Poit' (পইত)

Recipe by Jahanara Chowdhury (my mom)

It's a tangy, sweet, nutty and creamy traditional dessert from Sylhet region of Bangladesh. There are two versions, one made with Sesame seed and other with Peanuts. It's origin may be traced back to Assam. It might be unknown to the younger generations and some of the older generations of Bangladeshi's even to those from Sylhet.

My mom used to make 'Poit' in olden days, I never had it anywhere else and I don't know where she learned it from. She probably wont remember the recipe now, luckily I got it off her many years ago when she visited UK and tried with peanut butter few times, because I didn't have a spice grinder, it didn't work! So do not try with Peanut butter or Tahini, it wont work. To make the the paste you will need a spice/coffee grinder or the real thing, the good old grinding stones (sheel-pata)! This time I followed my instincts and my memory to recreate it here in the UK, here it is:

• 1 cup dry roasted salted* peanuts > grind to a smooth paste with some milk added gradually in a spice grinder (make sure your grinder is the type that can take liquid)
• 3 cups milk (or 2 cups milk + 1 cup Cream)
• 1 cup sugar (or Palm sugar)
• 1 cup Tamarind sauce (if you are using concentrated tamarind paste, 2 tbsp probably will be enough).
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder.

Mix it all up and bring to simmer while stirring on low heat > turn off the heat.

You can add some cream (2 cup milk and 1 cup cream) to make it extra rich and bring it up to a different level.

Serve with sticky rice (Binni bhat). Garnish with some mint leaves. Give it a go, you will know what you missed, if you never had it!

*If you are using unsalted peanuts, you will need to add some salt to taste.