ASSAMESE GHILA
PITHAS
Assam
the ‘land of red rivers and blue hills’ is the holy abode to Goddess Kamakhya
and mighty river Brahmaputra is blessed with unique topography and not to
forget the aromatic flavorful Assam tea.
Just like the diverse topography of hills,
plains and rivers, Assam celebrates Bihu
a set of three cultural festivals celebrated throughout the year. Bhogali
Bihu is celebrated in the mid of January as the harvest festival, Rongali Bihu celebrated during mid of
April marks the Assamese new year and Kongali
Bihu celebrated during mid of October is to ward off evil effects on paddy
crops and for prosperity. Out of the
three Bihus; Bhogali Bihu and Kongali Bihu are celebrated with much pomp and
show.
Bhogali
Bihu is approaching soon and the Assamese people would be gearing up to dish
out various delicacies as it is the festival of eating and enjoyment. Larus/ladoos
and pithas are most popular sweets
during this festive season.
Pithas
are basically simple rice cakes prepared with many variation like using sesame
seeds, coconut, dry fruits etc. Assamese
prepare many times of pithas such ghila
pithas, til pitha, sunga pitha, uhuwa pitha, tekli pitha etc. Out of all these pithas I picked up ghila
pitha because the ingredients used and look of the dish resembled like our good
old Andhra ariselu!!!
I
have adapted this recipe from ‘Assamese Pakghor’ by Gitika Saikia.
To make ghila pithas try to use the slightly coarse homemade rice flour as the store bought one is extremely fine and you will not get the right texture for the pitha. Also traditionally ghila pithas are deep fried but I shallow fried them as I was not very confident whether the mixture will stay together or not. It has a crunchy texture with a distinct aroma of saunf; it makes for an excellent tea time snack.
Preparation
Time :
4 hrs (2hrs soaking + 2hrs drying) 15 mins
Cooking
Time : 15 to 20 minutes
Serves/makes
: 10
Ingredients:
1 ½ cup coarse rice flour
3/4th cup jaggery/gud (Add more
jaggery for more sweetness)
1 tsp saunf powder
1 tsp pepper powder
1/4th tsp baking soda
Pinch of salt
Oil for shallow frying
Preparation:
Soak rice in water for 2
hours.
Drain out all the water and
spread the rice on a cloth and let it dry for 2 hours or more.
Blend the rice finely but
not to smooth powder like texture.
Dilute the jaggery in 1/4th
cup of warm water. Strain and keep
aside.
Method:
Mix all the dry ingredients
thoroughly.
Now add the liquid jaggery
little by little to the dry ingredients and prepare dough just like the dough
for roti’s.
Wet your palms and start
making flat round pithas with 2 or 3 inches diameter.
Gently tip in the pithas in
medium hot oil and fry them on each side for 7 to 8 minutes or until a rich
golden brown color is attained.
Strain and store them in a
dry container.
Serve them with a hot cup
of tea or as a dessert.
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