West Bengal is well-known for several things, one of the most essential of which is food. The delicious Rosogullas, Chomchom, Patishapta pitha and Rasamalai, as well as the very excellent Sorshe Ilish and Chingri Macher Malai Curry, are only a few examples of the scrumptious and alluring delicacies of the beautifully depicted and elegant Bengali cuisine.
Patishapta pitha recipe is a well-known and delectable Bengali pitha recipe that is mandatory in every Bengali household during “Poush Parbon.” In short, “Makar Sankranti” is incomplete for Bengalis without patishapta. West Bengal and Bangladesh are great fans. Bengali patishapta is a stuffed pancake made with coconut-mawa-jaggery stuffing that is placed over an all-purpose flour-rice flour-semolina battered pancake and rolled into a roll. It is typically given as a snack with tea, but it may be enjoyed at any time of day to satisfy your craving.
In Bengali households, there are primarily two types of patishapta recipes. One sort is sweet, while the other is savoury.
Patishapta recipe with coconut, Patishapta recipe with kheer, Patishapta recipe with Sandesh, and mango patishapta are some of the most popular sweet variants.
Patishapta with coconut is a straight forward Bengali pithe dish. The level of difficulty in cooking this Bengali cuisine is moderate. This recipe necessitates some preparation before cooking. When making narkeler patishapta, it is usually best to prepare the ingredients ahead of time, such as grated coconut, mawa, date palm jaggery, and rice flour.
Patishapta Pitha Recipe:
Patishapta pitha or homemade bengali kheer narkel nolen gurer patishapta pitha (pithe) is a popular Bengali sweet or dessert eaten during the Makar Sankranti or Poush Parbon celebration in West Bengal and Bangladesh. It is essentially a rolled rice flour pancake filled with a khoya(kheer)-coconut(nerkel)-sweet date palm jaggery(nolen gur) combination flavoured with ghee and cardamom. One of the most common handmade Bengali pitha recipes prepared in every Bengali home in West Bengal and Bangladesh to mark Makar Sankranti or the Poush Parbon holiday in the winter. This bengali pithe pairs well with another popular wintertime delicacy, khejur gur or date palm jaggery.
What is pithe or pitha in Bengali?
Pitha/pithe is a Bengali name that refers to home-cooked Bengali sweets or desserts made with rice flour and coconut. Perfect examples of this sweet include Sidho puli pitha, Dudh puli pitha, Bhapa puli pitha, and Patishapta pitha. Pitha is a Bengali sweet treat that is cooked at every home in West Bengal and Bangladesh on the day of Makar Sankranti or the Bengali poush parbon festival. Poush is the Bengali month for celebrating the arrival of newly harvested rice (notun kata dhan). Due to a bumper crop, the poush parbon festival is observed on the last day of this Bengali month.
On that day, several delicacies such as Nolen gurer payesh, Choshir payesh, and bengali pitha recipes are created in every Bengali family with newly harvested rice in honour of Goddess Lakshmi. Not with intact rice grains, but with ground rice grains ground in a husk lever (dhenki) or a grindstone (shilpata or shilnora) to a fine powder. For such delicious recipes, handmade ground rice (dhenki ki te gurano chal or shil nora ba shil pata te bata chal er guro), a blend of grated coconut/narkel kora, and date palm jaggery (khejur er gur) are combined.
Difference between pitha and pithe?
This patishapta recipe, like other Bengali sweet and savoury pitha recipes, was invented in Bangladesh during the Indian pre-independence era. While Bengal was not divided at the time, and today’s Bangladesh was known as the East section of Bengal. Patishapta is generally called as “Pitha” among Bangladeshis due to its Bangladeshi heritage. Even Bengalis from the Northeast and North Bengal (such as Siliguri, Dinajpur, and Assam) are originally from East Bengal, and Bengalis who reside near the Bangladesh border also refer to it as pitha. Bengalis from West Bengal termed this sweet “Pithe.” Therefore the only distinction between the two Bengals’ names is “Pitha and Pithe.” Yet, there was no discernible variation in flavour.
Creating patisapta is simple if you know how to make its pancake. Your patisapta will taste more scrumptious because the pancake is soft. In general, the pancake can be created with a combination of rice flour, maida, suji, or even a perfect combination of these two or three ingredients. Patishapta’s kheer-narkel-nolen gurer filling, aka khoya-coconut-date palm jaggery mixed stuffing, on the other hand, is simple to make. The most difficult step of this dish is preparing its soft pancake with rice flour. So don’t worry, my step-by-step recipe will walk you through the process.
Different ways of making patishapta’s batter:
Method 1 : Super soft patisapta recipe with store bought rice flour –
Patishapta batter is made from rice flour (chaler guro) and maida (plain all-purpose flour). The rice flour can be homemade or purchased from a store. The precise proportion of rice flour (1/2 cup) and maida (1 cup) can make it soft combined. Nevertheless, rice flour must first soak in the same amount of water, be thoroughly mixed, and then soaked in another 1/2 cup of milk. Stir it thoroughly with 1/2 cup milk to produce a lump-free batter, then set it aside for 15 minutes. Then prepare a flawlessly smooth and creamy batter by combining milk, maida, and soaked rice flour.
Method 2: : Making very soft patishapta the traditional method with handmade rice flour-
Prepare a 1:1 ratio of overnight soaking gobindo bhog rice (atop chal) and parboiled rice (sidhdho chal). Then pulverised the soaking rice by hand the next morning in a Shil Nora (Shil Batta) or grindstone. Then soak it in a proper ratio of water or milk (dudh) for about 6-7 hours or until the evening, then check the consistency of the batter before forming the patisapta.
Method 3: The most quick and easy way of making soft patishapta with suji & maida:
Make a pitha batter with maida (all-purpose flour) and suji for quick and easy patishapta recipes at home (semolina). Simply replace the rice flour with sooji, as sooji will only provide a slight crispness to the dish, whilst maida will keep it soft. The suji & maida ratio will be same to the rice flour & maida ratio used in this recipe. Sujir patisapta is very excellent and really soft.
Method 4: Maida made soft simple patisapta:
People also create this crepe with solely maida, which makes it soft but lacks the close taste and texture of the original patisapta. Even a maida-made crepe is similar to “moida’r golaruti” (maida-based homemade soft savoury pancake).
Tips to prepare perfect patishapta pitha
It is critical to produce flawless crepe batter before making perfect patishapta. Please use the measurements provided in the ingredient section. You can also double or quadruple the quantity for bulk preparation.
Prepare a smooth, lump-free batter and let it aside for at least an hour.
Always use a nonstick utensil to make patishapta. The patishapta crepe comes out effortlessly and without clinging to the pan, saving you time and effort.
Patishapta should be cooked over a low to medium heat. On high heat, your patishapta pancake will either get overdone or have a porous texture. It will not look good in either case.
Brush oil on the pan each time you make patishapta. If you skip it, your patishapta will stick to the pan.
It is critical to produce a sticky stuffing that can be bind with your hand for the patishapta stuffing. If you make dry stuffing, you won’t be able to roll the patishata firmly or properly.
If you overcook the crepe, it will not seal properly when folded into a roll.
Cook the patishapta crepe from one side only, never from both sides.
After preparing the stuffing, divide it into equal amounts and form it into a narrow cylindrical shape. This process makes the preparation easier when it comes time to pack the crepe before folding it.
Originally, the filling for patisapta was made with a blend of narkel kora (grated coconut) and gur (jaggery). The addition of khoya kheer only serves to enhance the flavour of this filling. Instead of khoya kheer, powdered milk, guro dudh, whole milk, condensed milk, malai, or even dudh er shor can be excellent substitutes with a great mixture of coconut-date palm jaggery filling. Nevertheless, desiccated coconut can be substituted for fresh coconut.
EQUIPMENT
- Mixing bowl (for the crêpes)
- Balloon whisk | fork (for the crêpes)
- Ladle (for the crêpes)
- Non-stick pan | appam chatti (for the crêpes)
- Long spatula | khunti (for the crêpes)
- Heavy-bottom saucepan | boiling pot (for the kheer)
- Wooden spoon (for the kheer)
Ingredients
1 cup=250 ml
For making batter
- 1/2 cup of Rice flour/ Chaler Guro
- 1/2 cup Water
- 1 cup of Maida or plain flour
- 1 cup Milk or dudh
- 4 tbsp crushed Patali gur or sugar(optional)
For making filling
- 1 cup grated Coconut/ Narkel kora
- 3/4 cup crushed Patali gur/ nolen gur/ khejur gur
- 1/2 cup Khoya kheer/mawa (in hindi)
- 3 tbsp Ghee
- 1/2 tsp Cardamom powder/ elach guro
How to make patishapta pitha recipestep by step
Preparation of batter
To begin, combine 1/2 cup of rice flour (homemade or store bought) with 1/2 cup of water in a mixing bowl.
Stir the mixture for 2-3 minutes to thoroughly combine it.
Then, whisk together 1/2 cup milk and the rice flour mixture to produce a thin, lump-free batter.
Cover and set aside for 15 minutes.
After 15 minutes of soaking, begin adding 1 cup of maida or flour in 2-3 batches to this mixture.
At this point, add 1/2 cup more milk to the mixture until you get a beautiful batter with soaked rice flour and 1 cup maida.
Don’t stop stirring the batter at this point; we want a smooth, flawless batter (without any lump).
The batter should not be too runny or too thick; it should have a medium consistency.
Split the batter into two bowls; in one, add 2 tbsp nolen gur or patali gur and whisk well until the gur melts. Add nothing to the other bowl.
If you want to sweeten the entire mixture, add 4 tbsp gur or sugar and stir well.
After the pitha batter is ready, cover the two bowls and set aside for later use.
Making of stuffing
Heat 2-3 tbsp ghee or clarified butter in a pan over medium heat, then add 1 cup grated coconut (narkel kora). Cook for 1-2 minutes.
Next stir in 3/4 cup crushed or grated patali gur or khejur gur. Mix thoroughly.
Sauté the mixture until the gur is almost completely melted.
When the gur has melted, immediately add 1/2 cup grated khoya kheer/Mawa and stir well.
Stir the mixture constantly. You can substitute dudher shor or malai for the khoya.
When all of the ingredients have been combined, add 1/2 teaspoon of cardamom powder to the mixture. Combine thoroughly.
This filling must not be dry, which means it must retain moisture, so don’t overcook it; simply cook it as indicated in the photo. Then remove from the heat. Pithe filling is complete.
Making of Bengali Patishapta Pitha
Prepare a tawa or skillet by heating it and brushing it with ghee. With a paper towel, wipe away any excess ghee. As indicated in the image.
Pour the batter into the skillet with a round-shaped ladle, then move the ladle in a circular motion to produce a round-shaped pancake.
Let the pancake to cook once it has reached the proper shape.
When bubbles begin to develop on the pancake and it begins to dry.
Place the filling on the right side of the pancake and begin rolling it out with a spatula.
After spreading out the pancake, spray it with ghee on both sides and fry it for 30-40 seconds on each side.
Our favourite Bengali dessert, patishapta pitha (patishapta pithe), is ready; serve it hot or at room temperature with nolen gur or khejur gur.
