A narkel naru is not just a coconut and sugar concoction. To the sentimentalist in every Bengali,its a metaphor. A metaphor for filial piety and golden years. Invariably,we associate these coconut balls (along with other Bijoya stalwarts like kucho nimki and jibe goja) with our doting grandmothers and Bijoya sammelanis. It doesnt take a Rituparno Ghosh to romanticize the tender bonding that many a grandmother-grandchild forge while rolling the naru into balls or stuffing the mashed peas into a dough to make koraishutir kochuri right after Bijoya Dasgami. Sigh. And it doesnt take Michael Moore to document the rampant commercialization of these staples. Its strangely heartbreaking really to see a heap narkel narus sitting awkwardly on the shelves of a sweetshop,with preening jol bhora sandeshs and kalo jams clearly grabbing eyeballs. Its not as if people dont make narus and nimkis at home at all. Its just that many people choose to not go into the whole hassle of making them from the scratch, says Shibani Mukherjee of Hindustan Sweets. However,making them from the scratch,doesnt necessarily involve hours of slogging in the kitchen. People have this misconception that traditional delights like naru or malpua are really hard to make. Its not really. Its no more difficult than making a plate of nachos maybe, says food columnist Rakhi Purnima Dasgupta. During Bijoya,at Dasguptas famed south Kolkata eatery,Kewpies, its not unusual to find a bunch of yuppie Bengalis (awkward in garod kurtas and dhutis),happily tucking into koraishutir kochuri and alur dum,all in the name of a Bijoya Sammelini. I dont think many people of this generation believe in going to the trouble of making glass jars full of narus and nimkis. And how can they? They dont know even know how to. Moreover,they dont have the time for such things,busy as they are with their professional lives, says Dasgupta. Siddhartha Shankar Bose of Bhojohori Manna insists that the ruing of the disappearance of such favourites from the Bengali kitchen is a generation too late. Its not as if people from this particular generation are indifferent to these traditional dishes. I know of many youngsters who are curious about these dishes and actually ask for recipes. We can only blame ourselves for letting go of these tradition of rustling up such goodies in homes during the Bijoya season, he says. Hope comes in the form of a mini-resurgence in the web-world. Blogs after blogs have been dedicated to Bijoya cuisine like spiceandcurry.blogspot.com and panchphoron.blogspot.com,initiating the modern day Bong to the joys of making naru,nimki and jibe goja from the scratch. One only needs to google the name of these dishes for the recipe. I have already made some nimki this Bijoya and plan to make some jibe goja too, says Debapriya Nandi a 30-something Bengali housewife based in Bahrain. Jibe-GojaIngredients(For the sugar syrup)1 cup water,2 cups sugar (For the goja) 2 cups of flour,2 tbsp ghee,1/2 tsp salt,1 tbsp sugar,water to kneadand oil for frying Method: First make the syrup by boiling the water and sugar for 10 minutes. It should make a thick (1.5 strand consistency). In the meantime,mix the ghee into the flour with the salt and sugar. This should be evenly mixed in with your hands.Add the water to make a firm and smooth dough.Let this sit for 30 minutes.Break into small pieces and roll into long (toungue shaped) pieces. Score well,to prevent this from puffing up while frying. Fry till golden brown,drain the oil and dip into warm syrup for 1 minute. Remove and set aside on a piece of parchment paper.When this cools the Goja hardens just enough to make it flaky rather than soft.
