Rice and lentil Brûlée Pitha. Is even more delicious than it sounds. Inspired by a local food expert in Bhubaneswar who served biri poda pitha. So much was I smitten (and so was my mother) that we quickly cooked up up a version. With great success. Enjoy!
Special tools:
Medium-powered food processor (or grain grinder); Non-stick, thick bottomed kerai/wok (small size)
Ingredients
- Batter
- Soak for 6-8 hrs: 1 cup rice + 1 cup white urad dal in plenty of water
- 1 cup shredded (fresh) coconut
- Sweetener: 3/4 cup guda/jaggery/brown sugar (or adjusted to taste)
- Flavorings: 1 inch ginger diced + 1 tsp peppercorn coarsely crushed + 5-6 crushed cardamoms + 2 bay leaves
- Toppings: raisins and cashews
Method
Drain the rice/lentil mix. Grind with little water to a fine paste. Pour into a large container and whip the batter. Test the doneness of the whipping by dropping a spoonful into water to check if it floats. If it sinks, then some more whipping is required.
Fold in the grated coconut and the sweetener. Mix well and add all the flavorings. Pour onto the well-oiled thick-bottomed non-stick pan.
Place the pan on low heat. Cover and let cook for 25-30 mins.
Cool, unmould, slice and serve.
Notes, hints, tips:
- See Alka Jena’s recipe: https://culinaryxpress.com/biri-poda-pitha/
- Coconut does wonders to otherwise mundane ingredients. See also a Sri Lankan one https://purba.blog/2021/01/03/coconut-berry-rum-cake/
- For the bite-test (whether the grains are soaked enough), see https://purba.blog/2019/07/10/make-pitha-mainstream-chunchi-patra/
- The shredded coconut can be found in the freezer section of most Indian grocery stores. Alternative is to freshly grate a coconut. I don’t recommend using desiccated coconut found in most supermarkets.
- One would think that the rice and lentil combination may not whip easily– but it does. So you need not soak the lentil and rice separately.
- Again there is not need to rest the batter before cooking.
- The stove-top gives a nice crust. If baking in an oven, I would recommend 300F in a dark baking pan. My hostess had lined the pan with banana leaves– if that is available it is an excellent choice of lining.
- I called it minimalist since my Mom was particularly pleased with this one that does not require the pre-cooking of the batter (‘janta’) which usually requires some non-trivial effort. See https://www.instagram.com/p/C78NZ_rPkU-/ for the only-rice version of the poda pitha.
