Poush Pithey !!! :D

Makar Sankranti is one of the most auspicious occasions for the Hindus, and is celebrated in almost all parts of the country in myriad cultural forms, with great devotion, fervour and gaiety. It is a harvest festival. Makar Sankranti is perhaps the only Indian festival whose date always falls on the same day every year on. the 14th of January (with just a few exceptions when it is celebrated either on 13th or 15th of January)

Makar Sankranti is the day when the glorious Sun-God begins its ascendancy and entry into the Northern Hemisphere and thus it signifies an event wherein the Sun-God seems to remind their children that 'Tamaso Ma Jyotir Gamaya'- may you go higher & higher, to more & more Light and never to Darkness.

To Hindus, the Sun stands for knowledge, spiritual light and wisdom. Makar Sankranti signifies that we should turn away from the darkness of delusion in which we live, and begin to enjoy a new life with bright light within us to shine brighter and brighter. We should gradually begin to grow in purity, wisdom, and knowledge, even as the Sun does from the Day of Makar Sankranti.                                                                                

In West Bengal, Sankranti, also known as Poush Sankranti named after the Bengali month in which it falls, is celebrated as a harvest festival Poush Parbon . It always falls on 14 January on the English calendar. The freshly harvested paddy along with the date palm syrup in the form of Khejurer Gur and Patali  is used in the preparation of a variety of traditional Bengali sweets made with rice flour, coconut, milk and 'khejurer gur' (palm jaggery) and known as Pithey . All sections of society participate in a three-day begins on the day before Sankranti and ends on the day after. The Goddess Lakshmi is usually worshipped on the day of Sankranti. In the Himalayan regions of Darjeeling, the festival is known as Magey Sakrati. It is distinctly associated with the worship of Lord Shiva. Traditionally, people were required to take a bath before sunrise and then commence their pooja. The food that is consumed consists primarily of sweet potatoes and various yams.

Millions of people take a dip in places like Ganga Sagar (the point where the river Ganges meets the Bay of Bengal). Ganga Sagar falls in West Bengal.

                                                                                      

Poush Sankranti is Meaningless Without the Sweet Heavenly Taste of PITHEY !!! So for all of you here are Some Recipe of Delicious Pithey :D  For My Lioness & Everybody  Enjoy !! :D  <3<3<3 .

                                                                                 

1. Patishapta

                                                                                        
                                                                                          
Preparation time: 10min
Cooking time: 25mins
Makes 10 patishapta

Ingredients:

For the filling-

• Grated Coconut (Narkel Kora): 3cups
• Jaggery (Gur): 1cup
• Cardamom powder (Elaich): 1/4 teaspoon

For the crepes-

• Wheat flour (Maida): 1cup
• Seomlina (Suji): 1/2 cup
• Rice flour (Chal guro): 1/2cup
• Milk (Dudh): 1cup
• Sunflower oil for frying

Preparation:

For the filling-

• In a wok heat the jaggery, as it start melting add the coconut
• Put in the cardamom powder and stir till the coconut mixes well with the jaggery
• Cook till the coconut feels sticky
• Take out of flame and keep aside

For the crepes

• Add all dry ingredients together and mix well
• Pour the milk with constant stirring to avoid lump formation, the batter should be smooth and freely flowing (add excess milk if required)
• Heat a frying pan (preferably non-stick) and pour in 1 tablespoon on oil, spread it with a kitchen paper
• Take a small bowl of batter and spread it evenly on the pan to make a round shape, do it quick before the batter sets
• Place the filling lengthwise at the center of the crepe
• Fold the crepe from both sides and wait till it turns light brown .                                                                                                                                                                             

 2.   Puli Pithey
                                                              

                                                                         
 Ingredients:

1 coconut.

1 cup sugar.

2 cup Rice flour

2 tblsp.plain flour(Maida)

1 litr milk.

10 gms raisins

10 gms cashewnut

1 tsp. cardamom powder.

Method:

1 Grate coconut and mix with sugar and cardamom powder. Mix well and keep it aside.

2.Heat a Pan and add Rice flour.Stirr for about 5 minutes. Take it out in an bowl and add plain flour to that. Now add Hot water and knead well to make a dough.

4. Make small balls from the dough, spread each ball with hand and stuff the coconut sugar mixture into it. Fold it and seal the edges so that filling doesnt come out to get the shape 

of 'Puli' as in the picture.

5. Heat a pan and add milk. boil the milk for some time so that it get reduce to half. Add sugar and cardamom powder. cook for a couple of minutes. Now add the pulies to the milk slowly.cover it and let it cook for about 15 minutes with stirring in between. Add raisins and cashew nuts. Take it out in a serving tray. Serve cold.

                                                                               

3.  Gokul Pithey

                                                                            

Make the Stuffing

Grated Coconut(I used frozen pack) ~ 2 cups
Khoya ~ 12oz almost 2 cups. Note: Ideally home made khoya/kheer is best but store bought khoya works fine.
Sugar ~ 1 cup

Heat a Kadhai.

Add coconut and sugar and lower the heat.
 

Mix the grated coconut with the sugar slightly pressing with your fingers till sugar melts and mixes with the coconut. Note: You can add add some cardamom powder. I didn't.

Now add the Khoya. Keep stirring till mixture becomes light brown and sticky. It should easily come off from the sides by now. At this point take a little of the mix and see if you can fashion a flat disc out of it. If it is too sticky you may have to cook a bit more, else you are good.

Take a little of the mix, roll a small ball between your palms and then flatten between your palms to make a disc about 1" in diameter and thickness of a 1 Rupee coin. Make equal sized discs. I made about 30.

Make the Batter

In a wide mouthed bowl add
2 Cups of AP Flour
1 tsp of Ghee
1/4 tsp of Baking Soda
Mix lightly

Now add 1 cup of Whole Milk + 1 Cup of water. Mix scraping the sides to form a batter. You will need about 1 more cup of water but add this gradually till you get a batter thick enough like a pakodi batter.
To the batter I added a generous pinch of saffron

Make the Syrup

Bring 3 cups of water 4&1/2 cups of sugar
to boil till you get a syrup of one string consistency
Add a few drops of Kewra or Rose water to the syrup to get a sweet smell

Frying

 

Heat enough oil for deep frying in a skillet.

Dip the discs in the batter so that they are well coated. Now fry them in the hot oil like a fritter. Remove with a slotted spoon when both sides are golden brown. Dunk in the syrup and remove when they become little soft.

In one version of Gokul Pithe you can make the sugar syrup thicker and then coat the fried pithe with the syrup instead of soaking them in it.
  

                          A COURTESY OF GOOGLE .