Come winter and all Bong minds yearn for Nolen Gur( freshly extracted date syrup).... and of
course pithe puli! Pithe (or pitha ) is a type of Bengali homemade sweetmeat mostly
prepared during ‘Makar Sankranti’. It’s not that pithe can not be made in other
seasons but the fresh nolen gur, newly harvested rice n the cold pleasant
climate help conjure the perfect mood to enjoy this delicacy! Its primarily
prepared from a batter of rice flour or wheat flour (or a combination of both)
with a stuffing ( pur) of coconut or khoya, dryfruits,sugar or jaggery.
Depending upon the types of pithe it can be fried in oil or ghee, slow roasted
over fire, boiled in milk, steamed or baked!
In my parents’ house, however, pithe used to be prepared
during Saraswati Puja! Looking back during our childhood days, I still remember,
it used to be a mega event to prepare this bong delicacy. All female members
used to get together on the previous evening to make 5-6 types of pithes to
celebrate the occasion! Years went by, family size got reduced and with that
the grandeur of pithe utsav too gradually receded in my parents’ house. Nevertheless
my mom tried her best to religiously follow the tradition... albeit the number
of varieties reduced as it was virtually impossible for her to prepare
everything single handed!
While growing up we were discouraged to enter the kitchen so
that we could concentrate on studies! But occasional sneak peek into the
kitchen and there I had my first encounter with a particular pithe, called bhapa pithe or steamed pithe, which my mom used to find it difficult to manage alone!
So just to help her out I entered the kitchen with no intention what so ever of
learning! Little did I know that years later this experience would help me
replicate this delicacy in my kitchen!
After marriage I moved out of Kolkata and started losing
touch with our tradition! Though whenever I used to come home, my mom always made
it a point to make bhapa pithe, irrespective of whether it was winter or summer
and I used to invariably lend her a helping hand even then. Not with standing, I
still did not have an inclination to learn the procedure as I knew it was
impossible for me to grasp this complicated procedure! But we actually do not
know our potential until we face the situation when we are left with no other
option but to accept the challenge! This is exactly what happened to me!
Bhapa pithe, as it is called, or the steamed pithe, is the
most complicated and yet the most delicious, unique and healthiest of all the
pithes I have ever come across! This delicacy is purely made of rice flour and should
be served with milk mixed with nolen gur! Its uniqueness lies in its very
making and the container in which it is prepared! It is prepared in the empty
shells of coconut. Alternately it can be made
in small steel bowl too!
Makes... 10.
Cooking Type.... Dessert
Cooking Time.... 20 min
Preparation Time... ½ hour to 40
min
Ingredients:
v
Rice (raw or boiled)...3 cups
v
Salt... ½ tsp
v
Water... for kneading the rice flour
v
Milk.... 1 litre
v
Nolen gur or khajoor gur (alternately date syrup)...
According to taste.
v
Soak rice overnight.
v
Next morning discard the water and spread the
rice on a news paper to soak the extra water for at least an hour.
v
Finely dry grind the rice, there should be no
granules at all.
v
Empty the rice powder on to a large container.
v
Put some salt.
v
Add just enough water to bind the rice flour and
knead it lightly. Bind it to ball shape.
v
Take a steel strainer with tiny holes
(alternately use grater) and grate the rice balls lightly.
v
Fill the coconut shells with the grated flour,
do not overload.
v
Put a muslin cloth to wrap the shell around.
v
Put it in steamer and steam on high flame for 20
minutes.
v
After approximately 10 minutes take them out,
remove the cloth carefully and empty the shell in a plate.
So
here was my small attempt to invoke our age old tradition! In our attempt to
try out new types of food especially fusion food, somewhere, we have forgotten
our roots. The new generation is too obsessed with fast food to even think of
giving such traditional recipes a try! My children too have not developed a
taste for such traditional delicacies as they find it to be messy. But it is so
satisfying to try out these forgotten recipes sometimes. It is true that these
types of food need lot of patience and perseverance to prepare. But the
happiness and satisfaction I derived on serving it to my parents is beyond
words! And if we can try our hands in experimenting foods from across the world
why not make some effort to invoke our very own traditions once in a while?
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