Name: Nolen Gurer Sabudana Payesh
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 165 min
Yield: 2 servings
Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients: ¼ cup Tapioca Pearls, sago pearls, soaked; ½ L Whole Milk, creamy milk yields the best payesh; ¼ cup Date Palm Jaggery, Nolen Gur, roughly chopped; ¼ tsp Ground Cardamom; 1 tbsp Cashews, broken; 1 tbsp Raisins; ½ tbsp Ghee, to fry dry fruits

2 hr 45 mintotal

45 min hands-on2 hr hands-off

Prep 20 min · Cook 25 min

Serves: 2
Difficulty: Medium
Spice: None

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Ingredients

¼ cupTapioca Pearlssago pearls, soaked
½ LWhole Milkcreamy milk yields the best payesh
¼ cupDate Palm JaggeryNolen Gur, roughly chopped
¼ tspGround Cardamom
1 tbspCashewsbroken
1 tbspRaisins
½ tbspGheeto fry dry fruits

Quantities are for 2 servings.

You'll need: Stovetop.

Includes soaking time.

Method

In a thick-walled culinary pot, force the full-fat milk to a rolling boil. Retard the flame and enforce a 10-minute slow simmer, compelling the liquid to undergo evaporation and initial thickening.
Add the soaked and drained sabudana to the simmering milk. Stir it straight away with broad sweeps so it does not clump at the bottom.
Maintain a low-medium thermal cook for 10-12 minutes, intervening with relentless stirring. The objective is achieved when the sabudana pearls achieve an absolute, glass-like translucence and a yielding softness, concurrently driving the milk to a highly viscous state.
10–12 min
Simultaneously, in an auxiliary micro-pan, melt the ghee. Toast the fractured cashews to a brilliant gold, subsequently adding the raisins until they exhibit maximum puffing. Extract and reserve.
Fold the pulverized cardamom and the lipid-seared dry fruits (including the residual ghee) into the thickened payesh. Extinguish the primary heat source entirely.
Important: take the pan off the heat and let it cool for a full 5 minutes before you add the date palm jaggery (nolen gur). Stir firmly until it has dissolved completely. Adding unrefined jaggery to milk that is still boiling will make it curdle.
5 min
Present the dessert either gently radiating warmth or structurally chilled from refrigeration, based on intended thermal contrast.

How to tell it's done

A rich, creamy, and lusciously thick pudding dotted with soft, gelatinous translucent pearls.

Getting it right

Tip

Nolen Gur (Date Palm Jaggery) provides a distinct, highly sought-after smoky caramel aroma. If unavailable, standard cane jaggery works, but cool the milk slightly before mixing.

What to serve it with

In winter, serving this payesh slightly warm highlights the earthy aroma of the date palm jaggery.

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