Today’s is my mama’s (mother) birthday and it coincides with World Environment day which makes it even more special. If I look through my previous posts on this day then most them were sombre. I just wanted to change the tone of writing for once as these are trying times and no one wants more of pathos in their life apart from covid anxiety.
I wanted to share a few things which make me giggle every-time I think of mama. They are all about mama’s fun side. Seeing her smiling face made my day while her anger made me quiver. Yes, she was extremely strict when it came to some things but I had my way around it 🙂
Mama was extremely slim and when she walked it was like a model on the ramp. I loved watching her across the field when she wanted to do some exercise. Sometimes she would take long strides within house. Rapid walks from the backdoor to the front gate. Sometimes I try aping her while I am walking but you cannot mimic an ace.
Mama as a kid has a language which used the same phonic sound at the end of every word. So a sentence spoken in Odia would have a lyrical tone to it. It did sound amusing when mum talked. This reminded mum about her best friend.
Sometimes, mama and I used to wear daddy’s shirt and dance. It was manic and even our house help Yashoda would join in the fun. I don’t think carefree days exist anymore.
Today’s recipe is what I cherish more than a cake. It was made on my birthday along with 20 other pithas and offered to god.
Making the batter for Pura Pitha is the key to a great Pitha.
Split Black Gram
Split Black Gram is called Biri in Odia and is an important ingredient in pitha making. In the recent times the availability of plain urad dal has made the process of making pitha quite easy. The process is very similar to making dosa. There is a term in Odia called as Biri Gadaiba where we remove the lentil skins from the dal. Also, some of the granary back then was hand processed hence they weren’t as refined as modern day. So this process ensured the lentils used are throughly clean.
I used to sit and watch my mom clean soaked Split Black Gram in a method which was so soothing. Slowly drain the water in a circular motion and also remove the skin from the lentils. Mom would repeat this process three times before using it for grinding it into a batter.
Also check out the recipe of Stuffed podo pitha and chakuli pitha.
Nadia Pura Chakuli Pitha
- For the batter:
- 1 cup Urad Dal
- 2 cups Raw rice
- salt to taste
- For the filling:
- 1 tsp green cardamom powder
- 1/4 cup grated coconut
- 2 tbsp jaggery
- 2-3 tbsp refined oil
- Wash and soak the black gram or urad dal and the rice with the water for about 3 to 4 hours.
- Drain the water and grind this to a smooth batter using just enough wter to get a pouring consistency.
- Place the batter in a aluminium vessel for best results and keep in a warm place to ferment.
- Once the batter has fermented which you can make out by seeing tiny bubbles on the surface,
- Add salt and mix the batter well.
- Heat a skillet and add a tsp of oil and fry the fresh coconut to remove the moisture then add jaggery to the coconut and mix well until it is properly blended.
- Then take it off heat and allow it to cool and sprinkle cardamom powder over it.
- Mum also used to add raisins and cashews to it to make it extra delicious.
- Heat a flat pan.
- Pour a ladleful of batter in the centre of the pan and then spread the batter into a circle. This is slightly thicker from a dosa.
- Add a tablespoon of the filling to the half of the pitha then fold it into a half circle as shown in the photo.
- Add a tsp of oil around the pitha until it is crisp. Then flip over to cook both side.
- Eat as a breakfast or dessert. Either ways it is delicious.