Come every Poush Sankranti each year and most Bengalis either munch away or reminisce about the grand old dessert dish, pithe. Unfortunately, I belong to the latter category, cursed to have only just nostalgic memories about this awesome sweet dish and not have them. Hold on, it is not because I have developed any kind of diabetic tendency but simply because the making of this sweet requires special expertise and my mom doesn't have it. Well, she can make lovely prawn malaikari though :-)!
However, the memories of me devouring endless pithes at our neighbors' place back in Durgapur are still fresh in my mind. Latika mashi was a true expert at it. Pithe, majorly a winter affair, is generally prepared around Poush Sankranti (some time in mid Dec - mid Jan) to mark the new crop harvest festival. Christmas, or rather, cake celebrations would then be taken over by pithe festivities. Needless to say, my friends and I queued up at mashi's place to get going at the assortment of pithes - pati shapta (like stuffed pancakes), dudh puli (with concentrated milk), soru chakli, ranga alur pithe (made of sweet potato), and gokul pithe.
Made of rice flour, which forms the base of the pouch, pithes are generously stuffed with grated coconut, kheer or vegetables. Shapes of different kinds – crepe, round oval, etc waited on the tray to be devoured by us. I am exaggerating not in the least, the taste was heavenly. I can still breathe the sweetness of those steaming yummy pithes, I swear.
I was traveling in time and was almost in a reverie when my sister-in-law just helped me with a box full of equally tasty assorted pithes today right here, in my Kolkata home. Thanks a ton, boudi!
However, the memories of me devouring endless pithes at our neighbors' place back in Durgapur are still fresh in my mind. Latika mashi was a true expert at it. Pithe, majorly a winter affair, is generally prepared around Poush Sankranti (some time in mid Dec - mid Jan) to mark the new crop harvest festival. Christmas, or rather, cake celebrations would then be taken over by pithe festivities. Needless to say, my friends and I queued up at mashi's place to get going at the assortment of pithes - pati shapta (like stuffed pancakes), dudh puli (with concentrated milk), soru chakli, ranga alur pithe (made of sweet potato), and gokul pithe.
Made of rice flour, which forms the base of the pouch, pithes are generously stuffed with grated coconut, kheer or vegetables. Shapes of different kinds – crepe, round oval, etc waited on the tray to be devoured by us. I am exaggerating not in the least, the taste was heavenly. I can still breathe the sweetness of those steaming yummy pithes, I swear.
I was traveling in time and was almost in a reverie when my sister-in-law just helped me with a box full of equally tasty assorted pithes today right here, in my Kolkata home. Thanks a ton, boudi!
