Pitha

Ingredients

Dough

• 500 grice flour, ideally freshly ground
• 1 tspsalt
• about 500 ml boiling water

Filling

• 250 gkhejur gur, date palm jaggery, grated
• 250 gfresh grated coconut
• ½ tspground cardamom

For bhapa pitha

• extra grated coconut and gur, to layer

Equipment

• a steamer
• small bowls, for shaping
• muslin

To serve

• hot, with tea

Directions

1. Stir in the cardamom and let it cool completely. Put the rice flour and salt in a bowl and pour boiling water over it, stirring hard with a spoon. It must be boiling water.
2. Cover the bowl and let it stand 5 minutes. Now knead it while it is as hot as you can bear, with wet hands. Keep a bowl of water beside you and re-wet your hands constantly. Knead 5 minutes until it is completely smooth and soft, with no cracks when you roll a ball.
3. Keep the dough covered with a damp cloth at all times, because it dries out within a minute of exposure. For puli pitha, the stuffed crescent, take a small ball and press it into a shallow cup with wet fingers.
4. Put a spoonful of the coconut and gur filling in and close the dough over it into a crescent. Seal the edge completely and crimp it, because an open pitha lets water in and collapses in the steamer.
5. Steam them on muslin for 12 to 15 minutes until the surface looks glossy and slightly translucent. Do not over-steam them, because past about fifteen minutes the shells go slack and lose their shape.
6. Press half the crumbs loosely into a small bowl, add coconut and gur in the middle, then cover with more crumbs. Press it very lightly. Bhapa pitha should be light and crumbly, and compacted crumbs give a dense heavy cake.
7. Turn it out onto muslin, wrap it, and steam 8 to 10 minutes. Serve them hot, straight from the steamer, with tea.

Technique

• Freshly ground rice flour makes a noticeably better pitha than packet flour.
• Khejur gur is seasonal and is sold in blocks or as a thick liquid.
• Patishapta is the rolled crêpe version and chitoi the plain poured one.

Substitutions

• Cane jaggery or dark palm sugar in place of khejur gur, which is milder.
• Desiccated coconut soaked in warm milk, in place of fresh.

Variations

• Patishapta, rolled crêpes with the same filling.
• Bhapa pitha, the steamed crumb cake.
• Dudh puli, boiled in sweetened milk.

History

Rice-flour cakes steamed, fried or stuffed with date molasses, made in winter after the aman harvest when fresh khejur gur is tapped.

Frequently asked questions

What is Pitha?

Pitha is a snack from Bangladesh: winter rice cakes steamed or fried with date molasses and coconut. Rice-flour cakes steamed, fried or stuffed with date molasses, made in winter after the aman harvest when fresh khejur gur is tapped.

How long does Pitha take to make?

Pitha takes 40 min of preparation and 40 min of cooking. The recipe makes about 16. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Pitha?

Yes, within limits. Cane jaggery or dark palm sugar in place of khejur gur, which is milder. Desiccated coconut soaked in warm milk, in place of fresh.

What is the most important thing to get right in Pitha?

Stir in the cardamom and let it cool completely. Put the rice flour and salt in a bowl and pour boiling water over it, stirring hard with a spoon. It must be boiling water.