Poda Pitha - Tripura

We have finally reached the last of the Seven Sister States of North Eastern India. This state is bordered by Bangladesh, Assam and Mizoram. Tripura cuisine is dominantly non vegetarian. They use berma which is dried and fermented fish along with meat and vegetables. The recipe hunt for this region gave us a lot of terror. The ingredients suggested in the websites were very strange and I thought I will not be finding anything in the vegetarian category. Panch phoran is a well known spice mix among the seven sister states, but as I have made it already I was looking for some snack recipes. 

I came across this pitha recipe at Sify Bawarchi. I am not very much sure about how authentic this recipe is but I didn't have any other recipe at hand. So I made it. I have made it twice so far. The very first time, I didn't ferment the batter enough and the pitha was so hard and inedible. So thenext time I let it ferment overnight. It tasted just like the baked version of  paniyaram. With the crunchy bits of coconut and jaggery it tasted so good.But I came across a problem. The jaggery melted and oozed out of the pitha. As I didn't have a recipe with snaps, I am unsure about how it looks or tastes. I just followed the recipe and we liked the outcome. If any of you know about this poda pitha, please mail me whether it looks Ok or not. 

Recipe Source: Sify Bawarchi

Ingredients:

Rice-1 cup

Urad dhal-1/2 cup

Grated Coconut-3/4 cup

Sliced Coconut-1/2 cup

Jaggery-1 cup

Black Pepper Powder-1/2 tsp

Ghee-1 tbs

Salt-to taste

Procedure:

1. Soak rice and urad dhal for 6-8 hours.

2. Grind to a smooth paste. The consistency must be like dosa batter.

3. Cover and set aside for 8 hours for fermentation.

4. Add the jaggery, coconut pieces, grated coconut, pepper powder and salt.

5. Preheat oven to 180C.

6. Grease a tray with ghee and pour the batter in it.

7. Bake for 30 minutes.

8. Reduce temperature to 150C.

9. Bake for another 30 minutes.

10. Remove from oven and let it cool down completely.

11. Slice into small cubes.

12. Serve with chutney of your choice..

Soak rice and dhal.

Pour in a greased tray.