Food compliments our moods. When we are happy we want to eat good things, when we are sad, it doesn’t matter what we eat. Even festivals have an unique item associated with them. Durga pujo means khichuri, Makar Sankranti means til-gud, Id means sewaiyan, holi means gujiya, ganesh chaturthi means modak. Janmashtami probably needs a whole section of a recipe book to itself. It does not stop at cooked food. As children we were not supposed to eat kool (ber) till saraswati puja. It was explained that Ma Saraswati would be happy with our sacrifice and bless us with infinite wisdom. To me, it seemed a big price to pay for few marks in exam. But with the martinet Indian educational system you can never be too sure, a few extra marks never did any harm. I however think it was just a roundabout way of keeping the children off unripe kool (ber) so that they didn’t fall sick. After saraswati puja the fruits are well ripened. My mom would make kuler achar(Berry pickle) which we could then gorge on for quite a while to come. Coming back to sweets, there is however one sweet which is universal. Payesh. It comes in different formats depending on the region or even the house it is cooked in. But the basics remain the same.
Payesh is very integral to Bengali celebrations. Whether it is a jonmodin (birthday) or ai-budo-bhaat (part of pre-marriage ceremony), or saadh (baby shower) payesh is a must. Payesh is what we call Kheer in bangla. Kheer means something different in Bangla, it is the lump left after simmering milk for hours...a type of khoya. Among the sweet courses of Bengali cuisine, payesh is considered a different type of sweet than sandesh/doi or rosher misthi(sweets with chashni, or sugar syrup). There were at least 3 different types cooked frequently in our home. Batasha diye payesh. Khejurer guder payesh. Channar payesh.
My dida makes the best payesh. Our annual visit to mama-r badi (mom’s maiden home) was considered an event important enough to warrant this payesh. In the sprawling house one big room was reserved for pujo ghor and my dida would cook a full Bengali meal everyday as part of the pujo. The general household cooking was done by the other female members of the family. I remember hovering around the door (I could not go in till I took a bath) of the pujo ghor to find out what was on menu that day. She used gobindo bhog chal in it. I came to know this only recently. The granules of this rice are very small and fragrant. It lends a whole new dimension for the taste buds to explore. She would use batasha (a type of sugar candy used for religious ceremony) for sweetening rather than sugar. The consistency of the milk was thick, the rice melted in my mouth and the whole thing left a lasting taste. There was a strange sense of well being after eating it. My payesh does not come close to it. I think she did not tell me about the dollops of tenderness and affection that she added.
Bangla is known as the sweetest language. With so many sweets consumed can it be otherwise?
This recipe is as traditional as you can go with payesh, but with a twist I learned from an aunty. We call it Mandarin Payesh and it is a favourite of AS. I can hardly manage to snatch a few spoonfuls if he gets his hands on it first :-).
Mandarin Payesh (Rice pudding with mandarin pieces)
2pints milk
½ cup rice
1 cup sugar (depending on how many sweet teeth you have)
4-5 Cardamom (powdered would be better)
1 small tin Mandarin
Optional
2 tsp chironji dana
¼ tin condensed milk
Take a heavy bottom pan and let the milk come to boil in it, then keep on medium heat and keep stirring every few minutes so that it does not stick to the bottom. I generally use the pressure cooker for this. I add the condensed milk after the first boil. It allows the milk to thicken fast. If you prefer to you full-fat milk then you would not need condensed milk. If you do not have condensed milk, you could add 2 tbsp milk powder. Be aware than the taste differs between condensed milk and milk powder.
Meanwhile, wash and soak the rice in water. This softens the rice and reduces the cooking time. I managed to heave 1 kg of gobindo bhog chaal (rice) all the way from Calcutta to London. Basmati rice does not give the same texture in payesh as this rice. But you could go for very small grained rice, if you cannot get hands on the gobindo bhog.
After simmering for 15 mins, add the rice in. If you are going to add whole cardamom, then add it now. Let it cook on low heat, till the rice is done. It generally takes me about 25-30 mins to get the rice to be soft. It should so soft, that you can easily press it between thumb and forefinger without apply much pressure. At this stage add the cardamom powder and chironji and the sugar.
Let this cool down. Meanwhile take out the mandarin pieces and add 2 tsp of sugar to it and microwave it for about a minute. Remove the pieces and keep separately. We do not want the juices going into the payesh.
When the payesh has cooled down, stir in the sweetened mandarin pieces into it.
That is it. Keep in fridge and you can easily enjoy for a few days, though I have to admit mine doesn’t last that long.
Happy eating..
Payesh is very integral to Bengali celebrations. Whether it is a jonmodin (birthday) or ai-budo-bhaat (part of pre-marriage ceremony), or saadh (baby shower) payesh is a must. Payesh is what we call Kheer in bangla. Kheer means something different in Bangla, it is the lump left after simmering milk for hours...a type of khoya. Among the sweet courses of Bengali cuisine, payesh is considered a different type of sweet than sandesh/doi or rosher misthi(sweets with chashni, or sugar syrup). There were at least 3 different types cooked frequently in our home. Batasha diye payesh. Khejurer guder payesh. Channar payesh.
My dida makes the best payesh. Our annual visit to mama-r badi (mom’s maiden home) was considered an event important enough to warrant this payesh. In the sprawling house one big room was reserved for pujo ghor and my dida would cook a full Bengali meal everyday as part of the pujo. The general household cooking was done by the other female members of the family. I remember hovering around the door (I could not go in till I took a bath) of the pujo ghor to find out what was on menu that day. She used gobindo bhog chal in it. I came to know this only recently. The granules of this rice are very small and fragrant. It lends a whole new dimension for the taste buds to explore. She would use batasha (a type of sugar candy used for religious ceremony) for sweetening rather than sugar. The consistency of the milk was thick, the rice melted in my mouth and the whole thing left a lasting taste. There was a strange sense of well being after eating it. My payesh does not come close to it. I think she did not tell me about the dollops of tenderness and affection that she added.
Bangla is known as the sweetest language. With so many sweets consumed can it be otherwise?
This recipe is as traditional as you can go with payesh, but with a twist I learned from an aunty. We call it Mandarin Payesh and it is a favourite of AS. I can hardly manage to snatch a few spoonfuls if he gets his hands on it first :-).
Mandarin Payesh (Rice pudding with mandarin pieces)
2pints milk
½ cup rice
1 cup sugar (depending on how many sweet teeth you have)
4-5 Cardamom (powdered would be better)
1 small tin Mandarin
Optional
2 tsp chironji dana
¼ tin condensed milk
Take a heavy bottom pan and let the milk come to boil in it, then keep on medium heat and keep stirring every few minutes so that it does not stick to the bottom. I generally use the pressure cooker for this. I add the condensed milk after the first boil. It allows the milk to thicken fast. If you prefer to you full-fat milk then you would not need condensed milk. If you do not have condensed milk, you could add 2 tbsp milk powder. Be aware than the taste differs between condensed milk and milk powder.
Meanwhile, wash and soak the rice in water. This softens the rice and reduces the cooking time. I managed to heave 1 kg of gobindo bhog chaal (rice) all the way from Calcutta to London. Basmati rice does not give the same texture in payesh as this rice. But you could go for very small grained rice, if you cannot get hands on the gobindo bhog.
After simmering for 15 mins, add the rice in. If you are going to add whole cardamom, then add it now. Let it cook on low heat, till the rice is done. It generally takes me about 25-30 mins to get the rice to be soft. It should so soft, that you can easily press it between thumb and forefinger without apply much pressure. At this stage add the cardamom powder and chironji and the sugar.
Let this cool down. Meanwhile take out the mandarin pieces and add 2 tsp of sugar to it and microwave it for about a minute. Remove the pieces and keep separately. We do not want the juices going into the payesh.
When the payesh has cooled down, stir in the sweetened mandarin pieces into it.
That is it. Keep in fridge and you can easily enjoy for a few days, though I have to admit mine doesn’t last that long.
Happy eating..
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