Patishapta, Kite flying and relaxation on Sankranti!

(A sweetened pancake with coconut-jaggery-milk solids filling)

A Bong's Poush Sankranti celebrations amidst Hyderabadi Sankranti's Kite flying fervour!

Well it was fusion all the way.....Holiday, Pithey preparations, Kite Flying, my 7yr old decorating the main entrance with chalk powder muggu.....we did it all!!

I am surprised at how I've missed blogging here about the annual tradition of Pithey Paarbon and the famous Bengali Pitheys...though I have shared the recipe of Paatishapta in my now abandoned personal blog 'Whims and Wishes' (here & here)!

Well Paatishaapta being the easiest (in my opinion) of the Pitheys and the most oft prepared one by me, I'll post the recipe of it today. And will share the recipe of the more elaborate Puli Pithey later.....

Ingredients for Paatishapta which yielded approximately 30 pieces:

* 2 medium sized Coconut - freshly grated

* Patali Gur (DatePalm Jaggery) - 450 gm approximately

* Sugar- 1 Cup

* Flour (Maida)- 2 Cups

* Suji or Semolina - 1 Cup

* Rice Flour- 1 Cup


* Milk - 1.75 - 2 litres

*Khoa (dried or thickened milk) from 3 litres milk - yielded approximately 500 gm of which about 450-470gm was used

* Ghee - 2tbsp

Procedure : Instructions are given in the sequence I prepared


A) PATISHAPTA BATTER -Part 1:
I mixed the Suji and Rice Flour. Then soaked the mixture in adequate milk. Left it aside and got on to work on the Filling.

B) PUR /FILLING :
Took the freshly grated coconut in a wok (Kadai) and added the sugar and approx 300 gms of jaggery. Stirred it around well. (Sugar provides the binding)
After mixing it considerably well, put the wok containing the mixture on fire and continued stirring.
Added the khoa after the coconut-jaggery-sugar mix had turned a lovely golden brown. All the while I was vigorously stirring the mix which is the most important aspect of making the 'Pur' or filling.
I continued the stirring process for about 30 minutes, till the coconut turned a rich brown and became sticky in texture.

C) PATISHAPTA BATTER (Continued):Part 2
I added 2 tbsp of ghee to the Maida and mixed evenly. 

Added this to the already milk-soaked mixture of Suji-Rice Flour. Had to mix it well as to ensure no lumps are formed. Added more milk to make the batter of medium consistency so that it spreads evenly on the tawa.

To sweeten the batter, add some broken pieces of jaggery (approx 150gm). The batter should be of mild sweetness.

D) THE FRYING PROCESS:

I used a non-stick Tawa (a non-stick frying pan would do fine)

Smeared some oil/ghee (I used ghee....sinfully delightful!!) on the Hot Tawa. (I used the top of a brinjal cut horizontally, with the stalk intact..it makes the ghee smearing easy as the stalk acts as a handle)

Poured a ladle of batter and spread it in a circle as in Dosa/Pancake 

Fried in low to medium heat to ensure the patishapta is crisp yet soft. Flipped it over.

Made a snakelike shape with a tablespoonful of Pur and laid it lengthwise as is shown in the pic.

Folded the patishapta and turned it around a bit to give a golden brown look to it.

Served hot!!!

This Sankranti special delicacy is off to Foodabulous Fest Event organised by Preeti’s Kitchen Life.