My Recipe of Kheer made of Date Palm Jaggery (Noton Gur or Khajur Gur er Paayesh)

This is a Bengal Special Recipe and is used as sweet dish. What makes this dish special is the use of Jaggery as sweetener instead of sugar. This Jaggery is made out of date palm which is popularly known as Noton Gur which mean 'new jaggery' in Bengal. This traditional jaggery is extracted from the date palm trees during winter months in West Bengal and Bangladesh.

Cook Time

Preparation Time : 15 mins

Cook time             : 1hour 15 mins

Ready in               : 1 hour 30 mins

Yields                    : Serves 7-8 people

Ingredients Required

• 2 litres of Milk
• 1 Bowl Condensed Milk or Milk Powder
• 1/2 cup of Rice (Joha Rice or Basmati Rice or any other rice notable for its aroma)
• 500 g of date jaggery/Noton gur (crushed)
• Handful of almond, raisin and cashew.
• 2 -3 Bayleaves
• 2 tsp ghee

Instructions

1. Clean the rice and mix the rice with 2 spoon of ghee
2. Put a deep bottomed pan on the stove and add milk to it.
3. When the milk start boiling, simmer the stove and add the rice in it Add the bayleaves and dry fruits as well.
4. Stir the rice frequently so that the rice does not stick to the buttom of the pan.
5. When the rice gets a bit cooked add the jaggery into. "Adding any sweetener before rice is boiled might delay the rice being cooked and it will prolong the procedure."
6. Once the milk becomes little thickened, you can add the condensed milk. If you opt to add milk powder, add the powder to hot water and  then mix it in the pan.
7. When the rice gets cooked properly, check the sweetness of the kheer/paayesh. If you find it less sweet, you can add more Jaggery.
8. Your delicious Paayesh or Kheer is ready to be served.

This kheer tastes equally good once it becomes cold. The same procedure or recipe can be used to make kheer by using sugar. Just use sugar instead of Jaggery.