Bengali Patishapta : Poush Parbon/Makar Sankrati Special

Hi guys, as I had promised before I’m back with a bunch of Pithe-Puli recipes like Patishapta, Gokul Pithe, Malpua, Kolar Bora or Nolen Gurer Payesh to celebrate Makar Sankrati or Poush Parbon for Bengalis.

In my mom’s house I had always seen my mom and aunts to prepare these pithe-puli on the day of Poush Parbon. It used to take an entire day for them to complete all the items from scratch. And at the end of the day they get so tired that they don’t even taste the preparations. I really hate this type of cooking. In fact after spending (read, fighting) a whole day in the kitchen I always feel for a good massage; ahhh. Okay now back to reality again. My own preference is to prepare these sweets and snacks a day or two before the celebration. This not only helps you to get a relaxed sleep but also helps you to be a day ahead ;)

For those who don’t know what Makar Sankrati or Poush Sankranti is I’m giving a little ‘gyan’ on it. It is one of the many harvest days in India. Traditionally it is believed that on this particular day fresh rice is harvested and with this new rice ladies used to prepare special sweets by combining them with fresh date palm jaggery which is another winter special in India.

Time passes on but tradition doesn’t. These days with the blessing of science farmers harvest rice many times in a year but still when the smell of the winter-fog gets mixed with the smell of fresh jaggery we can recall noting but a Patishapta or Gurer Payesh or Gokul Pithe.

Today I’m sharing the recipe of Patishapta.

Time: 45 mins. (15 mins for filling + 30 mins for 10 patisapta).

Yield: 10 big or 15 medium patisapta

Ingredients for Filling:

Desiccated coconut: 2 ½ cups

Jaggery: 1 cup

Or sugar: 1½ cup

Or condense milk: 400ml (See Tips)

Cardamom powder: ½ tsp

Dry fruits: according to your choice (See Tips)

Khoya: 1/3 cup (Homemade or store bought)

Sugar: if necessary (my taste buds are always satisfied with the sweetness of jaggery)

Preparation for Filling:

Make tiny pieces of the jaggery. It will help the coconut to blend with it faster.

Take a large pan and heat on medium flame.

Add desiccated coconut and dry roast for 2-3 mins on medium-low flame. (See Tips)

Add jaggery/sugar/condense milk into pan, whichever you are using.

Try to mix it with the coconut flakes.

In the beginning it will seem to be impossible but allow the jaggery to warm a little to melt. Then these will easily mix up. (See Tips)

Once you notice that jaggery-coconut mixture is not sticking to the pan any more, add khoya and keep stirring continuously on medium-low flame. (See Tips)

Once khoya is mixed completely increase the flame to medium and stir non-stop for 1-2 mins. If you are also using dry fruits, add them now.

Switch off the flame, sprinkle cardamom powder and transfer immediately into a flat wide palate to cool off. (See Tips)

Ingredients for Crêpes:

All-purpose flour: 1 cup

Rice flour: 6 tbsp

Semolina: 5 tbsp

Caster sugar: 1 tsp

Cardamom essence: 2-3 drops

Milk: ½ cup + 1/3 cup (if necessary)

Ghee/ any white oil to fry

Preparation for Crêpes:

Sieve and sift the both flour in a deep bottomed bowl. Add semolina and caster powder.  

Add milk little by little to make a thick paste. Add very small amount of milk to avoid lumps. Break the lumps, if any forms and mix well with a fork.

Once the batter is lump free and smooth add more milk and keep mixing to form a very balanced batter. (See Tips)

Take a non-stick flat pan or tava. Add few drop of ghee on it. (See Tips)

Place a ladle full of batter on the pan and rotate the pan to cover the surface with the batter. (See Tips)

Keep the flame on low, otherwise the crêpes will be brown in color and that will be the last thing we want.

Once the crêpe changes the color to pale golden, carefully flip it and allow the opposite side to cook.

Assembling the Patishapta:

Take 1-2 tbsp of the filling prepared before in your palm and make a flat rectangle pattie.

Flip the crêpe again and place the pattie gently on a round edge of the crêpes. (The nearer edge to you.)

Now turn the edge inner wards and roll the crêpe on the opposite direction. (far from you.)

Roll until you reach the other edge. Press it gently with the spatula to give it a shape of a Frankie.

Flip the Frankie and press gently again. Now your patishapta is done. Remove immediately.

Follow the same with rest of the portions.

Serve warm or cold; both ways patishapta will provide you immense pleasure.

You can serve it with Nolen Gur or dry fruits or even rich Rabri.

Tips:

1.  You can use any either sugar or jaggery or condensed milk for the mixture. Or you can always combine them. if you are planning to combine don’t forget to decrease the amount specified. Otherwise it will yield sugar lump only. Keep checking the sweetness before adding the next ingredient.

2.  Personally I don’t prefer dry fruits in patishapta but you can always  use them for garnishing if you desire.

3.  If you don’t have any issues with raw coconut you can skip dry roasting of coconut. But I don’t like the raw smell of coconut so I prefer to dry roast them.

4.  By the time coconut and jaggery mix up, you will notice liquid portions on the edge of the pan. Don’t panic it has come from the melted jaggery. Continue cooking it will be dried up at the end.

5.  Coconut has a tendency to burn easily so be very careful while cooking it.

6.  It’s okay to have more than a moist mixture. By the time of cooling the extra liquid will evaporate but the mixture will be moist and sticky. But complete dry filling is strictly No-No.

7.  The batter should be in finely dripping consistency, neither very thick not very thin. It should be able to cover the back of a spoon.

8.  I used regular paper towel dipped in ghee and wiped the pan in between the crêpes.

As my pan is too heavy for me to rotate it, I simple rotate the batter with the back of the ladle and this works fine for me.