I always had a sweet corner for sweets. I used to devour sweets whenever I got the chance. I remember those days from school, I used to study at night and my mom always kept sweets loaded in the fridge. My way of taking a break from study was to get hold some sweets and have them.
Those days are gone, and so are the streets of Kolkata, where you’ll find sweet shops on every road. I really miss every kind of sweet, be that the world famous rasogolla, or not that famous chanar sandesh. So, thought of taking up the task to myself; satiating my sweet tooth, preparing something straight from my kitchen.
I was all set to prepare Mugh-daler-laddu. Everything was at place, all the ingredients, I had started making it too. Towards the end of my preparing it I got a call from my mom, adnd almost forgot that the oven was on. I jumped back smelling the burnt smells from kitchen, but everything gone. There was only a charred mass left out in the wok. In addition to this mess, I had to wash the utensil: that was really an awful experience.
But, as usual I never loose heart. So the next day I again set up to prepare something sweet, this time it was not the same as the other day. I prepared chaler-payesh and wow, it was really awesome. Here is it for all of you.
Today is janmasthami, there is Puja going at my home in Kolkata, again missing my family a lot. Neways this preparation is for my mom, and sending it to Festive Food Event hosted by Purva.
Also sending it to Anisheetu’s SWC-Karntaka event. Living inBangalore for more than a year now Ijust couldn’t control myself to send this Bengali style Chaaler Payesh for the Karnataka food event, though the payesham is not much different from this paayesh.
Serves 4
Ingredients:
Sweet smelling Rice (Gabindobhog er chaal): 100gms
Milk (Dudh): 1 ½ l
Sugar (Chini): 150gms
Ghee: 1 teaspoon
Cashew nuts(Kaju Badam): 10gms,
Raisins (Kismis): 10gms
Green cardamom (Choto Elaichi): 3 or 4
Almonds (Badam): 5 or 6
Bay leaf (Tej Pata): 1 or 2
Preparation:
- Boil the milk in very low flame, and let it condense till it become almost ¾ its original volume.
- Meanwhile, add ghee to rice and mix well.
- Drop in the rice when the milk is ready, and now cook on high flame, stirring often.
- As the rice gets cooked add sugar, green cardamom, bay leaf.
- Keep on flame till the sugar melts.
- Throw in the cashew nuts and raisins.
- Serve hot or refrigerate, as you like it. Garnish with raisins, almonds, cashew nuts or any other dry fruits of your choice.
Tips from Granny:
- If you dont get Gobindobog, then work out with good quality Basmati rice
- You can also leave out the ghee, but that does not allow the rice to stick to each other.
- The more you condense the milk, the better it tastes.
Atop chal & gobindobhog chal ki same?
Atop chal and gobindobhog alada. Gobindobhog ektu choto size, and smells good
Just came back from the store with all the ingredients.
All set!
Shudhu ektai akkhep, gobindobhog nei, basmati diye kaj chalabar cheshtay achi
Bangladeshi dokan-e ekta gobindobhog-er mato chal pawa jai, kalojeera na ki baule jeno
…..fried the rice in ghee, its fine but before we should saute cardamom,bayleaf, cinnamon and raisins,then drop rice and fry it….payes gives delicate flavour….
Briz,
there is always a chance of the spices getting burnt and ruining the entire taste of payesh. And, in payes its best to have a subtle taste of the spices. Sauteing those will make the smell of the spices very pungent.
Looks good. Will try it for our ladies party here. Thanks for the recipe.
Chaler payesh is always a hit among all. Try with some freshly roasted cashew nuts as garnish
This looks wonderful. I will give this a try later tonight.
I don’t find gobindobhog chal in Melbourne. Can you suggest any other rice brand that can be used as a substitute for gobindobhog?
If you can find any type thats short in length and smells good, you can try it with that brand.
sorry this is not the channer payesh..it requires thickened milk,crumbled fresh chaana and if possible nuton khejur gur to be added after the milk gets cooled to avoid crumbling….try it..i am sure you’ll like it
Hi Anuja,
We are not talking about chanar payes here. It is chaler payes. Yes of course chanar payes taste great.
Would be a better idea if you cooked the rice in the milk from the beginning – over a low flame. The concept is to form a coating of the milk solid on the rice – giving it the maximum taste. Due to the same reason Basmati is a bad choice – it cooks too soon – and does not allow coating formation. Try ‘Kala Jeera’ rice (Kalo Jeerer Chal) if Gobidobhog is out of reach. And finally for flavouring, try dropping out the bayleafs and try adding Kesar instead. Let me assure you – the result will be astounding. I can say this from my personal experience.
I saute the rice with ghee in the pan before I dump it in the milk.
Thank You, didi. Lokjonke khaiye besh sukhyati holo 🙂
Do take a look at the round up of SWC-K here http://www.tasteofmysore.com/2008/09/swc-karnataka-round-up-1-republished.html
Hey Gal, lovely entry..Payesh looking yum..great going
hey Sudeshna!!
this is a wonderful entry!!!
Payesh looks really tempting!!
Wishing you Happy Janmashtami
Its looks really nice. I will try this recipe. But make it in different way, you can look over here http://jayeetascookingbook.blogspot.in/
Have a nice day!!!