"This year you have not made pithe once and Sankranti here! I guess we have to purchase and eat pithe puli this year. Not even Patishapta!" This was Mehebub while returning home last night after office. We went to my parent's place to pick Pasta. Before you ask he is all ready to help me with whatever he can. So, the only excuse I had was "ummm how about something easy this year to start with? We don't need to stick to Sankranti for eating Pithe right? Let's start with Gokul Pithe ."
Jump to:
When the decision was made, we went and pick mawa/ khowa kheer from Bowbazar. We picked a coconut as well. I already have Patali Gur, Maida, Suji, and also rice flour at home and apart from these what I need is oil to make the famous Bengali delicacy Gokul Pitha aka Madhab Gokul Pithe.
Gokul Pitha aka Madhab Gokul Pithe, some important notes!
Dida used to make Gokul Pithe all through the winter. Now I realize it was easy to make if compared to other pithe pulis. In addition, Dida never used Rice flour while making it, to ignore the possibility of being "Ento/ sogri". I can't really translate "Ento"; however, in several Bengali households, anything cooked with rice is considered Ento. People do not have those when they are fasting or having restrictions mainly widowed women. The restrictions are not much frequent now, however, Dida followed them all through her widowhood.
I do follow Dida's recipe while making Gokul Pithe and, I do not add rice flour to the batter. You can skip the rice flour if needed. Following Dida's instruction, I do not use other flavoring agents such as cardamom while making the pitha as Gur is having its own flavor.
Tips
Here I must mention while checking the famous cookbook "Mistanno Pak" I found no mention of rice flour there as well.
2021's First Pithe at home!
With all the ingredients available, I made the Gokul Pithe. Mehebub took the responsibility of scrapping the coconut. Pasta cleaned the table when Mehebub was done.
Here's how I make Gokul Pithe at Debjanir Rannaghar!
Recipe Card
Gokul Pithe
Gokul Pithe is a Bengali fried dessert soaked in sugar or jaggery syrup cooked with coconut feeling
Ingredients
To make the Pithe Stuffing:
- 1 cup Coconut Scrapped
- 1 cup Khowa / Mawa / Solidified Milk
- 1 cup 100g Patali Gur / Date Palm Jaggery Solid
To make the Pithe Batter:
- 150 g Maida / All-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoon Suji / Semolina
- 1 tablespoon Rice Flour
- 2 cups Full-Cream Milk 250 ml ; to be used based on the need
- ⅛ teaspoon Salt
To make the Syrup:
- 200 g Patali Gur/ Date Palm Jaggery (Solid) 2 cup
- 3 cup Water
For Frying:
- 300 ml vegetable Oil
- 1 tablespoon Ghee
Instructions
Pithe Stuffing:
- Grate the Gur/ Jaggery or cut it into small chunks.
- Also, grate the Gur/ Jaggery or cut it into small chunks.
- Heat a non-stick pan and take scrapped coconut.
- Cook on a low flame till the coconut starts emitting a nutty aroma.
- Add grated Khowa/ Mawa.
- Cook on a low flame till the Khowa mixes with the coconut completely and also starts releasing moisture.
- Keep the flame low and cook until the mixture thickens.
- Now add Gur/ Jaggery and cook till the mixture is sticky.
- Switch the flame off.
- Form small balls out of the stuffing once you feel it can be handled safely with your bare hands.
- Flatten each ball on your palm.
Batter:
- Heat the milk to a warm temperature while making the batter.
- Soak the semolina in the milk for 15 minutes.
- Now add salt to the mixture, followed by the Maida and also rice flour.
- Mix using a spatula or spoon.
- The mixture should have a 2-string consistency so that it can be used in coating the stuffing.
Making the Syrup:
- Start boiling the Jaggery along with 3 cups of water on medium flame.
- Once the mixture starts boiling, it will release impurities.
- Remove the impurities with the help of a ladle.
- The syrup should be runny like the syrup needed for Rosogolla.
- Switch the flame off and strain the syrup through a strainer to discard the impurities.
Frying the Pitha:
- Heat sufficient refined oil in a pan, along with 1 tablespoon of ghee.
- Coat the flattened balls with the batter and fry them on a medium flame until they are properly fried and crisp.
- Fry 2-3 Pitha at one go, depending on the size of the pan.
Soaking the Pitha in Syrup:
- Soak the fried Pitha in warm syrup for 2-3 minutes, then strain it from the syrup and keep it in a bowl.
Serving the Gokul Pitha:
- You can serve the Pitha hot or at room temperature.
- While serving, drizzle 1-2 tablespoon of syrup on the top of the gokul pitha.
Notes
- Instead of Gur, you can use Sugar or substitute half of the gur with sugar.
- You can replace 1 Tbsp. Semolina with an equal amount of Rice Flour.
- You can completely skip Ghee or can increase the amount of ghee for the richer version.
Nutrition
Bengali Pitha, Puli, and Payesh Recipes from Debjanir Rannaghar!
- Gurer Patishapta (also known as Patishapta Pitha)
- Dudh Puli (Also known as Dudh Bhapa)
- Rosh Bora (Also known as Rashbara Pithe)
- Saru Chakli (Also known as Saru Chakuli Pitha)
- Narkeli Jam Pitha (Also known as Jam Puli)
- Khejur Gurer Payesh (Also known as Patali Gurer Payesh)
- Chosir Payesh (Also known as Choshi Pitha)
- Taler Bibikhana Pitha (Also known as Bibikhana Pitha)
- Komlalebur Payesh (also known as Kheer Komola)
Let's connect!
Do let me know how it came out. Also, I would love to see a picture of the same which you can share here at [email protected]. Meanwhile, on Instagram, you can use my hashtag #debjanirrannaghar and in addition, you can tag me at @foodofdebjani.
Here's the Gokul Pitha Recipe Pin for your Pinterest Board!
About Debjani Chatterjee Alam
I am Debjani Chatterjee Alam. A CSR specialist by profession and a food writer, food blogger, and food photographer as well. I live in Kolkata along with my Husband Mehebub who is an architect by profession, my daughter Pasta, and also my dog daughters Coffee and Luchi.
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