Best Of Bengali- Narkeler Payesh (Bengali Coconut Rice Pudding)
Narkeler payesh is a symphony of lashings of coconut, thickened milk and the nutty flavour of Bengali kalijeera rice. It’s nothing complicated; just heat milk to a simmering bubble, add rice and coconut and you’re on your way. If you’re like my mother in law who grates her coconut by hand, I commend you. This recipe celebrates the frozen stuff which is much more fleshy than the desiccated option but not as labour intensive as grating it from scratch. Because it’s a one pot wonder, my narkeler payesh has become a dawat dish that looks more impressive because of how you dress it- which is why I always turn to it for Eid nashta!
Prep+cooking time: 40 mins
Servings: makes enough for 12-16 dessert bowls
Ingredients
200g kalijeera rice (if using basmati, soak in hot water and break by hand so the grains are smaller)
200g frozen grated coconut
400ml coconut milk/full fat milk
2-3 tsp kewra water
2 tsp cardamom powder
250g condensed milk
Pinch of salt
2 tbsp sugar, to taste
Toppings: toasted coconut flakes, dried cornflower petals, edible silver, crushed pistachios, dried rose petals
Instructions
Weigh out all ingredients and leave kalijeera rice to soak in hot water for 10-15 minutes. Rinse until water runs clear. For this purpose, broken rice grains are perfect.
In a heavy bottomed non-stick pan, bring a mixture of coconut/full fat milk and condensed milk to a simmering boil over a medium flame. Sprinkle in salt, cardamom powder and kewra water.
Pour in rice and grated coconut, cover with a lid and cook on a low-medium flame for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally to ensure the rice doesn’t burn.
For a final 5 minutes, simmer with the lid off and adjust sugar as needed.
Note: if this is being made in advance of an event, cover the payesh so that a sheet of tin foil is touching the top of the pudding before placing in the fridge. This will avoid a film forming on top and ruining the appearance when it comes to reheating and serving.Immediately before serving, add as many toppings as your heart desires. A traditional take is usually pistachio crumbs, rose petals or edible silver.
