In gur taste

At a workshop today, chef Girish Nayak will decode the art of churning out the perfect nolen gur kheer kadam, a winter delicacy from West Bengal

Ever since we introduced our Mumbaikar neighbours, colleagues and friends to kheer kadam, a Bengali mithai or mishti, every trip back home has meant ferrying back boxes of the sweet treat for these sweet-toothed souls. Simple and unassuming from the outside, like a khoya ball, the real genius of the kheer kadam — which bears resemblance to kadam phul or burflower — lies in the soft, juicy rasgulla that’s packed inside. And today, Girish Nayak, Chief Mithaiwala, Bombay Sweet Shop, is set to unpack the secret behind nailing a nolen gur kheer kadam, which marries the much-loved mithai with Bengal’s winter delicacy, date palm jaggery.

“I first tasted nolen gur [Bengali for new jaggery] when someone got it for me from Kolkata. It tasted like maple syrup, but so much better. It has a unique earthiness to it,” recollects Nayak. The chef’s first encounter with kheer kadam occurred about a few years ago, when he spent some time at Kolkata to research on mithais before opening Bombay Sweet Shop. “I worked with the Gupta Sweet Shop in Gariahat for about two weeks. I saw them making these mini rasgullas, and covering them with malai pedas. So, I learnt the art of making them from the mithaiwalas there,” he reminisces. Considering kheer kadam is a quintessential Bengali sweet, and nolen gur is a winter hit, he decided to use the latter in coating the rasgulla that is hidden inside and add a touch of coconut shavings, to devise his own creation. 

Girish Nayak

During the workshop, he will show participants how to make the base chhena for the rasgulla, which is the most important step. “Most people aren’t aware what temperature the milk must be cooled down to before splitting it, the right acid to be used, how to cook the chhena, and the process of making sugar syrup,” he says, adding that simultaneously, he will also demonstrate how to make a nolen gur syrup and malai peda. “The idea is to get people interested in these Indian sweets, and encourage them to make it at home,” he signs off.

On January 26, 6 pm
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Cost Rs 1,200

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