14th November

Wish you all a very Happy Diwali! Stay blessed, stay healthy and stay happy.

Today it will just a quick 'mishti mukh' [sweet for the mouth literally] on the occasion of Diwali. Super hectic week and weekend due to all the ongoing Diwali preparations. 

Chaler payesh is the quintessential sweet recipe from Bengal. Payesh is prepared with rice and full fat milk and when it is made during the winter months, we always add the seasonal favorite nolen gud to add sweetness, flavor and color. Its a mandatory accompaniment with the meal during all the special days and festivals- Durga Puja, Diwali, birthdays, anniversaries etc.

Preparation Time: 5 minutes  

Cooking Time: 15 minutes

Serves: 2

Cuisine: Bengali

Ingredients:

• Gobindo bhog chal / Indrayani Rice/ any fragrant rice- 5 tsp
• Full cream milk - 400 gm
• Bay Leaf - 1
• Raisins (Black or normal) - handful
• Nolen gur (optional) 2 tbsp
• Sugar - 2 1/2 tsp

Procedure

1. Wash and keep the rice soaked in water for 30 minutes.

Note: I have used both gobindobhog rice or Indryani Rice (which we get in Maharashtra) for this kheer and both works amazingly well.

2. Heat a heavy bottomed kadhai and add the full cream milk. Add the bay leaf. Let it come to a rolling boil and then add the soaked rice. Reduce the flame to medium. Keep stirring it continuously so that layer doesn't form on the milk.

Tip: If you are using Indrayani Rice, by nature the rice is a little hard, so in that case add the rice and milk together in the kadhai to give the rice some extra time to cook.

3. When the milk is reduced to half add the sugar. Keep stirring frequently it till the rice is cooked completely.

Note 1: If you are not using gud then increase the amount of sugar to equal amount of rice. In this case 5 tsp.

The recipe for perfect sweetness is 1:1 rice to sugar.

Note 2: Please do not leave the kheer to cook and wander off, as it gets cooked it will quickly start sticking to the pan. Additionally you do not need malai to form on the top of the kheer which will mess with the final texture. So keep stirring every 1 or 2 minutes.

4. Add the raisins at this stage

5. Meanwhile grate the gud and make a paste of it with water and keep aside.

6. When the payesh is almost done, switch off the flame and add the gud to it. Fold in. Make sure you add the gur only after heat is switched off else the milk might curdle.

Let it rest for a while. Top it off with some chopped nuts fried in ghee, rose petals or liquid gud. Serve the payesh hot or cold.

Meanwhile some of the Diwali pictures from this year.