Government of India
Ghila Pitha
Ghila Pitha is a snack prepared during the festival of Magh Bihu in Assam. It is also prepared as a regular household snack and savoured with tea. Ghila Pitha is also known as Tel Pitha.
| Cuisine: | Assamese |
| Total time: | 45 mins |
| Preparation time: | 25 mins |
| Cooking time: | 20 mins |
| Makes: | 15 - 20 Pithas |
Ingredients
| 2 cups: | Rice-flour (Traditionally the flour prepared out of Bora variety of rice is used, however, the regular rice-flour available in the market can also be used) |
| 1 cup: | Sooji |
| ½ cup: | Gur (or sugar) |
| 1cup: | Warm water (for blending the gur) |
Mustard oil or refined oil (the amount should be sufficient for deep fying)
Directions
Preparing the rice-flour
- Keep 2 cups of rice soaked in a large bowl of water for 4 to 5 hours.
- Drain the water and spread the wet rice on a newspaper or a dry cloth and let it dry.
- When the rice is dry, add it to a grinder and prepare a fine powder.
- Remove the flour from the grinder and sieve it to get an even finer flour.
Alternatively, ready-made rice flour available in the market can also be used.
Preparing the Pithas
- First, mix the jaggery with warm water in a large bowl. Blend till the jaggery dissolves into the water.
- Add the rice-flour to the gur mixture. Mix well to form the dough. Add the sooji. Add more water if required. The dough should not be too hard or runny.
- Keep the dough aside for 15 minutes.
- Heat oil in a deep kadai.
- Make small balls of dough and flatten them with your hands.
- Place the dough balls delicately in the hot oil. Fry till golden brown. Fry in batches.
- After frying place on a paper napkin to absorb the extra oil.
Serve with tea.
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