Biri Poda Pitha , the quintessential delicacy symbolising Raja festival in Odisha. This he unique tradition ,This Biri Poda Pitha is made with a combination of basic ingredients like rice and lentils , with the sweetness of jaggery , spiced with ginger ,black pepper and cardamoms , topped with grated fresh and chopped coconut , cashewnuts , raisins and desi ghee to make it a crowd favourite during Raja .
Traditionally Poda Pitha is made in earthen wares on earthern Chullah with burnt charcoals and cow dung cakes on top of the batter that was covered with banana leaves and left to cook or bake slowly the whole night . But now with passage of time, we have shifted to baking this pitha in Oven, pressure cooker or even an iron Kadhai.
Do you that our religious festivals are meant to spread social awareness, be it the laxmi puja, Rath jatra or Raja. You would be surprised to know that Raja festival stands out by celebrating menstruation and womanhood. while it is common to find women being shunned from social life during menstruation throughout the country. Odisha has always been progressive about this social taboo and celebrating this biological cycle since time immemorial.
As a woman I openly talk about menstruation in my family and my son is very much aware that menstruation is a part of every woman’s life cycle and part of her reproduction process. Everyone need to understand its significance and celebrate this natural process we woman goes through every month. In order to make every common people understand this , Basumati or Mother Earth is given rest from all other activities for 3 days known as Pahili Raja, Raja Sankranti and Basi Raja as she is believed to be menstruating and is given a ceremonial bath on the fourth day known as Basumati Snana. For those three days, from plucking flowers to agricultural activity like ploughing or sowing remain suspended as Mother Earth or land goes through regeneration
In earlier times, my mother used to say menstruating women and girls were given complete rest to recover their bodies but with passage of time this practice is no more observed . Right from attending a high level meeting to cook everyday meal for my family, I do all works even during menstruation and we women should be proud of our identity and the way we are brought to the earth.
To celebrtae this festival we make variety of Poda pitha in Odisha. In the first part of this summer chronicle , let me take you through the process of making Biri Poda Pitha in a pressure cooker , so that you can make this for the coming Raja and serve it with pride.
Ingredients to make Biri Poda Pitha:
- 3/4 cup urad dal
- 1 cup rice
- 1/2 cup jaggery
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup chopped cashew nuts and raisins
- 2 tbsp ghee
- 1/4 cup chopped coconut + grated coconut
- 1/2 tsp cardamom powder
- 1/2 tsp crushed black pepper
- 1 tsp greated ginger
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tbsp fennel seed
- banan leaf
Direction to make Biri Poda Pitha:
- Soak the urad dal and rice separately for at least 4 to 5 hours and then grind to make smooth paste. whisk the urad dal paste with your hand for 10 minutes to make it floppy. Then mix the rice paste into it and mix it well. Keep it to ferment for 4 to 5 hours or overnight.
- Grease the banana leaf with ghee and keep inside the pressure cooker . You can grease a mould and bake on this inside the pressure cooker or in oven also. Roast the cashewnuts and raisins in ghee and keep aside.
- Transfer the batter to a large bowl and add salt , grated ginger, cardamom powder, pepper powder,jaggery, bay leaf, fennel seeds, cashewnuts , raisins, coconut and ghee.
- Mix it well and pour this batter into the banan leaf placed inside the pressure cooker and cover the lid. Remove the vault or whistle and place on low heat for 30 to 40 minutes. To check if its done or not, insert a toothpick and if it comes out clean, then turn off the gas and allow the pitha to remain inside it cools. Cut and serve .
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