bengali mishti

MALAI CHOP (PANEER SANDWICH)

YOU NEED Paneer made out of 2 lt milk; 2 tsp flour; 5 cups sugar; 12 cups of water; 1 tsp soapnut (reetha) water; For the stuffing: 150 gm khoya; 2 tbsp finely chopped almond; 1 tbsp chopped pistachio; 4 tbsp coarsely powdered batashas (puffed sugar); 1 tsp green cardamom powder; milk as needed. FOR THE STUFFING: 1. Mashkhoya. Mix with all the other ingredients for the stuffing and enough milk to make a thick cream. 2. Boil the sugar with the water. Make a thin syrup. It should just feel slightly sticky. 3. Grind the paneer in a mixie. Knead once more with your hands. 4. Mix the flour well. 5. Divide into 24 portions and shape each into a square. 6. Drop the paneer pieces carefully in the boiling syrup. Boil for 5 minutes. 7. Add half a teaspoon of the soapnut water. This will make the syrup froth. 8. Cover and cook for 20 minutes. As the syrup gets lightly thickened, and 1 tablespoon of hot water. Do this a few times. In between add the rest of the soapnut solution as well. 9. When done, the paneer pieces will float on top. 10. Remove from fire. Take the paneer squares out of the syrup and drain. 11. Take one square. Smear some of the stuffing. Cover with another. 12. Make twelve sandwiches similarly. 13. Chill & serve.

KHEER MOHAN (CREAM SANDWICH)

YOU NEED Paneer made out of 1 lt milk; 1 tsp flour; 50 gm khoya; 3 tsp ground sugar; 3 drops edible yellow colour; 1/2 tsp rose essence; 3 cups sugar; 7 1/2 cups water. 1. Make a thin syrup with sugar and water. 2. Knead paneer soft. Add 1 tsp flour. Knead again. 3. Divide into 10 equal sized balls. Flatten them. 4. Put syrup on fire. Carefully drop the balls. Cover and boil for 8 minutes. 5. Remove cover. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of hot water. Partially cover the pan & boil for another 10 mts. They are done, when they rise to the surface. 6. Take off fire and keep them for four hours. 7. Meanwhile, make the filling. Mash khoya. Add rose essence, 3 drops of yellow colour and the ground sugar. Mix well. Divide this in 10 portions. 8. Take the balls out of the syrup and drain well. 9. Now, take each ball and cut horizontally in half. Spread one portion of the filling of one half and sandwich with the other. 10. Decorate with silver foil, if you like.

PRANAHARA (SANDESH WITH KHEER)

This is a very soft sandesh. If difficult to mould, just form into balls. YOU NEED 500 gm paneer, 50 gm khoya; 125 gm sugar; 2 drops of rose essence. 1. Knead paneer well until smooth. The paneer for the sandesh can be blended in a mixie. But in that case, after blending, take it out of the mixie and knead it with your palms once to make sure that there is no lump left. 2. Add sugar. 3. Put on a low heat in a karahi. Stir well with a wooden spoon. The mixture will become syrupy. Let the moisture dry up a little. Stir carefully. 4. Now take off fire. But keep on stirring for another three to four minutes. 5. Put on low heat again for two minutes. Stir. 6. Take off fire. Stir for another couple of minutes and put back on fire for another two minutes. 7.

Repeat. The whole mixture must become a sticky mass. It must not dry up completely, but still should be somewhat syrupy. Take off fire. Keep covered for five minutes. Throughout the stirring process, keep on rubbing the mixture with the wooden spoon against the sides of the karahi. This is very important for the texture of the sandesh to be smooth. 8. Grind khoya in a mixie. Add to the paneer mixture. Mix thoroughly. 9. Divide into lime sized balls. Press into moulds.

AMRITA KUMBHA (SANDESH BOWL)

This sandesh never fails to win acclaim. But, actually, it is quite easy to prepare. Do try it. It was invented by K.C.Das. YOU NEED 1 kg paneer, 450 gm sugar, powdered; 2 drops ice cream essence; paneer kheer as needed. 1. Blend paneer in mixie and then knead with hand until very soft and smooth. 2. Add the powdered sugar and put on medium high flame in a karahi. 3. Stir for 5 minutes. Remove from fire. Stir very well for 5 minutes with a wooden spoon, rubbing against the sides of the vessel. 4. Do this twice again. The mixture should be comparatively dry, but still retain some moisture. 5. Take off heat. Add essence of ice cream. Keep on stirring. 6. When cool enough to handle, divide the mixture into large balls. 7. Mould each ball with hand and shape it like a khullar or a plain bowl. 8. Leave them to dry on a tray. 9. Just before serving, put in a little chilled paneer kheer. 10. You may even colour the paneer to make coloured edible bowls.

SARPURIA (SANDESH WITH TOP OF THE MILK) Sarpuria is a famous sweet of Krishan Nagar. Actually, it is entirely made of malai or the top of the milk. The whole process of making authentic sarpuria is extremely complicated and timeconsuming. Is a simplified version. YOU NEED 250 gm paneer, 100 gm sugar; 2 green cardamoms, powdered; malai as needed. 1. You may grind paneer in a mixie. Then knead it with your palms. 2. Add sugar. Put on low heat and stir well with a wooden spoon. 3. Keep pushing and paneer mixture against the sides of the karahi and rub well with the wooden spoon. 4. When the mixture becomes thick, but is still quite moist, take off fire. 5. Keep on rubbing and stirring till sandesh cools a little. 6. Spread on a very lightly greased plate. 7. Sprinkle the cardamom powder. 8. Spread malai evenly all over the sandesh. The more you can use, the better. There should be a thick layer of malai. 9. Cut into squares when cool and serve.

KHIRER CHANCH (CONCENTRATED MILK MOULD) One gets very pretty moulds of various shapes and sizes in the market. Grease the moulds before using. YOU NEED 500 gm khoya; 250 gm sugar; 1 tsp powder green cardamom. 1. Grind khoya till smooth. 2. Mix khoya and sugar together and put on medium high flame in a karahi. 3. Keep stirring. The mixture will become thin at first. 4. Take

off fire when the liquid evaporates and the mixture becomes a light brown in colour. 5. Add green cardamom powder. 6. When cool enough to handle, divide it into lemon sized balls. 7. Take one ball and press it gently against a lightly greased mould. Keep aside. Make others the same way. You may keep these for a few days.

MISHTI SINGARA (SWEET SAMOSA) - BENGALI STYLE A sweet change from the ubiquitous savoury samosas. YOU NEED For the casing : 1 cup flour; 1 tsp melted ghee or groundnut oil; water as required. For the filling : As for coconut balls or six leftover burfis or pedas; 2 tbsp chopped cashewnuts; 3/4 cup powdered sugar; ghee or groundnut oil for frying. For the casing : 1. Sift flour. Rub in the ghee or oil with fingertips. Knead into a firm dough with a little water. 2. Divide the dough into small balls. 3. Roll into thin rounds and then cut into halves horizontally. Wet the edges of each half and turn one half over the other and form into a cone. 4. Put a heaped teaspoon of the filling in each cone. Seal edges firmly. 5. Heat oil or ghee in a karahi. Deep fry the samosas. 6. Drain onto the powdered sugar directly. 7. Alternatively, the fried samosas can be dipped into thick sugar syrup and drained immediately.

CHANDANI MADHURI (PANEER CAKES IN KHEER) - BENGALI STYLE YOU NEED 2 lt milk; 200 gm sugar; 50 gm batasha (puffed sugar); 1 tsp green cardamom powder; 1 tbsp chopped cashewnuts; 1/2 kg paneer, 2 tbsp flour; ghee or groundnut oil for frying. 1. Batasha made out of jaggery is preferred. 2. Boil milk till reduced to one fourth of its original volume. Add sugar and batasha. Stir till sugar dissolves. Remove. 3. Knead paneer well in a mixie. Knead once again with your palm. Add flour and half of the green cardamom powder. Mix well. 4. Divide paneer mixture into marble size balls. Flatten into patties. 5. Heat ghee or oil. Fry the paneer patties till golden. Fry both sides well. Take out with perforated spoon. 6. Put in the kheer. 7. Sprinkle green cardamom powder and decorate with chopped nuts.

SARAMRITA (PANEER CAKE WITH TOP OF THE MILK) - BENGALI STYLE A sweet worth the expense. YOU NEED 500 gm paneer, 250 gm khoya; 1/2 cup semolina; 1 cup malai or top of the milk; 500 gm sugar; 2 tbsp chopped cashewnuts; 250 gm ghee or groundnut oil; a few drops essence of rose. 1. Mix malai and semolina together and keep for 15 minutes. 2. Knead paneer and khoya separately. 3. Mix paneer, khoya and semolina mixture together. Knead like a dough. If needed add a little flour to make a smooth dough. 4. Divide into small balls. Stuff with a little chopped nut. Shape into squares. 5. Prepare a syrup of 2-thread consistency with the sugar and a cup of water. 6.

Fry the paneer squares in ghee or oil. Add one tablespoon of pure ghee with the oil. Fry till golden. 7. Fry the paneer squares in ghee or oil. Add one tablespoon of pure ghee with the oil. Fry till golden. 8. Add rose essence and cool.

KHEERER ROLL (CONDENSED MILK ROLL) BENGALI STYLE A simplified process. Make use of milk powder. YOU NEED 2 cups milk powder; 1/2 cup flour; 1/2 cup plain milk; 2 tbsp pure ghee; 2 cups ghee or groundnut oil for frying; 2 cups sugar; 2 tbsp rose water. 1. Make a syrup of 1-thread consistency with the sugar and one cup of water. 2. Mix powdered milk, flour and 2 tbsp pure ghee together. 3. Add the plain milk and mix into a smooth dough. Do not add the milk all at once. Add a little at a time as needed. 4. Divide the dough into large lime sized balls. 5. Shape each into a roll 2 cm thick. 6. Keep on a tray and let dry for 10 minutes. 7. Heat ghee in a heavy frying pan, preferably a non-stick one. 8. Fry two or three rolls at a time till golden. 9. Soak the rolls in syrup for at least 12 hours for the syrup to penetrate. 10. But if you are in a hurry, simmer the rolls in the syrup for ten minutes.

KHEERER LUCHI (STUFFED SWEETENED POORI) - BENGALI STYLE YOU NEED 1/2kg flour; 1/2 tsp soda-bi-carb; 500 gm ghee or groundnut oil; 20 green cardamoms; 2 1/2 lt. milk; 100 gm semolina; 750 gm sugar. 1. Powder the green cardamom seeds. 2. Make a syrup of 3-thread consistency with the sugar and two cups water. 3. Mix 100 gm ghee, soda, flour, semolina, a little cardamom powder and 1/2 litre milk. Make a smooth batter and keep aside for a hour. 4. Boil two litre milk till thick like condensed milk. Add one tablespoon sugar. Simmer for 10 minutes. Stir continuously. Add the rest of the cardamom powder. Set aside. 5. Heat one tablespoon of ghee or oil in a heavy frying pan preferably in non-stick one. 6. Pour a ladleful of batter and swirl in a circular motion. 7. Spread a little of the kheer over it and again pour another ladleful of batter on it. 8. Fry on the other side also till light brown. Spread another tablespoon of ghee as you fry. Prepare the other poories the same way. 9. Soak in syrup. 10. Can be served warm or cold.

LAVANG LATIKA - BENGALI STYLE

YOU NEED For the casing : 250 gm flour; 15 cloves; 1 1/2 tbsp ghee or groundnut oil; a pinch of baking powder; ghee or groundnut oil for frying. For the stuffing : Like paraki. For the syrup : 250 gm sugar; 1/2 cup of water. 1. Make a syrup of 2-string consistency. For the casing : 1. Sieve flour and baking powder together. 2. Rub the ghee with the flour and knead to a stiff dough. 3. Divide it into 15 equal balls. 4. Roll out each ball into a thin round, the size of a poori. 5. Place one portion of these stuffing in the centre. 6. Fold four corners over one another like an envelope. It should form a

tight square. 7. Stick a clove in the centre so that the four corners are held securely. 8. Keep covered with a damp cloth. Frying : 1. Heat ghee or oil in karahi for deep frying. 2. Lower two or three lavang latikas at a time gently with the clove side downward. 3. Fry on medium fire and splash ghee on them. 4. Fry to a golden colour. 5. Take out with a perforated spoon, holding it slanting against the rim of the pan for a little while so that the extra ghee drips down. 6. Put them in the ready syrup. 7. Serve after four hours so that the lavang latikas can soak in the syrup.

CHHANAR PULAO (PANEER PULAO) - BENGALI STYLE This sweet is made in two stages. The small paneer balls are prepared separately. Then the pulao is made and finally both are combined. YOU NEED For the Paneer Balls : 100 gm paneer, 2 tsp flour; 1 pinch of baking powder; ghee or groundnut oil for frying. For the Pulao : 200 gm paneer; 1/2 tsp baking powder; ghee or groundnut oil for frying. For the Syrup : 300 gm sugar; 2 bay leaves; 1 black cardamom; 2.5 cm long cinnamon. 1. Prepare the syrup first. Boil sugar with a cup of water, bay leaves, black cardamom and cinnamon. Prepare a syrup of 2-string consistency. For the Paneer Balls : 1. Knead the paneer, flour and the baking powder together till a smooth dough is formed. 2. Make peasized balls out of it. 3. Fry these in ghee or oil till brown. 4. Soak in sugar syrup. 5. Take out after an hour when enough syrup has penetrated them. 6. Drain well and keep aside. For the Pulao : 1. Knead the paneer and the baking powder, together till well mixed and smooth. 2. Heat ghee or oil in a karahi. Take off fire when smoking. 3. Take a perforated ladle. Rub the lump of paneer against it and directly into the karahi. The paneer will fall in small vermicelli like pieces. 4. Do this in batches. Fry as much of the paneer at a time as the karahi will comfortably hold. Work quickly or else the ghee will get cold. 5. Fry on a slow fire. Do not let the paneer colour. Take out while still off-white. 6. Put this fried paneer in syrup for half an hour. Strain. 7. Add the fried paneer balls to this. Mix well and serve.

SITABHOG - BENGALI STYLE

This is the sweet the city of Burdwan is famous for. YOU NEED 300 gm paneer, 200 gm rice flour, made of basmati rice; 750 gm sugar; 4 tsp pure ghee; ghee or groundnut oil for frying. 1. Prepare a syrup of 1-thread consistency with the sugar and two cups water. 2. Rub 4 teaspoon of pure ghee with the rice flour. 3. Add this to the paneer. Knead well to mix thoroughly. 4. Divide the mixture in four portions. 5. Heat ghee or oil in a karahi. When smoking hot, remove from fire. 6. Now, take a perforated ladle. Rub one part of the dough against the ladle and into the ghee. The dough will fall like small vermicelli pieces. 7. Put karahi back on a slow fire. Fry for a couple of minutes and take out. The paneer pieces must not change colour but remain white. Drain well. 8. Again, heat ghee and likewise fry the rest of the dough. 9. Put in syrup. Mix well. Keep for ten minutes and strain. 10. Spread the sitabhog on a tray.

KHAJA (FLAKY PASTRY IN SYRUP) - BENGALI STYLE This takes a little practice and expertise to make successfully. But not that difficult if you persevere. YOU NEED 3 cups flour; 6 tbsp ghee; 1 cup milk; a pinch of salt; 2 cups sugar; 5 cardamoms, powdered; ghee or groundnut oil for deep frying; 4 tbsp rice flour. 1. Sift flour and salt together. Rub in 4 tbsp ghee and knead to a stiff dough with the milk. Do not add the milk all at once. Go on adding as needed. Knead vigorously to make the dough pliable. 2. Divide the dough in 24 equal portions. Roll each into a thin chapati. 3. Heat the remaining 2 tbsp ghee a little. Add the rice flour to it and cream well. 4. Take one chapati and smear it with a little of the rice flour mixture. Place a second chapati on the first one, but slightly lower from the upper edge. Again smear it with the mixture. Arrange eight layers of chapati like this, each chapati a little lower than the previous one. 5. Cut the roll into thin slices. 6. Roll out each slice into a thick puri. Likewise roll the slices. 7. Heat oil on medium fire. Deep fry these poories till crisp but try not to let it colour much. It should remain as white as possible. 8. Prepare a syrup of 3-thread consistency with the sugar and a cup of water. 9. Dip 3 or 4 khajas at a time in the warm syrup. When they are well coated, drain extra syrup. Remove and keep on a flat tray till the syrup dries.

DOI-ER MALPOA (CURD MALPUA) - BENGALI STYLE YOU NEED 2 cups flour; 1/2 cup curd; 1/2 cup water; 1/4 cup ground ginger; 1/2 tsp baking powder; 1/2 tsp saffron soaked in 1 tbsp milk; 1/2 tsp powdered green cardamom; Ghee for frying; 1 cup sugar + 1 cup water for sugar syrup. 1. Make a thick syrup with 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of water. Keep aside. 2. Sift flour and baking powder together. Mix the curd with water. Mix flour, curd and sugar together. Add saffron and cardamom powder. 3. The batter should be of pouring consistency. Add milk, if needed. Cover and leave aside for a couple of hours. 4. Heat ghee in a frying pan or tawa. Put a ladleful of batter and swirl the pan so that the batter forms a round shape. 5. Fry on both sides until golden brown. 6. Dip it in the sugar syrup and take out immediately. 7. Finish making all the malpoas the same way. 8. Serve either hot or cold.

MANIKBHOG (PARWAL SWEET) - BENGALI STYLE This amply illustrates how the sweet-toothed Bengalis convert a favourite vegetable into a sweet. YOU NEED 1 1/2 kg large tender parwals (pointed gourd); 300 gm khoya; 50 gm semolina;; 1 pinch of alum powder; 1 pinch of sweet lime powder (the sort used for paan); 1/2 tsp rose water; 450 gm sugar; 1 1/2 cups of water; silver foil for decoration. 1. Peel the parwals. 2. Make a slit in the middle and take out and discard the pith and the seeds. 3. Mix lime and alum powders in a bowl of water and

immerse the parwals in it for six hours. 4. In the meantime, make the sugar syrup of 1-string consistency. 5. Take out the parwals after 6 hours & wash well in hot water at least thrice. 6. Boil the parwals in the syrup on a slow fire till transparent and somewhat glazed. 7. Take out and drain. 8. Fry semolina on a dry griddle it changes colour. 9. Mix khoya, semolina, rose water and a little powdered sugar and knead. 10. Stuff a little of this mixture in each parwal. 11. Decorate with silver foil. 12. A few chopped nuts can be mixed with the stiffing.

MOHANBHOG (SEMOLINA PUDDING) - BENGALI STYLE YOU NEED 1 cup semolina; 3/4 cup sugar; 1 cup milk; 1/4 cup groundnut oil; 1 handful of raisins; 1/4 tsp powdered green cardamom; 1 tbsp pure ghee. 1. Heat oil in a small karahi over medium flame. 2. Put in the raisins. When they puff up add the semolina. Stir well for three minutes. 3. Now add the sugar. Stir, and at once, add the milk. 4. Keep stirring throughout, otherwise it will get scorched. 5. Remove when the mixture leaves the sides of the pan. 6. You may add 1 tablespoon of pure ghee at this stage. 7. Garnish with the powdered cardamom. 8. Serve hot. Goes well with puris.

ICHAR MURA (COCONUT FUDGE) - BENGALI STYLE Ichar Mura is a speciality of the erstwhile East Bengal. Literally, the name means lobster head. Bengalis are so fond of prawns and lobsters that we even make sweets resembling lobster head! One can, of course, just shape into small patties. YOU NEED 2 coconuts; 1 cup milk powder; 33 gm sugar; 1/2 tsp green cardamom powder; ghee or groundnut oil for frying. 1. Great coconut. Take care not to grate any of the brown skin with it. 2. Mix coconut and sugar put on heat in a karahi. Stir well. 3. The mixture will thicken and start leaving the sides of the vessel. 4. Add milk powder and mix well. 5. Stir for another five minutes on low heat and remove. 6. When cool enough to handle, shape into small oblong rolls. 7. Place on a tray and keep in an airy place for half an hour or more. Let them dry a little. 8. Shallow fry the sweets till light brown, preferably in a nonstick pan.

MURKI (SWEET KHEEL) - BENGALI STYLE

The fresh aroma of the date palm jaggery reminds one of childhood. YOU NEED 6 cups kheel; 1 cup date palm jaggery; 1 cup of water. 1. Clean kheel of any husk or dirt. 2. Heat jaggery and water in a karahi till jaggery melts. Strain. 3. Put on heat again. Use ladle and rub the syrup against sides of karahi. 4. When large bubbles start forming and the syrup thickens, take off fire. 5. Cool a little. 6. Add kheel and quickly stir to mix with the jaggery. 7. Let cool completely. Break lumps, if any. 8. Keep in an airtight

container. Keep indefinitely. jaggery.

VARIATION:

Use sugar instead of

Ledikini, pantua: Ingredients: ½ kg chhana, drained completely (hung to drip-dry in a cotton or muslin wrap, you know the drill?), 100gms of flour, about 75 gms of sugar, baking powder, elach/ ilaichi/cardamom pods, small nokuldanas (er, sugarballs kind of thing), refined oil, preferably with a few dollops of ghee melting in it. And this is how you go about it: make a nice, soft dough with the flour, a tiny little bit of baking powder, sugar (say, about 2 tablespoons?) and quite a bit of ghee. It’s not going to be a dry, tight roti dough— it should feel oily and smooth. Oh yeah, and the cardamom powder as well, but go easy on it (trust me, I’ve done this). Right, now you make little balls with the dough with the nokuldanas inside them, and fry them in batches of three or four (again, the voice of experience— one by one takes too long and is often over-fried. Too many, the whole lot breaks or sticks to the sides. Or both) Fry till they’re brown, but keep stirring and gently rolling them over in the oil, or, as I said, they stick to the bottom and the sides. Then, when the whole lot is done, make a thick (and we’re talking icky thick here) sugar syrup (lots of sugar in boiling water) and drop them in. carefully. *****Important note about frying!!!***** This is the way to do it: heat the oil and ghee till you can smell the ghee. If the utensil’s non no-stick (he he) and turning red/brown, you’re wither careless or not very experienced in the kitchen. In which case I take no responsibility. Right, so if you’re the kind who can tell when the oil’s reallt hot by looking at it, take it off the flames at this point. Let it cool for about twenty seconds or so, then, slowly, carefully, drop the ledikinis (and ALL other sweets) into it. Keep rolling them over gently with those perforated hatas you get for fishing out fries and stuff from oil, and put the (*insert appropriate utensil name*) back on the flame, and turn it on high. You can’t be too careful with the flame. Too high, your sweets are a scorched, half-done mess. Too low, it’s a ball of flour and milk dripping with cold oil. Chhanar jilipi: The exact same list. Make the dough the same way, divide it into little balls, lengthen each like you would a rough solid cylinder of plasticine, give them a jilipi shape (sort of

imperfect overlapping supposedly-concentric circles), deep fry the same careful way, dip in rosh, serve. Or better, eat. And now the more difficult ones: (not really, though…) Kheerer chop: flour and sugar; 1 ½ -2 litres of milk; shuji/ sooji/ dunno what it’s called in English; a couple of pieces of bread, toasted stiff (but not brown) and powdered; a sliver of nutmeg, powdered; ghee and oil – the previous lethal combo. Right, deep breath. You could mess this up royally, and you probably shall, but let’s think happy thoughts anyway, okay? Put the milk on to boil, with about 2 tablespoons of sugar (or 1 ½. Depends on how sweet you like your kheer) and about a teaspoon of shuji/ sooji. Turn down the flame after a while, otherwise it’ll scorch. Now, when the whole affair thickens and occupies about half the volume it did before (and there are no scorches or spilt white stuff on the kitchen floor) you can pat yourself on the back, add about 2 tablespoons of shuji, mix it well, add powdered toast, fold well, let it try and tighten (but not scorch! …you can tell how my efforts went, can’t you?) slightly more, then sprinkle the powdered nutmeg, mix it in again, and take it off the flames. You should be a pat hand at the dough and the sugar syrup by now. Only this time, the stuff shan’t float in the rosh, it’s only meant to cling to the chops and give them that extra sticky sweetness. So, right, you make the balls (look, stop smirking every time you read that, okay? We’re trying serious cooking here! *huff*), put a small amount of the kheer (the one you just made. Yay!) inside, seal it my stretching the dough over it firmly but gently, pat it into a rough oval shape with your palms, and fry till each one’s golden-brown. Then toss them in the clingy syrup and we’re done with this one. Nimkis in rosh: Here’s a breather. This is really, really easy. Buy a packet of lightly salted nimkis (the less salty, the better), make a thick, thick rosh, stir the nimkis into it, and keep stirring till they soak all the rosh. Do NOT let it cool. Have it straight off the flames. It’s fast, easy, and delicious. Goja: The same dough (you should have some in the fridge wrapped in a moist cloth by now. Just in case). Roll the dough in a large…er, fellow bongs, what’s a good word for lechee? (and NO, it’s not what you think. I’m sorry to disappoint you, boys and girls, but we’re REALLY cooking here. I’m not Gytha Ogg)

Anyway, you know what I mean, just flatten the dough with your palm (and not a rolling pin), and make sure it’s between ½ an inch and an inch thick. Then cut it into rough squares, diamonds, rectangles – whatever’s your favourite shape of the week. Just not circles, okay? That’s a disaster. Then fry them, one by one, over a high flame, dip them in rosh, and let the syrup dry on and cling to the gojas. Some people sprinkle coconut shavings (narkel kora) on them while the rosh is still sticky. Some sprinkle more sugar. Suit yourselves. Pranhora: Right. Now I’m in trouble. I really don’t know what chira/chire is in English. I’m not entirely sure there’s a easily recognisable word for it, actually. So, if you figure out what it is, yay, you just got yourself into more cooking. So, you soak the chira (that’s how I pronounce it, Bangal trait apparently) in just about enough lukewarm water. The chira, and this is important, should not be soggy. It’ll just soften a bit and maybe swell just that much. Now, preferably, you should make it into a paste on what we call a sheel-nora, which is a stone slab and a stone pestle respectively, used to grind spices and make pastes by rolling the pestle over the slab from top to bottom, and putting crushable and grindable stuff in between. Has been known to be used as a weapon of mass destruction, so perhaps it's better if we just stick to the food processor. Just, don't make it into a smooth paste, alright? Leave it at the slightly grainy stage. Now, mix this grainy paste with dry kheer (you may do without the sooji/shuji and toast bit this time, though a fistful of shuji is always advisable), flour, a pinch of baking powder, ground large-cardamom seeds. Make rough ovals from this dough and fry ‘em. You should be the reigning champion of this by now. The pranhoras stay in the rosh. You don’t pick them off after they’ve had a good soak. Lobongolotika: If you’ve done the kheerer chop, this is like, child’s play. Absolutely. So, hmm…you make the kheer the same way, you make the dough the same way, and then, you do the little trick. You *clears throat* make balls with it, roll each of them into a flat circle (they should be largish) and cut them into half. Actually, wait, this gets a little complicated. Do it my way. Don’t cut it into half. Make a normal sized flattened thing, put some kheer in the middle, and wrap the

sides over the filling to give the thing a triangular shape. The foldings should overlap and be securely glued together with water. But don’t drench!!! Just wet a fingertip (in water) and press the sides closely together. Then put a clove in the intersection (or roughly the middle) of the folded sides. Then fry the lotikas, and dip in the rosh.