Spicy Mera Pitha , Jhaal Puli pitha and fried puli pitha from boiled rice flour dough
These spicy mera pitha , jhaal bhapa puli and fried jhaal puli , made from the boiled rice flour dough but as a twist , while boiling the water for the dough , I added ginger-garlic paste and turmeric .. Tasted really good ..
For Jhaal Bhapa puli pitha , follow the following link to make the dough and the process .. Use any savory filling of your choice . I used egg and spinach filling . Just Added lots of onion , chopped cilantro andthen added beaten egg .. Scrambled the egg then added chopped spinach and salt . Fried until dried and done . Yummy !!!!
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.
Samosa , made with boiled rice flour dough , a very crispy version
This special type of Samosa is a savory version of pithas , made with boiled rice flour dough . It’s a very popular regional speciality in Jamalpur and greater Dhaka division . In Manikgonj , this samosa is called “morog-shongshar” !!!! Believe me this samosa is so crispy and tasty , once you have them hot , you will always want to make samosa with this special dough . And they are pretty easier to make than the traditional samosa , as no special folding is needed . Just make a round small roti . Cut into halves and make a cone with each half-circle , put the filling , seal the edges with your finger tip and deep fry .
Ingredients:
For the dough:
Rice flour 1 cup
Water 3/4th cup
Salt to taste , around half tea spoon
For the filling :
You can use any filling of your choice , but traditionally cooked chicken in cut in small pieces is used .
Procedure:
1. Boil 3/4th cup of water with salt . When it’s on the boiling point, add the rice flour . Mix well . Let it cool .
2. Wet your hand and knead the dough for a minute or so . Make small balls brom the dough . Roll out the balls into small medium thick roti . Cut each roti in halves . Take each half-circle and make a cone . Press well the line of the cone , so that it must not comes off while frying. Now put filling inside the cone and seal the edges very well with your finger-tip .
3. Deep fry on medium low heat until light golden . Take your time and fry well .Should be served warm . If you have some leftover , fry them again before you eat them .
Bhapa Puli is a steamed dumpling type of very popular Bangladeshi pitha . Usually freshly prepared rice flour is used to make this pitha , but I used the ready made, store bought rice flour without any hesitation and the outcome is as same as the flour made at home . So those who are bit skeptical using the store bought flour in making pithas, don’t be . Give it a try !!!!!!!!
Ingredients:
For the dough:
Rice flour 1 cup
Water 3/4th cup
Salt to taste , around half tea spoon
For the filling:
Grated coconut
Date palm molasses ( khejur gur)
Procedure:
1. Make the filling by cooking the coconut and molasses together . Keep stirring until gets sticky .
2. Make the dough by boiling 3/4th cup of water with salt . When it’s on the boiling point, add the rice flour . Mix well . Let it cool .
3. Wet your hand and knead the dough for a minute or so . Roll a big medium thick roti on a rice flour dusted counter top . Use additional extra flour to roll it out . Cut the roti into small rotis with anything round shaped object .
4. Put filling in the center and seal the edge with your finger tip . The roti must not be too thin or too thick . It should be medium thick .
Before steaming
5. Steam for 3-4 minutes . Before steaming try to grease the pan , on which you will put the pithas to stem or else they can stick with the pan .
Serve hot !!!!!
Notes:
Alhamdulillah my pithas turned out good , but I agree , these pithas often cracks . I think few things must be taken into consideration .
1.Dont make your roti , too thin or too thick . Both tends to crack .
2.Knead well your dough . If you use too much extra rice flour leaving it totally dry , it might crack .
3.Steaming for a longer time might crack the pithas and before steaming don’t keep it outside for too long , the air can dry out the pithas and eventually they crack .. So steam them immediately after you shape them .
Patishapta is a thin Swedish pancake or crepe type pitha , very special and adored by the Bengalis!! No special occasion is complete without it … there can be many variation , sometimes prepared coconut with molasses is used for the stuffing , and sometimes the kheer or the kheersha is used . There is savory version of patishapta too . Vegetables, meat or even cooked noodles is used as the stuffing .
My version , is my special, it is saffron flavored kheer with generous amount of dry nuts and raisins . My friend and family love it so much , hope , you will love it too InshaAllah!!!!!
Ingredients :
For the batter:
All purpose flour / maida 1/2 cup ( Half cup)
Rice flour 1/4 th cup ( one-fourth cup)
Semolina/sooji 2 tbl spoon
Liquid milk ( little warm or room temperature) 1 cup + 2 tbl spoon ( 1 cup= 250 ml) or water
Liquid Molasses/ date palm jaggery/ jhola khejur gur 1/4 th cup
salt
For the Stuffing:
Very thick milk 2 cup ( I took 1 and half cup of evaporated milk and half cup of regular liquid milk)
Rice flour 2 level tbl spoon
Sooji 1 tbl spoon
2 cardamoms , 1 small stick of cinnamon
Saffron, soaked in milk
Sugar to taste
Coarsely chopped dried nuts , pista, almond , walnut and raisins
Procedure:
1. Make a thin batter with the ingredients mentioned for batter . The batter should not be too runny or too thick . A little thinner than the medium thickness . The batter should be free-flowing . Cover and keep it aside for at least 1 and half hours . The longer you put the batter to rest , the more perforated pitha or pancake it will be .. 🙂
2. Make the stuffing . Take some of the milk and mix rice flour with it .Boil the rest of the milk with cardamom, cinnamon and sooji . Soak saffron in another small bowl in milk and add it to the milk . I used few drops of food colors too . Add the sugar and the milk mixed with rice flour . Keep stirring , or else the bottom would be burnt . Soon the milk will thicken . Make a hard kheer of it . Cool down and mix the chopped nuts and raisins with it . Don’t chop the nuts finely . Better if you can keep some of them whole so that you can enjoy in every bite .You may sprinkle rose water in the kheer before turning off the stove .
3. Now heat the non stick pan on medium low flame and rub with little oil with a cloth . Take a small ladle and put some batter on the pan . Swirl the pan to cover or coat most of it . Cover the pan . It will take not more than 45 seconds to set.
4. Now put some stuffing or filling lengthwise nearer to the edge , not in the center and keep folding .
Ready !!!!!!!
Notes:
1. Don’t forget to rub the pan with oil , every time you put the batter to make pitha.
2. I don’t want my batter to be too sweet , as the stuffing will be sweet too . Those who like sweetness more may add little sugar to the batter too.
3. You can make the stuffing by cooking evaporated and condensed milk together . Make a thick creamy kheer by doing this and use as your stuffing.
6. Please chop the nuts for stuffing coarsely . Don’t chop the nuts finely . Better if you can keep some of them whole so that you can enjoy in every bite
Khadiza's Kitchen 