Seasons are more beautiful with Bengali vives
The beauty of winter is most striking among the six seasons of Bengal. We want to fully enjoy these two months of winter in our tropical country. The pleasure of sipping hot tea from an earthen pot amidst cold winter air is very enjoyable. This is the season when Bengalis' taste buds are highly active, which indulge them to participate in every sort of social gatherings, picnics and food fairs.
But the main attraction of winter in Bengal is various sweet dishes. Although Bengalis love to eat sweets all year round, the joy of eating sweets doubles in winter. 'Nolen Gur' is available in winter, and it is impossible to find a Bengali who does not love this 'Nolen Gur'. This molasses is made from the juice of the date palm in a pretty unique way. The peasants of rural Bengal first cut the palm tree with a chopper, then drill a hole with a nail cutter and plant a bamboo pole up to the earthen pot tied to the tree. In this method, the juice drips through the tube and accumulates in the pot. The juice of the date palm is collected by dripping in the earthen pot overnight. Then the juice is boiled well in a bigger pot and thus molasses is prepared from the juice.
Date molasses is a very nutritional drink. Drinking this date molasses on an empty stomach is a very healthy habit. The juice obtained on the first day from the date palm is called 'Nolen'.
This very tasty molasses is used to make the favourite 'Nolen Gurer Lal Roshogolla' of Bengalis. The taste and colour of this sweet is incomparable. Anyone who has ever eaten 'Lal Roshogolla' will never forget the taste of this sweet. Besides, 'Patali Gur' is also made from date juice. With these molasses, Bengalis make various sweet dishes in winter, such as Pithe, Payes and Patishapta etc. A kind of batter is made with milk and rice powder, and then it is made into 'Pithe' by steaming method. Both patishapta and pithe are filled with coconut and gur stuffing. This very tasty dish ranks high within the list of legacies from Bengal.
There is no substitute for these molasses sweets to satisfy the taste buds of Bengalis. The Bengalis look forward to winter all year round to enjoy the cool breeze and eat a variety of tempting food.
