PALGOVA – Love at every bite….

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Sweets are an integral part of Indian celebrations and for centuries people have tried to create and re-create different types of sweets (Payasam, Gulab Jamun, Rasmalai to name a few) for the numerous celebrations across India. Srivilliputhur is an ancient town from the southern state (county) of Tamil Nadu, famous for its Ancient Heritage, a 1000 year old Temple and Palgova.

Legend says due to the surplus production of Milk in this region, the cooks decided to over-cook the Milk for a prolonged period, which resulted in the condensation and later added Sugar to create Pal Gova.

Mid Jan this year my wife was away for a week on holidays when I had all the freedom in the world to explore as many recipes as I wanted and ended up with Ten recipes in the line-up to be published. This is one of them, which I was desperate for a long time to make and share. In the end I made up so many that I had to share with my family and friends. Although I just used about 700 grams of Sugar, but I would suggest you to reduce the amount of Sugar when making for adults over 30 years of age. It will be al-right for a kids party, were you know most of it would be consumed by children.

If after reading the recipe you think is a time-consuming procedure, then there are alternatives to this recipe, were condensed Milk is used instead and some recipes also use half condensed Milk and half Koya. My assurance to all who want to try it this way, it is simply ‘love at first bite’. Palgova recipe has been send to the anniversary celebrations at Hema’s Blog, please join me in wishing her a happy anniversary Wedding and Blog Anniversary.

Things You’ll Need:

Organic* Milk – 5 litres

Brown Sugar – 700 grams**

Yield: 1600 grams

Golden Touch Preparation:

[3 hrs 30 minutes + cooling + time to make desired shapes]

1. Be prepared for a long and tiring journey. Have plenty of fluids nearby, so you won’t have to leave it and go. If you do have to leave and go, then do take the pan of the fire.

2. Start by boiling the Milk on high heat in a non-stick pan.

3. Reduce heat to medium and stir constantly. Stirring constantly is very important as this prevents Milk from sticking to the bottom and burning. In-case if it burns or sticks and forms skins, do not worry, filter it through a sieve immediately and move to a fresh and clean non-stick pan. By doing this you also prevent the Milk from the burnt smell and bitter taste.This is after about 2 hours of stirring….
   

4. Continue stirring till it reduces and thickens. It took me about three and half hours of constant stirring, using a long handled wooden spatula and the fruit of your labour is almost ready.

5. After about 3 hours of stirring, when the Milk is considerably reduced and browned (by the caramelisation of the Sugar in the Milk), add Brown Sugar and stir for another 30 minutes till it becomes thickened. Be prepared for this lengthy stirring process as it will honestly tire you in the end, so have plenty of fluids, and when taking a break, move the pan from the fire. After about 3 hours of stirring, it looks like this….
   

6. Pour it into a 24cm x 15cm x 5cm baking tray. Cut into desired shapes and allow to set in the fridge for atleast 30 minutes. Or if you choose make small roundels of golf ball size.
   

NOTES:

*Organic tastes better than normal Milk, but you can choose whatever you like.

**Add more or reduce the amount of Sugar depending on your choice. Brown Sugar contains Molasses and comes in its unrefined form which gives its distinctive brown colour and using this Sugar, here helped me achieve a bright brown colour. Brown Sugar is also considered to have lesser calories than normal white Sugar due to its water content.