By Padmini Sinha | January 10, 2022

There’s magic in the air in Bengal during the brief winter months of December and January and one of the reasons is the appearance of the Star – NOLEN GUR.

The sap of the Date(Khejur) Palm Tree is extracted very skillfully so as not to damage the tree and an earthen pot is tied around it. The sap drips into this pot all night and is collected at the crack of dawn to avoid fermentation. Boiled and thickened to perfection over slow fire gives Nolen Gur its vibrant hue and fragrance. Left to cool the Gur is available in mainly 2 varieties, the solidified form is called Patali Gur and the thick grainy liquid version is known as JHOLA GUR.

The delicate flavour of NOLEN GUR has stood the test of time and makes a Bengali highly emotional even while thinking about it. NOLEN GUR is extensively used for the making of the seasonal delicacies mainly the various kinds of desserts, pithe (rice cakes), payesh(rice pudding), gur er sandesh and more.

By mid-February the Star starts throwing tantrums and bids goodbye to the heartbroken Bong. But yes, thanks to the humungous refrigerators now available in the market, myself like many others are able to store Patali Gur for quite sometime. However, the charm of having the gur or sweets made out of it I feel, lasts mostly during the winter months. The rest of the year it’s to be taken out from my treasure trove, only on very special occasions and be nostalgic about the love of almost every Bong’s palate, NOLEN GUR!!!