Summer vacations hold cherished memories and nostalgia for Sarika. She shares a Bengali dessert, litcheer payesh, exclusively for Different Truths.
When I think of summer, summer vacation springs to mind during my childhood days. Long days, endless fun, meeting cousins, grandparents, adventures, and many more. Let me tell you, even now, I look forward to summer break.
During school days, summer was synonymous with my maternal grandparents. My best summer memories are attached to my Dadu’s (grandpa’s) bouquet of stories. Would like to give all the credit to my grandfather for mythological stories. He was extremely patient, and knowledgeable. He used to recount a lot of stories from the other side of Bengal – Bangladesh too. My Dida (Grandma) always showed her love through cooked food.
Another favourite part of summer break was curling up with my favourite books and comics. Those were the days we knew how to live. Summer fruits were our constant companion. Mangoes and litchees. But I always realised people talk more about mango over litchee. The son says it is the king of fruits, so why not? But I love both equally. To be honest I am fond of raw mangoes. I barely eat ripe mangoes, but those sweet, tangy, juicy pearls, litchi, I just love them. We used to carefully peel the litchee, so the juice doesn’t ooze out onto our hands. And we must have more than one.
I must admit our summer breaks are way more different than now.
I must admit our summer breaks are way more different than now. Every parent is talking about a productive way of spending the summer. Kids must spend some unstructured time. They must have daydreaming time. But again, all parents have their opinions. My father used to say it was very difficult to educate educated people. All parents have their say and unique ways of bringing up children. The bottom line is that the children must be happy not to be overburdened. Again, happiness comes in various ways.
My son is at home for his summer break and my niece also visited us then. I had all the reasons to make my favourite Litcheer payesh.
Here’s litcheer payesh, before my favourite litchee season bids adieu.
A harmony of litchees, milk, and just a gentle whiff of green cardamom. It’s sheer love!
Ingredients
2 lit milks
Around 20 sweet litchees peeled and de-seeded
4/5 green cardamom (powder)
Sugar to taste
Method
Pound 60 per cent of the litchees in a light pestle and finely chop the rest.
Now, set the milk to boil in a thick-bottomed pan. Add the cardamom powder and let the milk simmer languidly over a low flame until it has reduced to 1/3 of the volume.
Turn off the stove. Let the milk cool down for 10 mins.
Add the litchees. Give it a hearty stir.
Add sugar to taste (Check the sweetness of the litchees)
Another loving stir and we are done, it’s ready.
Keep it cool at room temperature and refrigerate it for 7/8 hours.
Tastes good when served chilled.
Photos by the author
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