Try the wholesome goodness of Assamese Bhapa Pitha this season

The Assamese Bhapa Pitha is a steamed delicacy made of flour, jaggery and freshly grated coconut. With the perfect balance of sweetness and nuttiness, this is a comforting treat for the season. Milan Kar, Masterchef at Mayfair Spring Valley gives us this wholesome recipe for sustaining our culinary cravings for the winter months.

Ingredients:

● White rice 240gms

● Freshly scrapped coconut 100gms

● Jaggery powder 40gms

● Cardamom powder 5gms

● Salt 5gms

Method:

• Wash cup rice nicely, drain and spread to a tray to dry. Then grind to make powder and sieve.

• Dry roast the sieved powder in medium heat until a sweet fragrant emits from the powder. Don't over-roast to make the powder brown in colour.

• Transfer to a big mixing bowl. Add salt.

• Boil sufficient water to and with the help of boiling water make a semi-soft dough. Note that you have to use boiling water only to make the dough.

• Cover and set aside for 15 minutes.

• In the meantime make the stuffing. For that dry roast scrapped coconut in medium-low heat for a couple of minutes. This will enhance the taste and flavour of coconut.

• Next add in jaggery, cardamom powder and mix well until jaggery melts completely.

• Mix well again and stuffing is done. Remove from heat.

• Now from the prepared dough, take a lemon size portion.

• Make a patty first and then make a cavity and stuff 1 tablespoon of coconut mixture. Fold and give the size of a gujiya. This is the traditional size. But you can also make the pithas with a cookie mould just to give them a new style.

• You can make the pithas without stuffing also like the following pictures.

• Place them in a steamer.

• Cover and steam them for about 20 minutes.

• Transfer the steamed pithas to a colander and pour some cold water over the pithas. This will prevent the pithas from sticking to each other.