Just About Everything

Bhapa Pitha It is my favourite time of the year, the weather is perfect, and there is so much activity all around! Winter is the time when you get to try out different kinds of delicious, mouth watering sweets in India, especially in West Bengal which is quite popular for its sweets. And sweet pithas are very popular during this time. Bhapa pitha looks like idli but it is not quite an idli….It is made of rice powder, desiccated coconut, milk, and jaggery. The entire mix is steamed and what comes out is delicious…The sweets are best had when steaming hot. The origin of this sweet is in Bangladesh where they make bhapa pitha (meaning steamed rice cake) to mark the beginning of the harvest festival. Pitha can be sweet or salted depending on the ingredients used. I happened to chance upon the making of bhapa pitha at a mela in Salt lake, Kolkata. Watch this video…it is interesting… the cloth that is being used is a fine muslin fabric and the containers used are earthen pots. Even ...

Bengal is well known for its sweets. When we say Bengali sweets, Rossogolla comes on top of our mind. But there are a lot more sweets in Bengal that deserve mention. Come winter, homemade sweets become the hot favourite! Pattishapta-Bengali sweet Shankranti is celebrated with homemade traditional sweets known as pithe (p-e-e-tt-he) in the local language. Pulir pithe Patali gur or jaggery made out of date palms is the common ingredient or sweetener for these sweets. Not only does it add colour to the sweet, the flavour makes the sweet even more delicious.There are a variety of pithes- Pattishapta, Pulir pithe, Gokul pithe, sweet potato pithe, Chitoi pithe, and the list goes on. If you are fond of sweets, you must visit Kolkata during winter, not only are the shops full of yummy sweet meats, if you are lucky you will find some of the sweet shops selling pithes as well. Karaishootir Kochuri (peas kachori) The most popular breakfast during winter in ...