Tal Kheer or thick sweetened Palm fruit pulp

    With the onset of monsoon, India specially in Northern part of India, get to see properly ripened Palm fruit. Because of its heavenly smell, this palm fruit is quite popular among bengalis and bengalis are famous for making sweet delicacies out of anything. This fruit is also associated with a festival which is very dear to bengalis, i.e., Janmastami, the birthday of Lord Krishna.

    This festival is celebrated throughout India in various manners. In my state, West Bengal, devotees celebrate Janmastami by fasting and staying up until midnight, the time when Krishna is believed to have born. Images of Krishna's infancy are placed in swings and cradles in temples and homes. The next day is called "Nanda Utsav" or the joyous celebration of Krishna's foster parents Nanda and Yashoda. On this day, people break their fast and offer various cooked sweets to Lord Krishna during the early hours, as he was very fond of sweets. It is said that Lord Krishna loves to eat the sweet delicacies made of palm fruit. So at every homes in Bengal, these delicacies are made and offered to Lord Krishna on his birthday and also enjoyed by all in the family.

   The most important sweet without which Janmashtami is not complete in Bengal is "Tal-er bora", where tal is Asian Palm and Bora means fritters. This Asian Palm fritters are made from fresh ripe and juicy palm fruit. I love this fruit and its aroma and obviously the delicacies made with it. Last year I posted Tal'er bora or a fried fritter made with the palm fruit pulp. This year I already made a batch of these taler bora and another sweet made with the pulp, tal kheer or thickened palm fruit pulp. I am going to post the recipe of tal kheer today.

You Need :
Palm fruit pulp : of one whole fruit
Milk : approx. 1 cup or little less than 1 cup
Sugar : 1 cup (add less or more as per your taste)
Grated Coconut : 3/4 cup

How To : 

• Process of taking out the pulp ::
  At first, you take out the outer skin, then you can see two to three fibrous palm kernels inside it. On a hand grater, rub the kernels until all the pulp has come out. Collect it in a bowl. Follow the pics to better understand the process. For this recipe, the process is same, just add little water while grating it, so the pulp will be thin this time. 

• Take a deep pan and heat. After removing the pulp, pour the pulp into the pan and in medium heat let it boil for 2 minutes. Then add sugar in it and mix well. Add coconut and let it boil again for 5 minutes. Don't forget to stir the whole thing continuously.
• Now add milk slowly and mix well into the thickened pulp. Let it boil again for about 5-6 minutes or until you get your desired consistency of pulp. Check the sweetness level and add sugar if needed. 
• Remove from fire and cool. Serve a room temperature or chilled.