Pittha

Today another edition of Blogging Marathon by Srivalli is beginning. I am doing it under the theme Bihari Specials. When I searched for the recipes I became interested because of the variety of dishes. So for a week you will be seeing only Bihari dishes at my space. I will try to make it interesting. Today I tried out Pitha, which resembles kolukkattai of Tamil Nadu. There are a lot of differences between the two but the stuffing and shaping is where the resemblance lies.

I started following a recipe which asked for boiling the pithas for 20 minutes. Fortunately, I didn't drop all the 8 pithas into boiling water. After dropping 4 pithas, I reserved the remaining 4 for the evening. Those which boiled for 20 minutes came out so hard that you can break your teeth if tried. I was so disappointed with the result. But didn't want give up. So again I searched for the same recipe by some other chef. I found out that pitha needs to be in boiling water for only 10 minutes. So I tried it out with the remaining pithas. It came out so nice and the filling was soft. So I saved half of the preparation for a wonderful result. I tried it out with sweet chutney and it was delicious. I served it for hubby and he liked it too.

Ingredients:
For The Dough:
Flour-1cup
Salt-to taste
For The Filling:
Channa Dhal-1cup
Garlic-5cloves
Ginger-a small piece
Salt-to taste
Red Chilly Powder-1tsp
Turmeric Powder-1/4tsp
Garam Masala Powder-1tsp
Hing-a pinch
For The Tadka:
Oil-1tbs
Mustard-1tsp
Hing-a pinch
Curry Leaves-a sprig

Procedure:
1. Soak channa dhal overnight.
2. Mix flour and salt and add water to make a firm dough.
3. Grind channa dhal with the other ingredients into a smooth paste without adding water.
4. Divide the mixture into 8 equal parts.
5. Divide the dough into 8 equal parts.
6. Roll out the dough into a circle large enough to hold the filling.
7. Place the filling in the centre and bring thalf of the circle over the filling and press to seal the edges.
8. Use a fork to make impressions along the sides.
9. Heat water in a large pot.
10. When it starts boiling drop the prepared pitthas into it one by one.
11. Add pitthas according to the size of your pot. Do not over crowd it.
12. Let it boil for 10minutes.
13. Remove from water and place on a plate.
14. Cut the pitthas into pieces of 1" width.
15. Heat oil in a pan and splutter mustard, hing and curry leaves.
16. Add in the cut pitthas and saute for 2minutes or until firm and golden.
17. Serve it hot along with sweet chutney.