Nolen Gurer Payesh Recipe! This is the epic winter classic for all Bengalis. The Nolen Gur is essentially date palm molasses. Date tree trunks will be slit masterfully at the base of the crown and earthen pots would be hung to collect all the tree sap. The sap would then be collected very early in the morning in earthen pots before the heat from the sun starts to ferment it. And then all the sap would be boiled tirelessly for hours and reduced until it turns a dark amber with the concentration of all the sugars in it. And eventually it is poured in molds to become solid discs of Nolen Gur. This is THE MOST IMPORTANT seasonal ingredient which lends a unique flavor to desserts that Bengalis or anyone remotely connected to Bengal perhaps swears by.
Nolen Gurer Payesh Recipe – The January Dish
Now January is also the month when we celebrate Sankranti. And Sankranti is essentially a festival to honor the end of the winter solstice and for some lesser mortals like me means a lineup of ethnic desserts that dida (grandma), Maa (Mom) and my Kakimas (aunts) would whip up. In short, Sankranti would be the pithe payesh day and of course with Nolen Gur as the star ingredient.
Today I am blogging the Nolen Gurer Payesh Recipe which is nothing but a rice pudding with Nolen Gur. This is probably the bare minimum and the most fuss free of all the dishes that were made on this day. Yet, getting the payesh right needs practice and most importantly patience. My grandma would say that if you can make the payesh right, you could probably cook just about anything.
So I am sharing a list of tips and tricks that would help you to get the payesh right and all these tips I have picked up since I have been cooking it for the last 17-20 years. There has been many instances when I have ended up burning the payesh. But over the years I know what works for me and I am listing all these tips here.
- First and the foremost thing of importance is selecting the vessel where you will cook the payesh. I always prefer to cook in a non-stick kadhai or wok. You need a wide mouthed vessel to cook Nolen Gurer Payesh so that the reduction of the milk is faster with the surface area helping with the faster evaporation. Remember how you would see traditional “halwais” or people in Bengali “mishtir dokan” stirring milk in a big black kadhai for making khoya or sweets. So this one tip gives you a good start.
2. Second, using full cream good quality milk with a high percentage of fat is the key to a creamier Nolen Gurer payesh. I remember my grandma would make payesh with buffalo milk. In case you are making with 2% or 1% milk I would urge to you use may be an additional can of evaporated milk or may be some condensed milk. But if you start with full cream milk, you would not need any of those.
3. The ratio of rice to milk. There has been many instances where I have been served payesh which looks and tastes like rice mixed with milk literally. Clearly, too much rice was used in those. Using the right quantity of rice is extremely important to get the right texture and mouth feel of something as decadent as a payesh. As a rule of thumb, my mom would say a fist of rice for a liter of milk. Well to quantify it, I feel that about 50 grams of rice for a liter of milk is perfect.
4. The quality of rice you are using is of super importance. We use small grained fragrant gobindo bhog rice. This rice variety would be from the newly harvested stock this time of the year and had the perfect amount of starch to help make a creamy, silken payesh. The other few varieties that can be used would be Tulai Panji, Kalijira or Seeraga Samba or anything similar.
5. Make sure the rice is properly cooked before you add the sugar or gur. Adding sugar or gur will stop the rice from cooking. So before you add any kind of sugars you need to make sure the rice pis properly cooked. Take a grain between the tips of your thumb and for finger and smush it. If you smush it without any effort to almost a paste the rice is cooked. If you feel the rice is hard and it takes a little effort to smush it, then it is not ready.
6. Lastly, if you are making a gurer payesh, you should always add the gur after removing it from the stove. By that time the milk is reduced, the rice is cooked and the Nolen Gurer payesh is ready as far as the consistency is concerned. Remove from stove and then add the gur, stir it and you will see it melt. Then cover and let it stand. After about 100 mins give another stir to make sure all the gur is melted. If you add the gur before removing it from the stove, there is a chance that the impurities or the acidic nature of the gur may cause the milk to split.
Along with Nolen Gurer Payesh Recipe, Here are a some more recipes that you may like.
Nolen Gurer Payesh
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 40 mins
- Total Time: 50 minutes
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Nolen Gurer Payesh is a wintertime celebratory delicacy in the Bengali culture. A Nolen Gurer Payesh done right can take your taste buds on a nostalgic journey of warm and cozy childhood memories. Try this Nolen Gurer Payesh Recipe at home.
Ingredients
Full Fat Milk – 1 liter
Ghee – 1 tsp
Rice – 50 grams (see my tips above on rice that could be used)
Sugar – 1/8 cup
Nolen Gur – 100 grams, grated
Bay Leaf – 1
Cardamom powder – ¼ tsp
Raisins – 2 tbsp, soaked in water
Instructions
Rinse the rice a couple of times and spread it on a paper towel. Let it stand for 5 mins, then pour the rice back in a bowl. Add the ghee and mix it well.
In a wide mouthed pan like a non-stick kadai or wok, pour the milk, throw in the bay leaf and bring it to a boil over high heat. This takes about 7-8 mins.
Now turn the heat to medium and let it simmer for about another 5 mins. Please keep stirring with a wooden spatula.
After the 5 mins, add the rice to the milk and turn the heat to high. Keep stirring and let the milk come to a boil. You have to keep on stirring so that the milk does not burn.
Let the milk boil for a good 5-8 mins under your watchful eye as you stir it.
Reduce the heat to medium, keep stirring and cook for another 5-8 mins. The milk would have reduced significantly by this time. Keep scraping off the milk fat accumulating on the sides. This makes the payesh taste really good.
Now is the time to test if the rice is cooked. Take a grain of rice from the pan and smush between the tips of your thumb and fore finger. If you can smush to an almost paste, the rice is cooked. If not cook for another 5-8 mins over high and test again.
By this time the payesh should have reduced at least ¼ of what we started with. Add the sugar, the soaked raisins ( after draining the water) and give it a stir. Adding sugar will add moisture again, so you need to cook for another 5 mins or so.
Remove from heat and add the grated nolen gur. Stir a few times and let the gur melt. Now cover and let it stand undisturbed for 10 mins.
Add the cardamom powder and give everything a stir again.
The payesh is ready to serve.
Notes
Cardamom powder is optional. I use very little to let the flavor of nolen gur to not blend with anything else.
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Boiling and simmering
- Cuisine: Bengali
Keywords: Bengali Nolen Gurer Payesh, Payesh, NolenGurerPayesh, Khejurgurerpayesh, Nolen Gurer Payesh Recipe
Nolen Gurer Payesh Recipe FAQs
If I am using 1% or 2% milk what can I do to improve taste of the Nolen Gurer Payesh?
If you are using 1% or 2% milk, then you can use ½ cup of condensed milk. In that case, do not use the sugar. This will lend a creaminess to the payesh. Or use 1 can of evaporated milk and ¾ liter of any reduced fat milk.
Can I use cashews in this Nolen Gurer payesh?
Yes of course, you could use cashews too. My family does not use it so I do not include it in my recipe. Make sure to fry the recipes in a little bit of ghee.
Can I not use the ghee in the recipe?
Yes, feel free to opt out of using it. It will not do a major difference.
Can I not use any sugar and use jaggery or only gur?
Yes, you could do that. In that case, I would use a little bit more of the gur. May be 175 grams. My family likes it a little sweet. You can add 150 grams if you would like to keep the sweetness light.