Chunchi Patra Pitha

What is Pitha?

Pitha is a type of rice cake from the eastern regions states like  Odisha, Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand,WestBengal and even in Bangladesh etc. Pithas are typically made of rice flour , urad daal, semolina, all purpose flour, gramflour etc. Pitha is usually associated with religious observations or very special occasions in Odisha. However, some pithas are made for everyday use.

If we talk about Pithas, then let me guide you to some of the popular kinds of batter used in odia pithas. There are two kinds of batter for the Pithas , lentil based (Urad, Moong and Masoor)and the other is powder based(rice flour, semolina, wheat flour).
Pithas are either stuffed with sweet or spicy filling and are too delicate and difficult to make, but with practice one can master the same. We in Odisha has been making these Pitha since centuries and many people are not even aware of it.

Chunchi Patra Pitha belongs to those days when Pithas are typically made without a laddle . Some of the saying goes that its called Chincha pitha earlier as it is made with the help of a bunch of grass used to spread the batter on the tawa as no laddle was used during that time. Later the bunch of grass got replaced with a piece of cloth to spread the batter. The process is tricky and need a bit of patience.It cooks quickly and resembles a super thin handkerchief. You can check the video Here.

My version of needle thin crepes called chunchi patra are made from a batter of rice flour and made with a muslin cloth in place of a laddle to come up with this super soft delicacy which is simple yet irresistible . These are made with locally grown aromatic rice which cooked quickly and consumes very little oil.

INGREDIENTS

• Batter
• 1 cup long grain aromatic rice (basmati) Soaked for 2 hrs
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup water
• Stuffing
• 1 cup shredded coconut
• 1/2 cup jaggery
• 1/2 tsp cardamom powder
• 1/2 tsp black pepper powder
  ghee for brushing
  
  

METHOD

Make a fine paste of the soaked rice with water to make a thin batter and add salt into that. To know if the rice is soaked enough or not, Take a piece of rice and try to break it ,if it breaks down easily with finger or you can bite it with your teeth, then it is ready for grinding.The batter should be of easy-pouring consistency .

For stuffing, heat a pan and jaggery and once it melts , add grated coconut, and keep stirring in low flame till it becomes brown in colour. Add the cardamom powder, black pepper powder and keep it aside.

Heat the non-stick pan. Brush the pan with ghee .Reduce the flame to medium.

Take a clean muslin cloth and dip it into the prepared batter and make a cross symbol on tawa . Put a spoon of coconut stuffing on the middle of the cross and fold it from four sides to make it look like a handkerchief .

Here I have not put it in a cross, rather i rolled them up like a cigar.

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