Nolen gurer Sandesh | Gur Sandesh recipe | Nolen gurer sondesh | Sandesh Bengali sweet recipe

Nolen gurer Sandesh is considered as one of the most anticipated winter dessert recipes among Bengalis. It is a chenna based sweet which originated in Bengal. In Bengal, it is pronounced as Nolen gurer Sondesh. It is subdivided into few more varieties like jol bhora Sandesh, kora paker Sandesh, norom paker Sandesh etc. Any Bengali sweet shop is incomplete without Nolen gur Sandesh during winter.

Every Bengali feels nostalgic whenever they talk about Nolen gur. There is an eternal bonding between Bongs and Nolen gur. As a Bengali, I always get emotional when I talk about Nolen gur. According to me, every Bengali would have countless beautiful memories with this extraordinary delight. The name Nolen gur sounds like a music to a hardcore Bengali and triggers their taste buds. But for a non-Bengali, it is quite complicated to understand the love which consist in every Bengalis’ heart for nolen gur. Many of my non-Bengali friend asked me about it.

What is Nolen Gur?

Nolen gur mainly constitutes of the sap or juice which is collected from khejur gach, I mean palm tree by making slit in the stem of the tree. An earthen pot is tied beneath the slit to extract the juice overnight during winter season in West Bengal. Next morning, the collected sap is pulled down from the tree and it then goes through the process of preparing the Gur or jaggery.

There are two different varieties of Nolen gur that are available in the market. The solid form of nolen gur is usually refer as patali gur or khajur patali gur and the thick liquid form of it is refer as Jhola gur.

The term Nolen Gur is a Bengali word where ‘Nolen’ means ‘New’ and ‘Gur’ refer as ‘Jaggery’. For this reason, it is also called “Notun gur”. Nolen Gur is known by different names in different regions. It is also known as “Khejurer Gur” in few parts of Bengal. It is popular as Date Palm Jaggery outside West Bengal.

In early days, people used to wait for the whole year to enjoy the delight. In fact, in our childhood days, Date Palm jaggery was available only during winters but now it is available throughout the year in many cities and online sites as well. All thanks to technology and refrigerators, with the help of which we can buy and preserve Nolen gur for the whole year. So, many reputed restaurants serve Nolen Gur sweets throughout the year. While many small towns still wait for the winter to get the Date Palm Jaggery.

Sweets with jaggery

People from Bengal are completely crazy about Sweets with jaggery. Nolen Gurer Sandesh, Nolen Gurer Rosogolla are the most popular varieties among them. Nolen gur has a sweet and soothing aroma which can make any jaggery-sweet taste extraordinary. Every sweet shop in West Bengal is normally full of varieties of jaggery sweet recipes during winter season. But few reputed stores sell Nolen gur sweets throughout the year.

As per my knowledge, every Bengali house in West Bengal brings nolen gur from market in winter season to prepare payesh, pithe puli and many more mouth-watering desserts. It is like an old ritual to prepare varieties of nolen gur recipes which has happily been carried forward from years. In fact, during winter season, every house is flavoured up with Nolen Gurer Payesh in any special occasion.

I am obsessed with Nolen gur and when I was in West Bengal, I used to buy it frequently from stores and used to preserve them in refrigerator for the rest of the year. But after coming to London, I started missing it badly in my kitchen pantry. After few weeks of search, we managed to find a store where Nolen gur is available throughout the year which is not less than a boon to me.

After coming to the UK, I started craving for sweets with jaggery other than payesh and pithe-puli. Then I decided to roll up my sleeves and prepare nolen gur sweet at home to satisfy my appetite.

When I prepared nolen gurer Sandesh at home for the first time, it came up quite well but was not fantastic. After gathering all the knowledge to prepare Sandesh recipe, I took second attempt and it tastes exactly like the market bought ones. My husband just dug into it and finished almost half of my Nolen gurer Sandesh just after I prepared it. Now, it’s a compulsory to prepare Nolen Gurer Sandesh during Durga puja to enjoy “Bangaliana”.

Nolen gurer Sandesh is a very simple and easy recipe prepared with only three basic ingredients. It is a rapid dessert recipe prepared within 15 minutes if your chenna is ready. In this recipe, I have included all the tips and tricks to prepare soft and smooth nolen gurer Sandesh which tastes exactly like the market bought ones.

Nolen Gurer Sandesh with step by step photos and instructions have been provided in the ‘Instructions’ section of the recipe. But before directly jumping into the recipe, let me share few interesting facts about Sandesh.

Recipe for Sandesh

Recipe for Sandesh plays a vital role in Bengali culture. Sandesh is the most regularly offered sweet to God in the temples of Bengal which makes the Sandesh recipe Bengali more auspicious. Different ranges of Sandesh recipes are prepared in every sweet shops of Bengal and it is also one of the bestselling sweets in Bengal.

There are more than hundred varieties of Sandesh recipes that are prepared all over the country. Nolen Gurer Sandesh, Jol bhora Sandesh, Sada Sandesh, Kesar Sandesh, Elaichi Sandesh, Chocolate Sandesh, Mango Sandesh are few popular varieties among them.

Tips to prepare perfect Nolen Gurer sandesh

How to make Nolen Gurer Sandesh?

To prepare the nolen gurer Sandesh, only two basic ingredients are required. Only chenna and Nolen Gur is enough to prepare this moreish dessert.

Nolen gurer Sandesh is mildly sweet in taste but many people prefer sweeter Sandesh too. Addition of large quantity of nolen gur can make the Sandesh hard in texture. To overcome from this problem, many people add small amount of sugar during the time of cooking. If you like, you can do the same too.

Many people also use ricotta cheese instead of chenna to prepare nolen gurer Sandesh. But I personally prefer fresh homemade chenna for the classic recipe.

I have added little bit of milk to recipe which is completely optional. According to me, it gives richer texture to the nolen gurer Sandesh and makes it softer.

For the nolen gurer sandesh, first I have curdled the milk to prepare Chenna. Always use full fat milk to prepare Sandesh recipe. I have used lemon juice to curdle the milk. You can also use yogurt or vinegar for the same. After preparing Chenna, strain it with a muslin cloth and wash it with water to get rid of the sourness of lemon. Then squeeze the chenna for couple of times before tying it tightly. After this, hang the chenna for half an hour to filter out the excess water. The chenna should be moist to prepare soft and tender nolen gurer Sandesh. Dry chenna does not bring perfect texture.

Then, either pulse the chenna in mixer grinder for half a minute or knead it nicely for 8-10 minutes till smooth before cooking. I prefer to pulse the chenna in grinder. It saves time and effort to prepare perfect Sandesh recipe. This is the most important part of preparing any Sandesh recipe. If the Chenna remains grainy then it is impossible to get the proper texture of Sandesh.

To prepare nolen gurer Sandesh, take a heavy bottom pan and put it on lowest flame. Add the grinded chenna, jaggery into the pan and cook it in low flame for 5 minutes until the jaggery melts completely and gets mixed with the chenna.

Then add milk into the mixture and mix it evenly. Keep on stirring the mixture with the help of a spatula. Cook it for another 3-4 minutes in low flame until it turns into a mass and the sides get released.

It is very important to cook it in low flame. There is no shortcut to prepare an authentic sandesh recipe. We must be patient, especially at final stage of preparing the Sandesh mixture.

Many people mix nolen gur and chenna nicely before cooking but I personally don’t find any difference in taste for the step. I preserve the nolen gur at fridge and so, it gets hard. I always grate them before adding into the chenna. If you have fresh soft nolen gur then you can directly add it into the chenna.

After preparing the Sandesh mixture, allow it to be at room temperature and make Sandesh according to your preferred shape and size. Apply ghee on your moulds and hands before shaping them. If you don’t have moulds, then shape them with hands.

Ingredients:

• Full cream Milk, 1 Litre
• 1 Lemon to curdle the Milk
• 5 tablespoons Nolen gur (Date palm jaggery), grated
• 1 tablespoon Milk (Optional)
• 1 teaspoon Ghee (Clarified Butter), to grease hand and moulds

1. Take the 1 litre milk in a heavy bottom pan.
   

2. Put the flame in medium high and let the milk boil.
   Tip: While boiling the milk, put the flame in medium and stir occasionally. Otherwise, the milk will stick to the bottom of the pan and a burning smell may get induced into the milk.
   
3. Put the flame in lowest.
4. On the other side, cut the Lemon into two pieces.
5. Squeeze out the lemon juice into the milk with the help of a lemon squeezer.
   

6. Stir it slowly and let the milk curdle.
   

7. Stir for 1-2 minutes in lowest flame.
8. On the other hand, place a colander in the sink of kitchen and put a Muslin cloth on the colander.
   
   

9. When the water gets separated from the curdled milk, switch off the flame.
10. Pour the curdled milk immediately to the Muslin cloth. With the help of a spatula, stir the Chenna gently for a minute to cool it off.
    
    

11. Gather the corners of the cloth.
12. Put the Chenna into the running water. Wash the Chenna carefully. This helps to remove the flavour of Lemon off the Chenna and allows the Chenna to cool down.
    

13. Squeeze the excess water and then tie a tight knot of the cloth.
14. Hang the Chenna for 30 minutes.
    

15. Transfer the chenna into a jar of a grinder and close the lid of the jar.
    

16. Pulse the chenna for half a minute to a smooth velvety paste.
    

17. Take a heavy bottom pan on lowest flame.
    

18. Add the pulsed chenna and grated nolen gur (Date palm jaggery) one by one into the pan.
    
    
    

19. Mix both the ingredients nicely and cook it in low flame for 5 minutes until the jaggery melts completely. Stir continuously or else it will stick to the bottom.
    

20. Add 1 tablespoon milk into the mixture and mix it nicely.
    

21. Cook it in low flame for another 4-5 minutes. The content will start becoming thicker gradually. Stir continuously and cook it until the mixture converts into a thick mass and releases sides.
    

    Note: This is the crucial part of preparing Sandesh. We need to cook it in low flame and stir it continuously or else it will stick to the bottom. Then the Sandesh will smell Smokey. We need to be patient at this stage.
    

22. Switch off the flame and put the pan down.
23. Pour the Sandesh mixture on a plate and allow it to be at room temperature.
    
    
    

24. Take small portions of the Sandesh mixture and make small balls with your hands. Flatten the ball slightly with our palm.
    
    
    

25. Put them into the mould and design them.
    
    
    
    

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