PATALI GURER KANCHAGOLLA

Patali Gur / Nolen Gur / Khejur Gur / Notun Gur .... these all are actually Date-Palm Jaggery. Patali Gur is the hardened form while Nolen or Khejur Gur is in liquid form. Is there any difference between them ..... remains always my question to the shopkeepers back home who do not come clear with their answer. At this point, I miss our maternal grandfather who would have given satisfactory answer to my query. What I have found is that when we boil the patali gur adding some water, we get the liquid form called nolen gur. Going back to my childhood, I have seen our maternal grandmother boiling Date Palm Juice in big pots for hours in clay ovens to get Date Palm Jaggery. Later our mom used to do the same in her gas oven. Now she has stopped given the skyrocketing price of a gas cylinder back home. 

On my winter visits to Kolkata, I buy my Patali Gur, pack them nicely and bring here. This time I almost bought a container of liquid Khejur Gur [date palm jaggery] too but changed my mind fearing they may spoil my sarees and all the new clothes I was carrying. For whom do I take the risk, my men do not have a Bengali tastebud. They love their share of Bengali sweets, chicken, mutton and fleshy fish varieties though. At times, I tell them you are not mine, one whose winter morning does not start with Triangular Paratha and a small bowl of liquid Khejur Gur, cannot be called a Bengali. Looking back I can see a little girl wearing a divine smile, tearing small pieces of parathas, dipping it into the khejur gur..... and then what happens is a divine pleasure.... as accompaniment I always had with me my favourite characters 'Tenida', 'Ghanada', 'Felula'. At that tender age, I even enjoyed reading Homer, but when it came to Science, Mathematics or even doing Topo Maps, I used to get totally numb and dumb. 

Those mornings when the balcony of our two roomed rented home glittered with 'Shuktara' and 'Anandamela' [bi-monthly Children Magazine], I couldn't concentrate at my school, eagerly waited for the homecoming. I loved only literature and history, chose a wrong subject as major. Later during my masters, wished to switchover to anthropology but was not eligible. Then I continued with the same subject because the mother of the house wished to see the tag. No wonder why our son has developed this much  love for history.

By now my readers must have known I use this space to pen down my thoughts about life and various social issues. I love to keep my life as an open book, I am not Kareena Kapoor that my TRP goes down doing that.Today happens to be my little brother's birthday. I remember it was a Basant Panchami day and  the celebration of the birthday of the Indian national hero Subhash Chandra Bose...... had he been allowed to continue as the leader after independence, we could have seen a better India. Of course West Bengal would not have been treated as a step child as had been for the past sixty years. I am not interested in who Gumnami Baba was, I like many others lament over the fact how a promising leader was sabotaged. 

Coming to my brother, he is seven years younger to me, I had always been a very protective elder sister. He is adorable who does not understand life till date. I do not know when the happy go lucky will grow up, I blame it on the over protective mother. It also happens to be my sister-in-law's wedding anniversary.... I wish them all a blissful and happy life.

These Patali Gurer Kanchagolla [a sweet with date palm jaggery] can be made in a jiffy. I do have a Kanchagolla recipe in the blog done with sugar as I love it since my childhood. While in Kolkata last time, our friend Chandreyee got us this nolen gurer kanchagolla from Balaram Mallick... a famous sweet shop in Kolkata. We used to buy it from the neighbourhood sweet shops, they were good if eaten fresh! It is particularly during the winter, when the Bengali markets are flooded with nolen / khejur / patali , each Bengali home and sweet shop make pithe and sweets with it. We call it notun gur because we get it with the onset of winter and finish off by the start of spring. All Bengali bloggers will have an array of Date Palm Jaggery sweets displayed on their blog during this  period of the year, I am adding mine. Let us prepare this Patali Gurer Kanchagolla together with homemade paneer and date palm jaggery. 

INGREDIENTS :[for the homemade paneer]

Fresh Milk : 2lt 
Lemon Juice : 3tbsp [I used 2 tbsp vinegar + 5 tbsp water mixture]

Ice Cubes : 1 medium cup

INGREDIENTS : [ for the final product]

Homemade Paneer : As we get
Patali Gur [date palm jaggery] : 100-150gm

METHOD :

Pour the milk in a heavy bottomed pan. Bring to a boil and add the vinegar mix. As the milk curdles, add the ice-cubes, strain through a cotton mesh immediately. Wash under the tap water, tie to the kitchen tap for about 40-45 minutes.

Once the water has drained, take down and transfer to a bowl. Mash and knead well. We will get a smooth ball of paneer / chana / cottage cheese.

Melt the date palm jaggery adding 2-3 tbsp water.

We will take 1/2 the paneer dough, more than 1/2 of the jaggery, 1 tbsp ghee in a pan we do not use to cook vegetables, meat, fish.

Cook at minimal heat until when the water just dries up, 8-10 minutes, add to the remaining uncooked paneer, also the rest of the date palm jaggery. Knead everything well once the cooked stuff cools a bit.

You can add green cardamom powder and raisins or other dry fruits if you wish to, I did not. Shape into round balls called Kanchagollas. It tastes the best if served fresh and warm.

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