Til pitha
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Thin rolls of sticky rice flour toasted on a pan and filled with sesame and jaggery, the best-known sweet of Magh Bihu.
Region: AssamOccasion: Magh (Bhogali) Bihu in January; also Rongali BihuTime: 1 hour (plus soaking)Serves: About 15 pithaVegan
Ingredients
- 2 cups bora saul (sticky rice), soaked 6–8 hours
- 1 cup black sesame seeds
- ¾ cup jaggery, grated
- A pinch of salt
Method
- Drain the rice and dry it on a cloth until just damp. Pound or grind it into fine flour and sieve it; keep it slightly moist.
- Dry-roast the sesame until it crackles, then coarsely pound it with the jaggery.
- Heat a flat iron pan (tawa) on low heat. Spread a handful of rice flour thinly in a round with your fingers.
- When the flour sets into a soft sheet, put a line of sesame and jaggery filling along the middle.
- Roll it up with a spoon or your fingers while it is still soft, and lift it off.
- Cool the pitha on a plate; they keep for some days in a closed tin.
History
Pitha made from sticky rice are an old part of Assamese harvest festivals. Families start making them days before Magh Bihu.
Significance
Magh Bihu celebrates the end of the harvest. Til pitha are made in large numbers, offered to guests and taken as gifts.