 Sarbhaja ofKrishnanagar | |
| Course | Dessert |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | Krishnanagar |
| Region or state | West Bengal |
| Associatedcuisine | Bengali cuisine |
| Main ingredients | Sar,Kheer andGhee |
| Similar dishes | Sarpuria |
ASarbhaja (Bengali:সরভাজাpronounced[Sɔrbʱaza]) is a milk based sweet originating fromWest Bengal, which is one of the famous Bengali sweets. The sweet's name comes fromsar, the surface creamy layer of milk which is its main ingredient, and the wordBhaja refers to the frying of thesar. The Sarbhaja uses cow's milk andghee is used for frying. It is fried until golden brown in color. This sweet made from milk is famous throughoutBengal.
Although the sweet gained popularity in the first decade of the 20th century, its earliest mention is in the 15th centuryChaitanya Charitamrita. In 1902, Adharchandra Das opened a sweet shop inKrishnanagar, and the shop became famous for itsSarpuria and Sarbhaja. As per the Hindu custom, it is customary to take sweets for the members of the household onVijaya or other festive occasions; theKrishnanagarik or Krishnanagarians have a tradition of taking Sarbhaja as a sweet.[1][2][3]
Traditional Sarbhaja is usually made frommilk,ghee, and sugar (powdered). Depending on the recipe, some other ingredients may be added to these ingredients such ascinnamon,cardamom.[4]
Sar is made using traditional techniques from pure cow's milk, the Ghoshes—businessman of milk products—of Krishnanagar mainly supply the milk. Fresh milk is thoroughly boiled in a semi-flat ironkoṛāi (pan) using dry cow dung cake flame. Half an hour is required to form a rich foam on the boiling milk surface, during which theladle or wooden stick is stirred in the boiling milk. The low heat of red burn dry dung cake make the milk to condense and a thick foamy layer of milk fat accumulates on the surface; it is calledsar. Thesars used in Sarbhaja are usually 7 to 9 inches in diameter. About 400 milliliters of milk is required to produce a 9-inch diametersar. Thesar is collected from thekarai and placed on a piece of cotton cloth to cool; about 2 to 3 hours are required for cooling.[5] Sarbhaja preparation requires another dairy product calledkheer, which is made by boiling milk. To make kheer, fresh cow's milk is boiled for half an hour and stirred continuously with a ladle to obtain concentrated form of mnilk calledkheer in pest form.Sugar is added while boiling the milk.[6]
Thesars andkheer prepared from milk are arranged in successive layers. In this processkheer is spread over a piece ofsar and covered with another layer ofsar, thus keeping 3-5 layers ofsar andkheer. This layeredsar andkheer material known askacha Sarbhaja (raw Sarbhaja).Kacha Sarbhaja is cut into square shape pieces with the help of a knife.Kacha Sarbhaja pieces are fried until they turn light golden-brown in color, using pure ghee for frying. After frying, the fried pieces of Sarbhaja need to be cooled. The pieces of hot Sarbhaja are cooled on a wooden plate.[6]
