Bhature

Chole-Bhature is one of the most popular recipes of North India. It is a breakfast invented in Delhi after partition and now a days, it is a popular breakfast around Northern India and other parts of the country too.

I had spent almost 8 years of my childhood in Punjab and may be that's the reason I have a great affinity towards North Indian cuisine. I have posted the recipe of Punjabi style Chole long back. Here is the link of the recipe for Punjabi Style Chole. It took me almost a year to post the recipe of Bhature (to be very frank I don't know the exact reason). 

Bhature is one of my family's favorites. These soft fluffy deep fried breads are so delectable that I consume 1-2 Bhatures while making them. One might think procedure of making these Bhatures seems to be very tough but trust me this "no failure" recipe will prove them wrong. The first time I made these, I was quite amazed that how soft and fluffy they came out. Since then every attempt I made, I ensured I have it accompanied Chole with Bhatures and nothing else.

One more specialty of this recipe is that its Yeast Free. So, let's keep the calorie part aside and indulge yourself into this lip smacking recipe of Bhature:

Patishapta.......Crepes with Coconut Filling

Last week we all celebrated the Harvest festival which is known as "Makar Sankranti" in India. As India is a very diversified country this festival is known by many names; Bhogali Bihu, Pongal, Magha Sajji, Suggi, Sankrat to name a few. We Bengalis called this festival as "Poush Sankranti" as this festival marks an ending of Bengali month called "Poush".

For us this festival is known for the reason of making "Pithes" so another name for this festival is "Pithe Parbon". I still remember the tradition of making Pithe-Paayesh in my family. My Mom along with my Grand Mother used to make lots of Pithes to celebrate this festival.

To keep the spirit alive I too make some Pithes which I learnt from my Mom. I have posted few recipes of Pithes here. You can have a look here:

Golap Pithe/ Edible Rose Garden

Hridoy Horon Pithe/ Heart Shape Pithe

Malpua/ Sweet Indian Pancakes

Gajorer Patishapta/ Carrot Crepes

Gurer Paayesh/ Rice Pudding with Date Palm Jaggery

As these days Nolen Gur (Date Palm Jaggery) is widely available in West Bengal, so I wanted to combine the goodness of Nolen Gur with the awesomeness of Patishapata. So, let's begin with the recipe:

Gurer Paayesh....Rice Pudding with Date Palm Jaggery

Wishing you all a very happy and prosperous NEW YEAR 2016. May this year brings lot of happiness in your life. Hope you all had enjoyed the festive season and the new year celebrations with your friends and families and of course with lot of food.  

In every bengali household Rice Pudding embarks auspicious occasions and no party is complete without this. There are two ways of preparing rice pudding one with Sugar and the other one with date palm jaggery. 

Date palm jaggery a.k.a Nolen Gur in Bengali, is very special and every Bong's favorite.  It is the first extract of the palm juice. The juice is boiled, a little salt is added to it to act as a preservative, so the jaggery does not taste too sweet. It is then cooled and poured into a long cone made of palm leaves. The cone is then wrapped in rice straws and preserved. At the time of use, the cone is finely sliced, so that the jaggery is cut into a disc with a palm ribbon around the edge. Unfortunately, you get Nolen gur only in winters in West Bengal, Bangladesh and some parts of Southern India.  

As this is the season of Palm Jaggery I thought of preparing this Rice Pudding with Nolen Gur. We Bengalis like to prepare rice puddings with a special kind of rice called as "Gobindo Bhog Rice". Many people prepares it with Basmati Rice too but I believe using Gobindo Bhog Rice takes this pudding to a new level. 

This recipe is very simple to prepare, you just need to keep an eye so it doesn't stick to the bottom. Without any further a let's begin with the recipe: