Patali Gur (Date Palm Sugar)
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| Image from Gilt Taste |
Banana Walnut Bread
This one is mostly courtesy of Food Network Test Kitchens . However, I do have an addition to the original recipe: 1/4 to 1/2 cup of cream for a moist loaf. Banana Walnut Bread 1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon fine salt 2 large eggs, at room temperature 1/4 cup cream 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for preparing the pan 1 cup sugar 3 very ripe bananas, peeled, and mashed with a fork (about 1 cup) 1/2 cup toasted walnut pieces Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl, set aside. Whisk the eggs and vanilla together in a liquid measuring cup with a spout, set aside. Lightly brush a 9 by 5 by 3-inch loaf pan with butter. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or with an electric hand-held mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually pour the egg mixture into the butter while mixing until incorporated. Add th...
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Since you have become fond of the foodways of Bengal, let us sort out a few terms that can potentially create confusion. KHEER in Bangla [the language of Bengal] is NOT what goes by that name in northern India, and what you call "watery rice pudding".
Bengali PAYESH is similar to the stuff that in northern India, and horrible restaurants, is called KHEER, but there the resemblance ends!! Making a Bengali PAYESH is like making American FRUIT PIES: varied in type, and requiring skill! PAAYESH is never pallid and never watery!!
BASMATI or aromatic rices come in three genetic forms: the long grain, the medium and the mini grain. The last are common in Bengal and should be used, unless you find the KETAKI variety from Assam. These rices are slightly glutinous, and offer body to the finished product. Rice should be well washed, soaked for a short while, and drained on cotton towels until air dry.
Then, take high quality gaowa ghee, which is traditional cultured yoghurt ghee cooked down over a smoky low fire [e.g. Laksmi Ghee, or traditional ghees, not buffalo ghee] and rub a good dollop into your palm preparatory to taking a small handful of the rice and gently massaging in the ghee, Do this to ALL the rice, and set aside.
Only when this has been complete, can you ritually begin to turn your attention to the milk. This is like the koshering process in Judaic cooking!! Per US gallon of organic FRESH cow milk, add a pint or more of fresh, non-homogenized excellent cream and set in a wonderful heavy pan on a medium low flame over a heat diffuser. bring to a low simmer, and keep reducing until 3/4 gone.
If you keep on reducing the milk, without adding anything, until it is raggedy and almost gone, but still fairly liquid, THAT is the Bengali KHEER, a couple of steps before KHOYA. This is eaten as is, sweetened, with so many of Bengal's cooked breads, and is itself the base of many of Bengal's home-made confections.
Now let us return to the simmering milk. You need some experience here. How much you reduce will affect the thickness of the PAAYESH. In some circumstances, etc. offerings for some pujas, the payesh is made very thick, with a lot of ghee used in the initial rice. Home cooks make their payeshmuch more fluid, and use very little ghee, if any, to massage their rice. You should find your happy mean.
To use gur, you need to dissolve it in warm water and keep it in a separate bowl. Add this at the very end, as you shut off the heat, and the payesh goes off the simmer. ONLY then stir in the gur slurry. This will preserve the aroma, and prevent any curdling or other untoward experiences, like the rice not softening. The rice will not soften nicely if you add sugars along with it, so it must cook gently on its own. Remember this.
Another great Bengali variation is to reduce high quality milk to the pre-kheer [sensu Bengal] stage, sweeten enough with white sugar, and remove from simmer. Have ready peeled, skiined tangerine sections, and gently stir those in. Eat warm. This is kamala lebur Paayesh.
Another great palm sugar is called NOLEN GUR. This is prepared from the initial taps of the palm. It is a light golden syrup, comparable to grade A maple syrup. What is done with this is too yummy to recount in just a single post!!!!