When the year draws to a close with an unmistakable nip in the air, what do you do other than pulling out your woollens and planning year-end get-togethers with friends and family? This is the time when the harshness of summer and sloshy discomfort of monsoon is gone, so it’s perfect for the outdoors – to go on a picnic, or organize a feast, or simply to have a cozy dinner on the rooftop. If you’re anything like us, you probably start scanning for the fresh bounty of winter vegetables and fruits that make an appearance in local markets. Plus, in this part of the country, we wait with bated breath for Nolen Gur to arrive from the outskirts, either in its syrupy honey-coloured form or solid circular discs. When Nolen (or Notun Gur) has finally made its formal entry, it brings along its adorable variations – Nolen Gurer Sandesh and Rosogolla, Joynagarer Moa, Payesh and Pithas. Voila, you know it’s finally Winter in the City!
Now that winter is knocking on the door, we decided to do a roundup of some of our seasonal favourites that usually come loaded with tons of memories. A morning breakfast at an aunt’s, a visit to an ancestral house, evening adda with friends, or maybe a weekend date with someone special.
Read on for some Indian dishes that are eternal favourites in the winter season.
Nolen Gur, Nolen Gurer Sandesh, Joynagarer Moa, Nolen Gurer Payesh – Nolen Gur, also known as Notun Gur, literally means “new jaggery”, is created from the sap of date palms through a skilled indigenous process that has come down the ages. A perfect substitute for sugar, it can be used to prepare a mind-boggling range of sweet dishes. The most common are Nolen Gurer Sandesh and Joynagarer Moa as well as Nolen Gurer Rosogolla. In households, it is used to conjure up heavenly Nolen Gurer Payesh. Pithe, a regional steamed delicacy, frequently uses Nolen Gur as an ingredient. It has even found its way into the fairly modern innovation, Nolen Gurer Ice-cream. Would you believe it, Nolen Gurer is fantastic for digestion and even weight loss, so don’t feel guilty in the least about popping a few pieces into your mouth post lunch or dinner. Here’s our expert tip for selecting the best Nolen Gur – The solid form should be firm but not hard and crumble easily upon pressure. Jhola Nolen Gur (the syrup) should give off a heady waft of fresh jaggery.
Koraishutir Kochuri – Fresh green peas processed with spices and a pinch of Asafoetida (hing) kneaded into maida (refined flour), rolled out into smallish circles, and deep fried in oil. These tempting pieces are usually served with a side-dish of a new crop of potatoes (Notun Aloo). Koraishutir Kochuri makes for a one-of-a-kind breakfast dish on cold and crisp mornings.
Puli Pithe – This famous Bengali winter delicacy is made from cooking sweetened milk on a slow fire to make it thick and creamy and adding rice flour dumplings (puli). The dumplings are stuffed with cooked grated coconut. The delicious pudding-like dish is a must-have on Makar Sankranti and is a favourite across ages.
Patishapta – This all-time favourite of many is essentially a winter delicacy that is fairly quick to rustle up if you have the ingredients ready. Patishapta is a delicate eggless crepe with a stuffing of grated and sweetened coconut or khoya (processed milk usually flavoured with cardamom). The crepes are prepared with a mix of rice flour and semolina on a griddle pan. The perfect ones are done with the right amount of oil and heat, and are soft and spongy encasing a core of coconut or khoya. Patishapta is a common-enough dish for Makar Sankranti celebrations when most Bengali households prepare it with love and care.
Rosh Bora – A winter delicacy in which soft and fluffy soaked lentil fritters take a deep dive into a sugar or jaggery syrup. In West Bengal, it was common enough to gorge on rosh boras at home when winter set in till a few decades ago. This traditional Bengali sweet is made of light urad dal batter infused with fennel seeds and cardamom that impart a heady spicy flavour to it. The best cooks will rustle up the softest, melt-in-the- mouth bora (fritters) before dunking them into the rosh (syrup).
Badam Chikki – Crunchy peanuts or almonds are bound together by jaggery or sugar to create a brittle, wholesome snack that is a part of winter eats in most parts of India. The combination of nuts and jaggery has many health benefits. Old-timers will swear it keeps the body warm in the biting cold climate of North India. Badam Chikki is a favourite with both rural and urban children.
Pithe – An intrinsic part of Makar Sankranti festival in West Bengal, the pithe comes in a wide variety of forms. It may be either sweet or savoury. Made from batter or dough, it is prepared using a variety of cooking methods like deep frying, steaming, or shallow-frying on a griddle.
Phool Kopir Singara – When fresh cauliflower arrives, can you blame fans for turning it into the most-creative delectable dish ever? The phool kopir singara is quintessentially Bengali in stature and taste. A distant cousin of the samosa, it has a mouth-watering filling of processed cauliflower wrapped in a specific manner in a maida envelope, deep fried and served piping hot.
Rogan Josh – Rogan Josh is an Indian curry that has a distinctive thick gravy with succulent pieces of meat. In Persian, the word ‘Rogan’ means clarified butter or oil, and ‘josh’ means passion. Hence, this dish that is all about cooking in an oil-based sauce with high heat and created just right to relish on cold days
Nihari – Super-delicious and spicy, Nihari is slow-cooked dish has tender pieces of meat (mutton) in a rich and flavour some gravy. This one-pot hearty dish is best had with hot Indian breads like a Naan and is pure comfort food for the soul on cold, wintry days.
Paya – Paya literally means the trotter of goat or lamb. This winter delight is cooked long and slow, allowing the ingredients to blend perfectly into one another. Once the paya is ready, it is added to a rich gravy and garnished with a generous helping of mint and fresh coriander. It is a rich and heavenly dish that requires a soft warm bread as accompaniment to soak in the flavours perfectly.
Soups – Wintry days and soups are an unbeatable combination. You can easily rustle up your own vegetarian and non-vegetarian varieties to serve as a snack to visitors with a platter of cheese sticks or croutons. They will thank you for it on a cold evening. A soup, whether made of fresh vegetables or meat, is a timeless appetizer before the main course.
Gajar ka Halwa – Gaining more and more popularity each passing winter, is the classic carrot dessert known as Gajar ka Halwa. Made of grated carrots with milk and khoya, plenty of sugar, and a gentle helping of cardamom and cinnamon, raisins and cashew-nuts, Gajar ka Halwa makes a loud and clear declaration on the dining table – Hail Winter!
Sarson ka Saag and Makki di Roti – ThisPunjabi dhaba best-seller is now easily available in most city restaurants and can also be made at home with a little effort. A winter delight from the agrarian land of Punjab, this is a combination of green leafy sarson (mustard) cooked with spices, and coarse Indian bread made of makki (maize flour). To be had piping hot with a generous dollop of butter (preferably home-made).
Thukpa – Originally a Tibetian noodle soup, the thukpa has now evolved to regional variations like the one found in Ladakh, North Bengal and Sikkim. Thukpa is a delightful medley of fresh vegetables chopped fine or chicken pieces with noodles in a comforting and flavoursome broth. Thukpa never fails to transport you to a little eatery by the highway in the Himalayas where a rosy-cheeked matron serves you the dish in a chipped bowl with a dragon design.
Celebs Tell Cam on Go About Their Winter Food Favourites
Actress Roshni Bhattacharya, who we recently saw in ‘Oti Uttam’, shares her winter must-have food. “It’s definitely Puli Pithe. When the temperature dips and it is winter in the city, I pester my mother to make Puli Pithe. My winter season would remain incomplete without having this delicious home-made preparation. Earlier, when I had the time for such indulgences, I would assist her with the preparation, including getting the rice flour ready. Now, I am supremely happy to simply savour it,” she says.
Annu Mishra, food influencer, has fond memories of a special vegetable dish that was rustled up in their kitchen when she was a child. She tells us,” With the onset of winter, we find a range of fresh and colourful vegetables flooding the bazar. My mother would make the most-delicious sabzi with all kinds of seasonal vegetables. It was so appetizing and wholesome, and the unique taste still lingers on in my mouth. Each winter, I am reminded of this dish from my childhood. This apart, I love Joynagarer Moa, Koraishutir Kochuri, Gajar ka Halwa, Nolen Gurer Payesh, Pithe – all come together to make my winter season complete!”
Actor Anirban Chakraborty of ‘Eken Babu’ fame, says,” Among winter-specific sweet dishes, I look forward to Pathishapta. Mind you, not the kheer filling. I prefer the grated- coconut interior – one that is sweet and sticky and bursting with great taste. I also love Narampaker Sandesh (soft Sandesh in a variety of shapes and sizes made with Nolen Gur).”
With inputs from Antaripa Mukherjee and Neha Karmakar
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