Taal (Palmyra Palm) is a quintessential summer fruit for Bengalis. Whether consumed in its unripe form or as the sap of the ripe fruit, taal or palm has a wide range of uses in Bangladeshi cuisine, from simple summer drinks to varied desserts. The following are some recipes that are simple to follow but produce delectable results.   

ICE APPLE SHORBOT (TAAL ER SASH ER SHORBOT)

Ingredients

5 ice apple/palm shell (taal er shaash)

2 tbsp sugar

2 glasses coconut water

1 glass water

Method

Peel the ice apples carefully and cut them into small cubes. Keep the ice apple juice in a glass. Take a jug. Add water, coconut water, ice apple juice and sugar. Stir well until sugar dissolves. Now, add the ice apple cubes, stir and shorbot is ready to serve. Serve it chilled.

Photo: LS Archives Sazzad Ibne Sayed

ICE APPLE KHEER (TAAL ER SASH ER KHEER)

Ingredients

10 ice apple/palm shell (taal er shaash)

1 litre milk

½ cup condensed milk

2 green cardamom

2 tbsp sugar (optional)

1 tbsp chopped nuts

Method

Peel the skin of the ice apple and chop it into small pieces, set it aside. Heat milk in a saucepan, once it comes to a boil, lower the flame and continue to cook until reduced to half. Now add condensed milk and cardamom powder to it. Mix well and cook for another 5 minutes on low flame. Add chopped ice apple pieces and cook for 1 minute. Remove from heat and let it cool completely. Garnish with chopped nuts and serve chilled.

Photo: LS Archive/ Sazzad Ibne Sayed

TAAL ER MALPUA

Ingredients

For the batter —

2 cups palm pulp

2 cups flour

1 cup semolina (suji)

2 cups milk

1 cup sugar

1 tsp baking powder

A pinch of salt

Oil for fry

For sugar syrup —

2 cups sugar

1½ cup water

2 cinnamon stick

2 green cardamom

1 tbsp chopped pistachios

Method

For the batter —

In a bowl, mix flour, semolina, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Add the pulp and mix well. Slowly start adding milk and stir to form a thick batter. Make sure there are no lumps in your batter. Cover and keep aside for half an hour.

For the sugar syrup —

Boil water in a pan. Add sugar, cinnamon, and cardamom. Cook until the sugar starts to become slightly sticky. Test it by cooling down a little syrup, it should be sticky but not have a 'one-string consistency.

For making the malpua —

Heat oil in a pan. Add the batter to the oil with a ladle to form round shapes. Fry it until golden brown. Dip the fried discs in the sugar syrup until they have soaked enough syrup. Remove from the syrup. Allow it to cool. Garnish with chopped pistachios and serve.

PALM KALAKAND

Ingredients

6 cups milk

1 cup palm pulp

¾ cup sugar

A pinch of tartaric acid

1 tbsp chopped nuts

Method

Put the milk to boil on high heat. Add a pinch of tartaric acid. Boil the milk stirring continuously till it thickens. Once the milk becomes thick, add sugar and palm pulp and let it boil. Continue to stir until the milk mixture becomes granular without actually curdling. Reduce the heat. Cook until mixture thickens further and bubbles form on surface. Pour into a greased tray. Decorate with chopped nuts. Let it cool. Cut into desired shapes and serve.

EGGLESS SEMOLINA PALM CAKE

Ingredients

1 cup palm pulp

1 cup fine semolina (suji)

1/3 cup melted butter

½ cup curd

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

¼ cup milk
1 tbsp lemon juice

Pinch of salt

Method

In a bowl, add palm pulp, sugar, butter and milk. Mix well and make a smooth paste out of it. Add semolina and mix everything well. Let it rest for at least 30 minutes, this will allow the semolina to absorb the moisture and will result in a better texture of the cake. Now add baking powder, baking soda and curd to the milk mixture and mix well. Add more milk if needed to adjust the consistency. Lastly, add lemon juice and mix. Transfer the mixture into a greased and lined baking tin. Bake it into a preheated oven at 160° C for 35-40 minutes. When it is done, remove from oven, let it cool, cut into pieces and serve.

PALM LADDU

Ingredients

2 cup scraped fresh coconut
2 cup palm pulp
1½ cup dry roasted press rice powder
2 cup sugar
½ cup mixed nut
2 tbsp palm oil

Method

Heat palm oil in a non-stick pan. Add scraped coconut, palm pulp and sugar, and cook for 10 minutes. When the water dries up, add 1 cup of roasted pressed rice powder and condensed milk to it. Mix well and cook until it turns sticky and you can make laddu from the mixture. Now add mixed nuts and turn off the heat. Mix continuously for 2-3 minutes. Transfer the prepared mixture to a bowl and set aside to cool. Divide the prepared mixture into equal portions, and shape them into laddus. Coat the laddus in remaining roasted, press-rice powder. Store or serve.

Photo: LS Archive/Sazzad Ibne Sayed