I am very happy to share my first post on Bengali recipes , Chaler payesh. Last month I posted a query in CAL group in Facebook to suggest me some yummy bengali lunch menu recipes. I got so many suggestions and recipe links to try. Thanks everyone for helping me in finding out some good Bengali vegetarian recipes. Sorry, as I was busy in travel and household chores, I couldn’t try them immediately. But I kept searching and bookmarking some yummy recipes from various websites. And finally I made a delectable Bengali vegetarian thali for the first time on last saturday. I prepared around 8 dishes which are a must & should recipes in an authentic Bengali lunch menu. We loved the thali very much and I had the same for dinner too!
Before sharing the entire platter, I just want to post all the recipes one by one here. To start with, here is an easy, tasty, simple Bengali chaler payesh recipe. This payesh is nothing but our Indian style rice pudding or rice kheer made by boiling thick milk with aromatic rice(Gobindo bogh) n sugar.
Traditional chaler payesh is prepared by adding date palm jaggery or Khejurer gur is used in Bengal. But I used sugar. Some people use condensed milk too. Its a very tasty, simple to make & flavourful Bengali dessert. This dessert is prepared in all Bengali homes for most of their festivals like Durga puja, Lakshmi puja etc. I had some doubts between this payesh & Nolen gurer payesh and its consistency.
Special thanks to
Deepasri Deb for giving a clear explanation which helped me to make this payesh perfect. It turned out so delicious and very flavourful. We loved it a lot. I have made this twice within a week. Once with basmati and second time with jeera rice. The smell of basmati rice/Jeera rice, bay leaf and cardamom while boiling in milk was fantastic. One must feel this fragrance more than I say. So I would give 5* rating for this recipe and suggest everyone to try this yummy, easy Bengali sweet recipe if you are a beginner for this cuisine. U will love it for sure. And for this recipe, I referred many websites like
Hamaaree rasoi, Cook like a bong and Sanjeev kapoor’s Video.
Chaler payesh recipe
Chaler payesh - Easy bengali dessert recipes
Cuisine: Indian
Category: Sweet
Serves: Serves 4
Prep time: 5 Minutes
Cook time: 30 Minutes
Total time: 35 Minutes
INGREDIENTS
- Milk - 1 litre
- Basmati or Jeera rice - 1/3 cup (Use Gobindo bhog for best taste)
- Sugar - 1/3 - 1/2 cup
- Cardamom - 4 pods
- Nuts n dry fruits – to garnish
- Ghee – 2 tsp (optional)
- Bayleaf - 2 nos
- Salt - A pinch
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HOW TO MAKE CHALER PAYESH - METHOD
- Boil milk in a wide bowl and when it starts to roll boil, add bay leaf and slightly crushed cardamom pods.
- Wash the rice and add to the milk. Allow it to boil in low to medium flame till rice gets cooked well but it should be firm & soft without losing its shape. Generally rice takes longer time to cook. So keep mixing every now and then and make sure it is not burnt in the bottom.
- When the rice is almost cooked, remove bay leaf(optional) & add sugar,a pinch of salt & mix well. Let it boil till the mixture thickens slightly.
- Switch off the flame. Add nuts and ghee ( optional). Allow it to cool, refrigerate and serve chilled. Enjoy ! This payesh would thicken as it cools down. So adjust the consistency by adding little boiled milk before serving !
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Note
- Thanks to Ushnish Gosh ji for sharing few tips to make this payesh perfect. I have added them above.
- The consistency of this payesh should be thick. So make it accordingly.
- I removed the bay leaf before adding sugar by following sanjeev kapoor’s video. If you wish, you can keep it till the end.
- I felt jeera rice gives more flavour than Basmati rice for this payesh. But its purely your choice.
- Usually ghee & water is not used in this recipe. Milk gives the taste. You can add little ghee if you wish.
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Enjoy this thick, chilled, creamy Bengali payesh. It tastes yumm !!
.Let me tell u what is caramel for beginners sake.Caramel is nothing but the sugar syrup heated until it turns brown.It is used as a flavouring or colouring for food or drink.But if you are a beginner,u should be very careful in making it.Over burning of sugar makes the caramel dark and bitter but if u do it patiently in low flame,u can achieve it right.When i browsed for this caramel payasam recipe after my MIL told about it,i found most of the recipes were with basmati rice,aval/rice flakes and rice flour.But i tried a simple and easy version with milk & nuts as suggested by my MIL.So its like our usual Paal payasam/Milk kheer with caramel flavor.You can make this payasam instantly for your surprise guests.Moreover Holi festival is nearing our door steps.So u can plan and make it on Holi day ! I will try to share some more interesting recipes for HOLI.Stay tuned !
Milk payasam/Kheer recipe adding caramelized sugar & nuts ! 
.So i just halved my quantity and shared the recipe here.This would be sufficient for 2-3 people.Ok,lets see how to prepare thinai arisi payasam recipe.
. Though this is not the authentic method of making chakka payasam, its sure a quick fix to make an easy dessert in minutes.
