bengali New Year – poila boisakh, so I decided to make an authentic Bengali dessert for my family. Channar payesh is not so well known outside Bengal like rosogolla or misti doi. Even, not always available in all the sweet shops in West Bengal. Yet popular enough so that once the pilot of the plane I was boarded, reminded the passengers to enjoy this dessert before leaving Kolkata. Bengali sweets means, channa is the hero. In EasySteps2Cook I have already given some Bengali sweets, where channa is the main ingredient, like sandesh, rosogolla/kamla bhog. Chennar payesh is not always available in sweet shops. This is mostly prepared at home. So now I decided to give channar payesh recipe on the eve of Poila Baisakh as my tribute to this delicious Bengali dessert.

The basic difference between chenna (ছানা) and paneer is that chenna is the first step of preparing paneer. This is the lumps created while breaking milk with lemon juice. When chenna is kept into pressure to and solid chunks are created, this is called paneer. Chenna is mostly used in ewdgastern part of India including West Bengali, Assam, Bihar, Orissa. Paneer is more popular in northern and western parts of India.

Ingredients for making channar payesh:                                                                                                                                                                                                       
Milk – 1 ltr
Lemon juice
Sugar– 1/3 cup
Chopped pista
Chopped almond
Soaked saffron ½ tsp in 1tbsp milk
Cardamom powder -1 pinch

bengali dessert channar payesh
Channar Payesh

Method of making channar payesh:
 In a vessel heat ½ ltr milk and then add a few drops of lemon juice. As a result the milk will break and turn into chenna (paneer) and will look like spongy lumps. Then strain water and keep chenna in a bowl.    
                                
Now heat the rest of milk in low flame and stir continuously. After sometime you will notice the milk has become thick and add sugar. Now add a pinch of cardamom powder and continuously stir it. Add saffron and turn off the oven.

Keep it aside and allow cooling down to room temperature.

After that, add the channa which you have already made …and mix gently. It is better to add chenna in the milk when it cools down to room temperature otherwise there will be risk of breaking down the milk due to its acidic property.

Garnish with some chopped dry fruits like almonds, pistachio.

For more Bengali sweet recipes click on the following links:
Rosogolla

Tuesday, 10 February 2015

Khejur Gurer Chaler Payesh|Rice Kheer Recipe

Khejur gur is one of the most important and favorite ingredient to make Bengali dessert. Bengalis wait throughout the year – when the winter season will come. Winter is very graceful in Bengal and comes with its bounty of seasonal flowers and vegetables, along with some important festivals like Poush Sankranti. Bengalis love winter as some of their most favourite foods and desserts are prepared with ingredients mostly available in this season including koraishutir kochuri and khjur gurer payesh.

Khejur gur or dates palm jiggery is prepared from the juice of dates palm tree. A whole is made on the body of the dates palm tree. Then a clay pot is hanged on the tree just below the whole. This is generally done after the sunset and the pot is brought down before the sun rise.  This juice is then boiled to get jiggery. Dates palm jiggery is prepared shortly after bringing down the pot from the tree when the juice is still fresh, else it will be fermented which is used as local alcohol called tadi.

In Bengal, we get two types of khejur gur in winter – one is in liquid form, known as Nolen gur or notun gur; and the other one is in solid form, called Patali gur. The liquid or semi liquid form, ie. nolen gur cannot be stored for long. But patali gur can be stored for many months.

Khejur gur is a specialty of Bengal. West Bengal and its neighboring country Bangladesh are the only places where khejur gur is available. Though seasonal, khejur gur is an essential part of Bengali desserts – payes, kheer, rosogolla, sandesh etc. Due to its heavy demand, some famous sweet shops in Bengal store patali gur and prepare sweets from this throughout the year. Some shops store semi liquid nolen gur in a controlled temperature to use later. This stored khejur gur may not give exact flavor that we get when fresh gur is used in winter, but most Bengalis ignore this slight difference in flavor and enjoy desserts from khejur gur whenever they get a chance.

All of us, who are far from our native place in Bengal, wait when our parents, relatives or friends will come with this famous patali gur.

Chaler Payesh|Rice Kheer Recipe

Chaler payesh is one of the most famous desserts in Bengal as well as India. This dish is also known as rice kheer or rice pudding. In Bengal, this is one of the most famous dessert for any auspicious occasion. The payesh or rice kheer is prepared in many temples, festivals and special occasions like birthdays etc. Payesh is known in many alternative names in India, like payasam (Tamil), payasa (Kannada), khir (Punjabi), khiri (Odisha) etc.

Recipe of Rice kheer prepared with dates palm jaggery
Khejur gurer payesh| Rice kheer with dates palm jaggery


What we need to prepare rice kheer:

Milk – ½ ltr
Flavored basmati rice – 1 tbsp
Milk powder – 2 tsp
Patali gur (solidified dates jiggery) – 2 tbsp
Bay leaf – 1 pc
Raisin – 10-12 pc
Chopped cashew nuts – 1 tbsp

How to make rice kheer :

At first clean rice in running water and then soak it with little bit of water for 30 minutes. If you do not have much time, don’t soak.  This is not an essential step.

Now take milk in a large vessel and start boiling it. Then put the soaked rice and a bay leaf and stir with a ladle continuously. After 10-12 minutes, the rice will be cooked and milk will be thickened also. Now add milk powder and dates jiggery and mix well. At this moment you will get a nice aroma of patali gur. After 4-5 minutes when the patali gur is fully dissolved, add dry fruits and mix. And then, when you notice some cooked rice on the top of and the milk is thick enough, remove the vessel from heat. Keep aside and allow it to cool down. When it comes down to room temperature, serve it.

If you do not have patali gur, you can use normal sugar. But obviously taste will be different. In that case you can sprinkle ½ tsp green cardamom powder which will give you a nice flavour.

NB: An important point to note while making payesh is that you need to stir it continuously while on heat so that it does not burn. If you do not stir, it might get burnt at the bottom. Even if this is burnt very slightly, it will leave an annoying smell which will destroy your entire effort.

Monday, 29 December 2014

Rasgulla or rosogolla is the most famous sweet from West Bengal. Kamala bhog is orange flavoured rasgulla.


Kamala Bhog is basically Orange Flavored Rasgulla
Kamala Bhog - Orange Flavored Rasgulla

Ingredients:

Milk – 1 lt
Sugar – 1 cup
Water – 4 cups
Orange juice – 1 medium orange
Lemon juice – 1 medium lemon
Orange colour – 1 pinch (optional)
Orange flavour– few drops

Recipe:

In a vessel heat milk and then add orange and lemon juice. As a result the milk will break and turn into chenna (soft paneer, a variety of Indian cottage cheese) and will look like spongy lumps. Then strain water and hang in a maslin cloth for 30—45 minutes. Now take a plate and smash the chenna with a pinch of orange food colour (optional) and few drops of orange flavour and make a smooth paste. You can do it in mixer. Now make around 15 balls  from the chenna paste.  

Take a large vessel and add the sugar and water and turn on the gas to make syrup. When the sugar starts melting, put the chenna balls into the syrup. Boil the balls for 25 – 30 minutes.

Now your kamala bhog is ready. Keep them in the same vessel for 15 – 20 minutes without touching.

Saturday, 27 September 2014

Sandesh is one of the most popular Bengali dessert. I prepared this variety of  sandesh with green peas and kalakand.

Bengali style sandesh recipe with green peas and kalaland
Double Decker Sandesh

Ingredients:

Green peas 200 gms
Kalakand 200 gms
Milk powder 3 tbsp
Sugar ½ cup
Green cardamom powder 1 pinch
Silver foil
Crushed cashew nuts

Recipe:

Boil the peas and make a paste.
Now take a pan in low flame and put peas paste. Stir it and add milk powder and sugar and mix it very gently in low flame. When the peas paste comes out from the pan, add green cardamom powder and mix gently. Now remove it from heat and keeps it aside.
Now take a flat plate and put the kalakand. Spread it to make a layer. Now put the peas paste above it and make a flat surface with a spatula. Now we get two layers and cut it with a sharp knife. Garnish with silver foil and cashew nuts. 

Friday, 26 September 2014

easy kesar sandesh recipe
Kesar Sandesh

Ingredients:

Milk - 1 ltr
Sugar – 2/3 cup
Saffron (kesar) - 1 pinch
Milk - 2tsp
Chopped pistachio

Recipe:

Take a pan and dry roast the saffron. Now take a small bowl and soak the saffron into 2 tsp milk. 

Heat milk in a vessel and then add a few drops of lemon juice. As a result the milk will break and turn into chenna (paneer) and will look like spongy lumps. Then strain water and keep chenna in a bowl. Now add sugar and mix it very well to make a smooth creamy texture. Now put it in a non -stick pan and stir in low flame for 5 minutes. When the dough is separated from the pan remove it from flame. Now keep it in a plate and add the soaked saffron. Mix it very well. The dough should be used immediately to make various shapes of sandesh. Use chopped pistachio to garnish.

Wednesday, 15 January 2014

Gokul pithe is a traditional Bengali dessert. This is prepared during Makar Sankranti / Poush Sankranti along with puli pitha or vapa pitha, dudh puli and  patishapta. Along with Poush Parbon, many people also prepare Gokul Pithe for Janmashtami. Like most of the Sankranti desserts, Gokul pitha is prepared with a stuffing of grated coconut and as these are kept in sugar syrup for some time. As a result, Gokul pithe becomes very soft and melts in your mouth with all its sweetness. I prepare this not only during pujas, but also in other traditional lunch/dinners as desserts. Most of my non Bengali friends confuse this with malpoa. But after the first bite, they understand that this is not malpoa, but another delicacy from Bengal which has no comparison. This yummy dessert can be easily prepared at home with little effort. The only thing that takes time is preparing the coconut stuffing. If you are aware that guests are coning, keep the stuffing ready and prepare fresh when guests are in. Learn how to make Gokul pithe from the following description.

A Bengali traditional dessert recipe prepared from coconut and flour and made during Makar Sankranti
Gokul Pithe

Gokul Pithe - Ingredients:

Grated coconut – 1 ½ cup
Dates jaggery – ¼ cup
Milk powder – ½ cup
Regular flour – 1 cup
Milk – 1 cup
Ghee – 1 tsp
Soda bi curb – ½ tsp
White oil or ghee
For syrup:
Sugar – 2 ½ cup
Water – 2 cup

How to make Gokul Pithe:

At first mix grated coconut and ¼ cup dates jaggery in a pan and put it in low flame. Stir well for 5 minutes and take out from flame and add milk powder. Mix it well and the stuffing of gokul pithe is now ready.
Take water in a heavy bottom pan and add sugar. Now boil it for 7-8 minutes in high flame to get a thick syrup.
Now in a bowl mix flour, soda bi curb and ghee. Then add milk and make a smooth batter and keep it aside with lid for 15 minutes.
Make small balls from the coconut mixture and put it on your plum. Then flatten it by pressing with the other palm to make it look like patty. Now heat white oil or ghee in a deep pan. Dip the coconut patty in the batter and deep fry it.
Keep the fried patty on a tissue paper to soak the excess oil. While these are still hot, immerse into sugar syrup and keep it for 10 minutes.

Gokul pithe is now ready. Enjoy sankranti with this traditional Bengali sweet delicacy.....

Wednesday, 8 January 2014

Patishapta is a dessert item of Bengali cuisine. It is made by flour, coconut and dates jaggery. It is an Indian pancake and very mouth watering. This looks like famous South Indian dish Dosa. Sometimes it is made by rice flour and rawa with the stuffing being made of coconut. But me and my family like Patishapta made by flour with the stuffing being made from coconut and dates jaggery. We also like the stuffing made by kheer or Sandesh. In that case coconut is not required.
For Bengalis, Patishapta is a form of Pitha and forms an integral part of Poush Sankranti festival. The festival is incomplete without eating yummy dessert.

how to cook patishapta with flour coconut and dates jaggery, patishapta recipe
Patishapta

Patishapta recipe:

Patishapta - Ingredients:

All purpose flour- 1 cup
White oil – 3 tbsp
Sugar – 1 tsp
Milk
Grated coconut – ½ cup
Dates jaggery – ¼ cup
White oil or ghee (for greasing)

How to make Patishapta:

At first mix grated coconut and ¼ cup dates jaggery in a pan and put it in low flame. Stir well for 5 minutes and take out from flame. Stuffing of Patishapta is now ready. Keep it aside.
Now, in a bowl take flour, 3 tbsp white oil and sugar. Mix it gently with sufficient milk and make a medium smooth batter.
Then take a flat pan and a medium size spoon. Grease the pan with white oil and pour a full spoon of batter and spread it like pancake. After that, keep a spoon full of coconut mixture on the pancake, wait for a few moments so that the batter is set and cook till the pancake turns golden. Then fold it and take out from flame.

Your Patishapta is now ready. Serve it cold or hot, whatever you like.

Sunday, 5 January 2014

Vapa pithe (bhapa pitha) or puli pithe is the simplest and basic form of pithe made by Bengalis during Poush Parbon or Poush Sankranti festival. Vapa means steamed. Vapa Pithe (vapa pitha) is a kind of dumpling with the outer shell being made from rice flour and stuffing being prepared with grated coconut. There can be several varieties of stuffing for Pitha. Though the following recipe shows pitha stuffed with coconut and dates jaggery mixture, you can prepare stuffing with sugar and coconut mixture. If you do not like sweets too much or want some variety as neutralizer, Vapa Pithe can be stuffed with  different vegetables also (eg. potato and cauliflower mix). These are called vegetable pitha.

Learn how to make vapa pithe with the easy steps mentioned below.

vapa pithe or puli pithe is a dumpling made of rice flour and coconut made by Bengalis during Poush Sankranti
Vapa Pithe

Vapa Pithe Recipe:

Vapa Pithe (Pitha)- Ingredients:

Grated coconut – 1 medium
Rice flour – 2 cup
Date palm jaggery – 3/4 cup
Warm water

How to make Vapa Pithe (Pitha):

At first mix grated coconut and ¼ cup dates jaggery in a pan and put it in low flame. Stir well for five minutes and take out from flame. The stuffing is now ready.
Then take the rice flour and add sufficient warm water to make smooth dough. Keep it aside for 10 minutes.
Now, make small balls from the dough and spread each ball in your plum so that it looks like a small bowl. Stuff the coconut mixture and fold it in a way so that it looks like a half circle. Seal the edges properly. Your pulis are now ready.
Now, place the pulis in a steamer and steam it for 10-15 minutes. If you do not have a steamer, you can take a vessel with wholes. Now place the pulis in it and put the vessel on a handi which is full of water. Put this on flame for 10-15 minutes so that they are steamed properly
Take the pithes out of the vessel and let them cool.
Serve vapa pithe in room temperature with liquid dates jaggery (nalin gur).

There is one more method to make puli pithe. And this is very easy. Take a pressure cooker and fill it with up to 1 inch of water. Then take a Tiffin box, place the puli in it and cover the cooker without whistle. Cook it for 10-15 minutes in high flame. When done, take the pulis out of the cooker. After some time, when the pulis cool down to room temperature, serve with liquid dates jaggery a.k.a. ‘nolen gur’.

Enjoy your Sankranti with vapa pithe with nolen gur. I also prepared Dudh puli or pithe payes and Gokul Pithe. Learn how to make Dudh puli or Gokul pithe using the following links - 
Dudh puli 
Goluk Pithe

Enjoy this Sankranti with various types of pithe and other Sankranti desserts. 

Happy Sankranti..   :)

Saturday, 4 January 2014

Dudh puli or pithe payes is a traditional Bengali dessert prepared on the eve of Poush Sankranti (Makar Sankranti) in every Bengali household. Pithe Parbon (festival) is incomplete without Dudh Puli (or doodh puli). Dudh means milk in Bengali. Puli resembles with dumpling with the outer shell or khol being prepared from rice powder and the stuffing is made from grated coconut and date palm jaggery (Nolen gur or khajur ka gur). Dudh puli is kheer or payasam with puli pithe.

Easy dudh puli or doodh puli recipe with grated cocont and nolen gur and milk
Dudh puli

Dudh puli recipe

Dudh Puli – Ingredients:

 Grated coconut -1 medium
Milk – 1 ltr
Rice flour – 2 cup
Date palm jaggery – 3/4 cup
Warm water

Dudh Puli - Preparation:

At first, mix the grated coconut and ¼ cup date jaggery in a pan and put it in low flame. Stir well for 5 minutes and take out from flame. The stuffing is now ready.

Then take rice flour and add sufficient warm water to make a smooth dough. Keep aside the dough for 10 minutes.
Make small balls from dough and spread each ball in your plum. Stuff this with coconut mixture and fold it so that it looks like a half circle. Seal the edges properly. Your pulis are now ready.
When pulis are ready for dudh puli they should look like half circle
When pulis are ready - they should look like these

Now put a heavy bottom vessel on flame, pour milk and stir it constantly. When the milk starts to boil add the pulis into the milk very slowly and continue stirring the milk lightly. After 10 -15 minutes when the pulis are cooked and the milk is thickened, add dates jaggery and stir it gently so that the pulis do not break. After a few minutes when the jaggery is completely melted and mixed in the milk, pour it into serving a bowl.
Dudh puli is now ready. Serve when cooled down to normal temperature. Spread little bit of grated coconut and jaggery mixture (initially created for stuffing) on top. It serves as garnishing and also enhances the taste.

If you do not have date palm jaggery, you can use plain sugar and in that case you should add green cardamom powder.

Monday, 28 October 2013



Tota puli is a Bengali sweet, Bengali dessert
Tota puli

Tota puli a is a traditional Bengali dessert which people has started to forget slowly. Now a days this yummy sweet is not very common in shops. Learn how to prepare this Bengali delicacy at home.


Ingredients:
Ghee
Khoa kheer
Paneer 250 gm
Flour 1oo gm
Red colour
Soda bi carb 1 pinch
Sugar 1kg
Green cardamom powder 1 pinch
Water 400ml
Preparation:
Take sugar and water in a deep pan and put them in flame to make thick syrup.
Take a bowl and mix paneer, flour, ghee (1tbsp), soda bi carb and make smooth dough.
Now divide the dough and make balls.
Now take a bowl and mix khoa, sugar, green cardamom powder and red colour.
Now use the khoa mix as stuffing and give paneer balls the shape of puli.
Now heat ghee in a frying pan and deep fry the pulis in low flame.
When it turns golden, take out from pan and deep them in the thick sugar syrup.

Keep them in the syrup for half an hour. The pulis might break if kept in the syrup for too long.