JOL BHORA TALSHASH

I AM LETHARGIC IS TRUE; THAT I DO NOT WISH TO ALLOW IT CONTROL MY LIFE IS ALSO TRUE!

All of the morning I kept thinking whether to go for a walk early, come back & have home cooked food, then sit to write a blogpost or should I write the major part, then go out have food, do my walk & come back! If you take some 15-20 minutes rest after a meal & walk, your food get digested well! That I read somewhere, I can try that because I do not run, neither walk fast! Yesterday, I got severe wind! That I do not drink enough water is the main culprit! I was perfect whilst at home, but we were to go out to furniture warehouses! I sit all day at a particular spot and manage to break that portion of the couch! Once in the car, I was browsing the locations; that was the spoiler! I immediately got severe headache, wind! Once I reached the destination, the man was looking at the furnitures, I had to sit quite! Yet I needed to use the loo! They were surprisingly dirty & dilapidated, unbelievable that such exist in this island! I was wondering how can such big showrooms have these dirty toilets for their employees! You know what, each one of us need to have clean habits! There was no water, nothing! Back home after a shower I had to lock myself in the room! Since I did not have to cook even the rice, I served both of us some heated food & was lying quiet! At night, I could manage some luchi, it was my call, the man never demands! He had his with the mutton keema curry & I had mine with cabbage! I had no issue! I am still a bit weak but I must go out for a walk & eat something healthy! Our plan to eat our lunch outside was jeopardised!

I did not change the used oil, hence that yellow colour! Also, if your luchi dough have more of water than is required, the surface would be uneven! Tam took me to the loo & guarded, the father used to do the same on tours! 

WHY AM I LIKE THIS IN A WORLD THAT IS SMART & FAST MOVING?

I blame our mother & the man too! Our parents did not encourage me to go for proper jobs which one can call a career; neither the man helped me build one! I got to be lazier, overly sensitive! Our mother tended to get a doll as her daughter-in-law who would be a better homemaker than her! I hated that mentality, I asked them not to look for wealth or looks too much, to get home an educated girl, thats important! A family that educates the daughter amidst all odds is a new age family! Anyone believes it or not, I feel too awkward unable to apply for a job in a place that has hundreds of schools! That is only for the fear of working in a machine! If the son has not followed Mumma's footsteps, he has done the right thing! I want him to shine & brighter! Mumma wants phone calls, adulation, yearly meet, video calls; that he refuses! I get angry & then go into depression! My cooking spree need not die off, what would I live with? BTW, I think neither sattu nor corn meal suit us! I made these sattu paratha last Friday for dinner!

They were tasty but we are fine with refined flour & whole wheat flour! I have seen millets too cause me stomach upset, quinoa increases my weight! That corn meal cake I thought of blogging about but it is not tasting good at all, I deleted all of the pictures leaving this one wanting to share the experience with my readers!

Let us eat normal food what we have grown up eating instead of experimenting too much! Weight gain & loss mainly depends upon the amount & type of food intake sans any exercise! Dal, fritters, a choice of vegetable makes me happy! A light fish or mutton or chicken curry are a requirement too!

WHAT IS THIS JOL BHORA TALSHASH?

It is a winter speciality sweet in West Bengal! It uses Date Palm Jaggery that only Bengal produces & consumes! I wonder why the date cultivating countries do not make date palm jaggery? It may be because only the Bengalis have it? This particular jaggery is made from the sap of the date trees! Early morning, drinking that juice had been our winter ritual! Urbanisation has robbed us of such traditions but the world has to move forward, urbanisation is inevitable! You can get a number of videos circulating about the making of date palm jaggery, I have watched the making of it within the family! Thereafter, this particular kind of jaggery is used in the making of the sweets of Bengal or eaten as is with roti-prata throughout the winter! One such gluten-free, vegetarian sweet is this JOL BHORA TALSHASH! The drier sweets in Bengal are usually made with paneer, sugar or this variety of jaggery in the winters! The rest of the enhancements are in your hands! At this time, that red hibiscus plant that grew from a branch I picked up from the roadside is making me happy too besides the authentic Bengali sweet!

I do not have an issue if I look like this after a 6.8 km of walk, but my greying eyebrows & eyelashes cause me discomfort! I feel, had I been doing something fruitful, this would not have bothered me! However, I like well kept selves!

I had an uttapam, would get that in a public post, also the ripe jackfruit pieces I got for myself! Once I finish this post, I would have a good shower, offer the jackfruits to my God Family & enjoy some before the dinner!

INGREDIENTS :

FRESH FULL CREAM MILK : 2 LITRES [I USED MEIJI FRESH MILK]

DATE PALM JAGGERY : 100-150 GM

SUGAR : 2 TSP

VINEGAR : 2-3 TBSP

WATER : 1/2 SMALL TEA CUP

ICE CUBE : 3-4

RICE FLOUR : 2 TBSP

RAISIN : 2 FOR EACH SWEET

PROCEDURE :

We would take the fresh milk in a heavy bottomed utensil & put for boil! I keep the heat at minimal! Meanwhile, we would add the vinegar to the water & stir! 

Once the milk has boiled for some 5 minutes, we would gradually pour the vinegar & water mix to it & stir! Once the milk starts curdling, we would switch off the burner & add to it the ice-cubes! Ice Cubes restrict it from cooking further!

We would pass it through a clean, thin piece of cheese cloth that we would place on a strainer! We would wash it with water & tie the cloth for 1/2 an hour for the whey to drain off! Thereafter, we are to take the fresh paneer on a plate or bowl!

We would add a little of water to the date palm jaggery & melt it in the microwave!

We would knead well the chana / freshly made paneer adding the sugar!

In a wok, we would add the paneer & date palm jaggery & keep stirring at minimal heat for 10-12 minutes! 

Thereafter, we would add the rice flour & continuously stir until the sides leave the pan!

We would transfer it to a bowl & knead once a bit cool! We would grease the pair of mould with a bit of ghee & our palms too!

We would make a little amount of paste with some date palm jaggery & water!

We would use portions of the cooked paneer in one mould and press; make a hole in the middle & add a little of the jaggery in it! 

Again, we would take some portion in another mould and press lightly, join both and take out from the mould gently!

Once done, we would place 2 raisins in each this way as they do it in the sweet shops in Kolkata! I must admit Cristine shapes well than I do! I got the exact taste as in the best sweet shops in Kolkata if not the finish!

Eat them fresh or feel free to refrigerate & have them the next day or within 2-3 days, not beyond that!