My hubby often craved for the date palm jaggery. He had fond memories of the bengali kheer he tasted at his neighbour's house in Bhopal. So when we shifted to Bangalore and I met Manali the first thing that came to my mind is Nolen Gurer. I asked her to get me some jaggery from Orissa the next time she went home and she did. Soon after the mall in front of our home opened and all Total malls have a section dedicated to the bongs so I decided to use the jaggery wholeheartedly now that it was available at our door step.
Ironically , I made a kheer for my Oriya neighbour in her native style rather the other way round and I was happy to hear her say " ek dum hamare style" but what made be even happier is when my hubby said " this is the same taste that lingered since my childhood ".
This payesh is so different from our style back home in Kerala. We use coconut and coconut milk while this kheer has milk. We use green gram while this one has basmati rice. And Nutmeg and bayleaves are never used in our sweet dishes. So I was at awe as to how it would turn out. But then cooking is all about surprising your taste buds with the innumerable possibilities of going about with food. So here's the recipe after all my blah blah............
Ingredients for Bengali Nolen Gurer Payesh
Rice ( I used basmati coz I had to finish it )- 1 cup
Milk- 1 litre
Raisins- a handful
bayleaf- 2
Nutmeg powder- 1 tsp
Date palm jaggery- 250 gm
Ghee- 2 tbsp
Directions
Boil the milk with the bay leaf and nutmeg powder.
Cook the rice in the milk till its done. In a vessel heat the jaggery with a cup of water. When it's fully dissolved pour it into the rice and milk mixture and bring it boil. By now the milk and rice would have reduced to half the quantity it was initially.
In a pan heat ghee and fry the raisins till they are red. Garnish the kheer with the fried raisins.
