Golap Pitha ( rose pitha)
Golap pitha , the beautiful , rose shaped pitha has two versions . One is dried one like goja or pakkan pitha , fried and coated with thick sugar syrup and the other is a soft , Gulabjamun style version , soaked in sugar syrup . The basic dough being the same . I’m sharing both the processes.
Ingredients:
For the dough:
1 cup Milk
1 cup flour/ maida
few pinches of salt
1 beaten egg
2 tbl spoon of breadcrumbs
1 and half tbl spoon of ghee/ oil ( I prefer ghee)
Sugar Syrup:
For the Dried version:
1 cup sugar
1/2 (half cup) water
2 cardamom and little stick of cinnamon.
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice ( to prevent crystallization)
Make a two thread sugar syrup with the ingredients mentioned above . That is the syrup should be thick . Don’t forget to add lemon juice to prevent crystallization . If your sugar syrup is not thick , the pithas will get soggy .
For the Softer , soaked in syrup version:
1 cup sugar
1½ cup water
1 piece cinnamon, about 2”
3 green cardamoms
Make one thread sugar syrup with the ingredients . The syrup should be thin . If your syrup is thick , the pithas will not get soaked well and will remain hard .
Procedure:
1. Boil milk. Add few pinches of salt . When the milk is at boiling point add flour and mix well .Just like the dough made for roti or chapatti.
2.Transfer the dough to a bowl. Knead well.Add the ghee or oil.When the dough cools a bit add the beaten egg and breadcrumbs. Knead well. You may find it difficult to incorporate everything smoothly but keep kneading. You may need to add some extra breadcrumb to work comfortably with the dough.The kneading part is very important. The smoother and glossy dough you can make by kneading, the softer pitha you will get after soaking in the syrup for the soft version of the pitha .
3. Now make large balls from the dough . Roll out each ball into a big , medium thick roti . Cut them into small rotis with the help of biscuit cutter or any round object .
4. For one rose , take three or five rotis . I took three rotis . Plz follow this video to shape the rose pitha easy way ;
5. Heat enough oil in a pot so pithas can be deep-fried. Now, the frying part is very important. If not fried well, the pithas will remain hard, especially in the center, even in the sugar syrup. And for the dried version , if not fried well , the pithas will not be that crunchy .The oil must be heated on medium low flame and it must not be too hot. Too hot oil will make the pithas get the outer color fast but leaving the center raw. The oil must not be cold either. Carefully, heat oil on medium low heat and fry the pithas well until dark golden brown.
6. For the soaked in syrup , like gulabjamun versions ,transfer the hot pithas immediately into lukewarm sugar syrup and soak them for at least 7/8 hours. If soaked well, the pithas will be soft like gulabjamun or laalmohon. Remember , the pithas should be hot , well fried and the syrup should be luke warm , not hot . If you put the pithas into hot syrup , the texture of the pithas will be ruined . DON’T PUT THE PITHAS INTO HOT SYRUP.
7. For the dried version , after frying coat them with the thick luke warm sugar syrup . If the syrup is not thick , the pithas will be soggy soon .
Notes:
1.Kneading and frying is very important to soak perfectly in the sugar syrup. Knead very well until glossy.
2.While frying, the temperature of the oil must be perfect. It should neither be too hot or mild hot. If it is too hot the pithas will go dark brown without being cooked in the center. And if oil is little hot the pithas will absorb a lot of oil and will taste bad. Therefore, oil should be heated on the same temperature from beginning to end. It should be on low medium heat and bubble should occur when you add the pithas. Remember oil should not be so hot that smoke can be seen. Also, remember to fry them with patience, with more time, so that they are perfectly fried inside out.
3.Always put the pithas in luke warm syrup. If you put them on piping hot syrup, the texture of the pitha will be ruined. For the soft gulabjamun like pithas , the pitha should be very hot and the syrup must be thin and luke warm , neither hot, nor cold or room temperature. The pithas get soaked well in thin, luke warm syrup . The syrup should not be thick for softer version of this pitha . On the other hand, for the dried version of pitha the syrup should be thick . Otherwise they will get soggy soon.
Khadiza's Kitchen 