Khejur Gur translates to a form of jaggery made from extracting the date palm tree sap. Skilled men and women work hard during the cold winters and bring us this beautiful jaggery. Sondesh/ Shondesh/ Sandesh or Cottage Cheese Sweets are the best sweets of Bengal and adding Khejur Gur to that takes it to another level. What we crave in West Bengal, India and outside this land can be made easily at home, keeping in mind the amount of jaggery being added and the careful drying of the cottage cheese paste and “re-pasting” it.
Little more jaggery will make it a sugar candy , excess drying will make the cottage cheese brittle. Finely making a paste before shaping gives the best form and removes the grainy texture.
It sounds tricky but staying a step ahead by added little jaggery at a time and not letting the water content go to complete zero is the key. Video is a simple recipe. Try it and you’ll never regret not having tried and learned the shops’ bestseller at home.
P.S. – Good quality Khejur gur gets very expensive outside West Bengal, India. Its purity can be determined by the distinct date sap flavouring- not the date fruit. And the jaggery melts at room temperature. Adulterants added by some sellers make it very hard and sugary tasting, at times lacking the date palm sap’s unique flavor completely.
The differentiation in the local names of date palm sap jaggery or khejur gur vary based on the form or stage in collection.
From earlier extracted sap concentrate called Nolen Gur, liquid concentrate form called Jhola Gur (jhola translates to hung, referring to the pots hung to collect the sap), Patali Gur – the later stages of the sap collected and concentrated, to finally the last stage get the name Veli Gur.
For more detailed description I’d suggest to refer the experts in this field.
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