Showing posts with label Nolen gur. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nolen gur. Show all posts

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.

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.

Sunday, 10 February 2013

Sandesh is most popular Bengali dessert. Basically it is made by chenna (homemade paneer) and sugar. But in winter nolen gur (dates jaggery) gives a new flavor and taste.

sandesh, nolen gurer sandesh, chenna, nolen gur, bengali desser, bengali sweet
Nolen Gurer Sandesh

Ingredients:

Milk – 1 ½ ltr
Lemon juice
Nolenn gur – ½ cup
Any dry fruits

How to make nolen gurer sandesh:

In a vessel heat 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 add nolen gur and mix it very well to make a smooth creamy texture. Now put it in a non-stick pan and stir in a low flame for 5 minutes. When the dough is separated from the pan remove it from flame. Now keep it in a plate. The dough should be used immediately to make various shapes. Use dry fruits to garnish.