Make Yourself Bihari Food Part – 39: Belgrami

By Nandini Bhushan*

From Vat Savitri to Chhath Puja, and from humble litti chokha to the traditional dal pitha, Bihar is blessed with all the flavour and spirit of pomp and splendor. Eddie Kennyson rightly said, “when opportunity presents itself, don’t be afraid to go after it.” In these columns I shall not only be telling something about my native state Bihar through the window of its festival and food, but shall also offer the recipe so that one can try it oneself.

Bihari cuisine, I believe deserves its long overdue credit, as it is one of the most unexplored and under rated food today despite being full of flavours and among the most palatable cuisines. In today’s world of marketing and flamboyance, we seriously need a makeover of the sumptuous Bihari food to find its rightful niche in the gastronomical world. We need to present our recipe to the global audience, and being a food enthusiast myself, it is my humble attempt to present a traditional Bihari food with an interesting variation.

Also try: Make Yourself Bihari Food Part – 38: Oal Ki Sabji

Belgrami

Belgrami is a very popular paneer or chenna based sweet dessert recipe from Bihar. One  for sure must have enjoyed the savoury recipe of paneer but believe me the flavour of this unique traditional sweet paneer recipe would blow you off your feet. Made from milk and sugar, belgrami ia also known by names like paneer khurma or murki and is a famous sweet from Bhojpur region in Bihar. It is a very simple recipe but trust me the first bite itself is all one needs to bring a smile on the face.

Ingredients

Paneer : 500 gms cut into big cubes

Sugar : 250 gms

Water : 2 cups

Saffron : 10 to 12 threads

Cardamom powder : a pinch

Step 1

Boil the sugar and water in a thick bottom pan until the sugar gets completely dissolved.Add the saffron in the sugar syrup.

Step 2

Add the paneer cubes into the sugar syrup and let it come to a boil.

Step 3

Reduce the flame and cook the paneer along with the sugar syrup for about twenty to thirty minutes stirring occasionally.

Step 4

 Once the syrup dries up and paneer pieces get coated with the sugar syrup add the cardamom powder and drain the belgrami and enjoy this special Bihari dessert.

*Nandini Bhushan is a well-known food blogger