Oh Kolkata Team
Bengali people are the master chefs when it comes to the question of making savory sweets and desserts! Each bong sweet dish carries the essence of Bengal within its core and most importantly is prepared with all foodie bong emotions embedded with them! Immensely popular for Mishti Doi and the king of all sweets, Rasgulla, Bengal has many other mouth-watering sweets that represent the delicacy of Bengal’s intricate and delicious cuisine with their very own bong taste and flavors! Here are the recipes of 5 immensely popular bong homemade sweet dishes that can be cherished anytime with much craving and nostalgia.
Narkel Naru is perhaps one of the most loved homemade sweets ever invented in the whole world! It can be identified as the cultural icon that officially draws the end of Durga Puja, the most celebrated Bengali festival! There is perhaps not a single Bengali soul who can even think of Dashami or Kojagori Laxmi Puja without these juicy and savory coconut balls. Narkel Naru can be prepared both with jaggery and sugar, for this list we are focusing on Sada Narkel Naru, prepared with grated coconut, condensed milk, and sugar and cardamom powder.
Firstly pour the grated coconut in a big kadhai along with condensed milk and a generous amount of sugar! Always remember, the sweeter it will taste, the better will be the experience! Keep stirring on a low medium heat and try to keep the mixture white, as it will look better in the final product! Keep checking with the hand until the mixture gets sticky and a beat oily. Now add a 2-3 spoon of all-purpose flour and keep stirring for 15 more minutes! Switch off the flame and sprinkle cardamom powder over the sticky mixture! Now roll the mixture into small rounded shapes, and do finish this process while the mixture is hot. Remember, if you wait for the mixture to be cool down, you will not be able to roll the Naru! After you finish making the tiny and juicy coconut balls your Narkel Naru is prepared! Now take these mouth-watering sweets and feel the sweet delicacy of Bengal to its core.
Pati-Sapta is one of the oldest Bengali sweets that have been hugely celebrated for its fine and delicious taste around the state. The sweet dish is a soft rice crepe folded with mouth-watering fillings of coconut, jaggery, and makha sondesh especially prepared in every bong household during the Makar Sankranti in January, but now is enjoyed throughout the year for its out of the world taste that will provide instant satisfaction to your foodie soul!
To make Pati-Sapta firstly make a thin batter with rice flour, all-purpose flour, and semolina. Add a bit of salt to enhance the taste, now make fine and fried crepes with the batter and make round shaped crepes with that. To make the filling, you have to make a sticky mixture of grated coconut, makha sondesh, and a generous amount of jaggery. Now pour this sticky and extremely sweet mixture of coconut, jaggery, and makha sondesh vertically into the round-shaped salty crepes and make an envelope and stick the edges with cold water. Your Pati-Sapta is quite ready, fry each of the Pati-Saptas quite well. You can dip these into heavy sugar syrup or can enjoy the fried version, each of the versions has their specific delicacy and demand! Both so savory and delicious you cannot stop just after having one!
Bhaja Pithe is perhaps one of the most popular deep-fried homemade sweets (or can be defined as sweet-snacks!) of all time! A savory-sweet snack prepared specially during January at the time of the harvest festival, Bajha Pithe is one of the most popular members of the ‘Pithe family’ of rural Bengal!
To make Bhaja Pithe, first prepare the soft dough with rice flour, all-purpose flour, boiled Moong daal, and sweet potatoes. Add jaggery to sweeten the mixture and prepare soft dough to make Bhaja Pithe. Now make the sticky and sweet filling with grated coconut and jaggery, add a pinch of cardamom powder for a mouth-watering flavor. Now cut small pieces, firstly make each shape-round, then press with your thumb and make a bowl-like shape with the dough. Fill the space with the sweet filling and close the edges like puli pithe! Now deep fry your Bhaja Pithe in mustard oil and serve the delicacy with condensed milk or melting jaggery!
The Bengali version of simui-er payesh is perhaps one of the most celebrated homemade sweet dishes carrying the essence of joyous eid within its core. The sweet dish prepared heavy cream milk, vermicelli, raisins; cashew nuts crushed cardamom, and sugar.
To make Bengali simui-er payes, first, boil the heavy cream milk in a deep container along with sugar. Do not forget to soak and wash the raisins and cashew nuts and fry those in gaoa ghee first. Boil the milk for 15 minutes and do taste the sweetness, add more sugar if you feel. Now take a cauldron and fry the vermicelli in ghee until golden brown. Add a bay leaf to enhance flavor. Now add the fried raisins and cashew nuts to the cauldron fry for 1-1.5 minutes and then pour the mixture in the boiled and sweetened milk, boil for five more minutes and end up cooking with sprinkles of crushed cardamom. Let the simui sit first and after it gets cold at room temperature, refrigerate the payes well. Serve the creamy dessert chilled. We bet the creamy texture will blow your mind with its exquisite sweetness and unique flavor.
We will finish our today’s list with another deep-fried immensely popular homemade sweet, which bears the very flavor of festivity within its texture and flavor. Yes, guys and girls, we are indeed talking about malpua. The Bengali version of malpua is quite simple and innovative if compared to all other versions and this simplicity is perhaps the reason that adds the special charm to the bong version of malpua.
To make Malpua, pour milk into a deep container, add some mewa or milk powder to it, add rice flour, all-purpose flour, fennel seeds, and cardamom powder and make a thin batter to make the malpua. To make fluffy and juicy malpua beat the batter for a few minutes and set aside for at least 1.5 hours, it will enhance the texture of the final product! Meanwhile, make your sugar syrup in another deep pan. Add sugar generously in water and boil until the sugar gets dissolved. Add one or 2 spoons of lemon juice to the syrup, it will prevent the crystallization process and will also add a mouth-watering flavor to the syrup. Now pour vegetable oil into a cauldron and pour one cup of the batter to make each malpua after the oil gets hot. Cook in medium heat and deep fry the batter well. You should fry each side of a malpua for at least five minutes. Fry until the malpua gets golden brown and take each of them out of the cauldron and dip into the sugar syrup. Dip for 10 minutes for getting an immensely juicy and sweet result! Garnish with chopped pistas and khoa kheer and enjoy hot, juicy malpua melting into your mouth creating an instant craving for more!
