Patishapta.......Crepes with Coconut Filling

Last week we all celebrated the Harvest festival which is known as "Makar Sankranti" in India. As India is a very diversified country this festival is known by many names; Bhogali Bihu, Pongal, Magha Sajji, Suggi, Sankrat to name a few. We Bengalis called this festival as "Poush Sankranti" as this festival marks an ending of Bengali month called "Poush".

For us this festival is known for the reason of making "Pithes" so another name for this festival is "Pithe Parbon". I still remember the tradition of making Pithe-Paayesh in my family. My Mom along with my Grand Mother used to make lots of Pithes to celebrate this festival.

To keep the spirit alive I too make some Pithes which I learnt from my Mom. I have posted few recipes of Pithes here. You can have a look here:

Golap Pithe/ Edible Rose Garden

Hridoy Horon Pithe/ Heart Shape Pithe

Malpua/ Sweet Indian Pancakes

Gajorer Patishapta/ Carrot Crepes

Gurer Paayesh/ Rice Pudding with Date Palm Jaggery

As these days Nolen Gur (Date Palm Jaggery) is widely available in West Bengal, so I wanted to combine the goodness of Nolen Gur with the awesomeness of Patishapata. So, let's begin with the recipe:

Gajorer Patishapta/ Carrot Crepes

This post was lying in my drafts folder for quite a long time. I made these Crepes or Patishapta on the occasion of Poush Parbon or Makar Sankranti and thought of posting this during that time but before clicking the pics those "Patishaptas" were in our tummy. So, I thought of making them again and this time before they get their exact place I wanted to give them a space in my blog.

I thought Poila Boishak or Bengali New Year will be appropriate to post this recipe. For those who don't know what's a Poila Boishak is then let me throw some light on it: The 1st day of the Bengali New Year is marked as Poila Boishak. It is celebrated in the mid of April on 14th or 15th. On this occasion every Bengali wears new clothes and exchange gifts and sweets with their friends and family. 

The love of Bengalis for sweets is world famous. We can have sweets in breakfast, lunch and can even finish our dinner with it. So, I decided to celebrate this Poila Boishak in a sweet way and there's nothing better than trying a traditional dish. But, I wanted to give this traditional dish a twist. 

Patishaptas are usually prepared in two steps:

• Preparing the filling with coconut, khoa (solidified milk) and sugar
• Preparing the batter with all purpose flour, semolina and sugar

Thin crepes are then made by pouring this batter on non-stick frying pan and then placing the filling in it. You can enjoy this crepes as it is or serve them with Rabri. 

This time I decided to do a fusion of this traditional Bengali dish with a very popular North Indian dish i.e Gajar Ka Halwa. So, let's begin with or recipe:

Malpua....Sweet Indian Pancakes

As I mentioned in my last post that I'm celebrating "Poush Sankranti" or "Makar Sankranti" on my blog so this will be my last recipe to celebrate the same. We Bengalis celebrate this festival with Pithe-Payesh. Since childhood I have seen my Mom and Grandma to make different varieties of "Pithe". Among them Patisapta (Indian Rice Flour Crepes) and Malpua (Indian Sweet Pancakes) were my favorites. I used to call them Dosa Pithe (as they look like Dosas) and Bhaja Pithe respectively.

I learnt the skill of making Pithe from my Mom. But this year I tried two very unusual Pithes; Hridoy Horon Pithe and Golap Pithe. They not only include cooking but crafting too. As far as their taste is concerned they are ambrosial. I have already posted the recipes of Hridoy Horon Pithe and Golap Pithe. Check them out :)

To wrap up this festival I decided to make Malpua. It is fennel flavored sweet Indian pancakes dipped in sugar syrup and when served with Rabri, believe me its just a slice of heaven. There are many variations and proportions used for this recipe but I'm penning down what I learnt from my Mom.

Let's begin:

Golap Pithe.......Edible Rose Garden

As I'm celebrating "Poush Sankranti" or "Makar Sankranti" on my blog so my posts are revolving around "Pithe". Let me just give you an idea of what this festival is all about, so basically its a major harvesting festival which is celebrated in many parts of India. As India is a very diversified country, this festival is celebrated in many regions but with different names: 

Assam==> Bhogali Bihu

Andhra Pradesh==> Makara Sankranti

Bihar, UP and Rajasthan==> Sankrat

Gujarat==> Uttrayan

Goa and Maharashtra==> Makar Sankranti

Himachal Pradesh==> Magha Saaji

Karnataka==> Suggi

Kerala==> Pongal

Punjab==> Maghi

Tamil Nadu==> Pongal
Goa and Maharashtra==> Sankrant

West Bengal==> Poush Sankranti

I believe it really doesn't matter how a same festival is being celebrated in different regions, but what counts is same level of happiness that it brings along.

We Bengalis celebrate it with "Pithe-Payesh". For those who don't know what is "Pithe" so let me introduce it to you its basically a type of cake or dimsum common in the Eastern India and Bangladesh. They are made up of rice flour or wheat flour batter (or dough), stuffed with sweet or savory ingredients and then cooked and "Payesh" is rice pudding which is made with "Nolen Gur" (date palm jaggery) available only this time of the year.

To keep the spirit up of this festival I chose a very unique dessert called "Golap Pithe". It involves not only "Cooking" but "Crafting" too and when these two combine they give a recipe which pleases your mind aesthetically.

So let's begin:

Hridoy Horon Pithe.....A Heart Stealing Delicacy

The foodies just need a reason to celebrate and slurp some of the sumptuous delicacies. Whether it's Holi, Diwali, Eid, Christmas or a simple weekend, we don't miss any chance to cook and then wolf it down. But this time for sure we have a reason. Yes, it's "Makar Sankranti" or "Poush Sankranti" (in Bengali) which is a major harvest festival in many parts of India. In Eastern India this festival is also called as "Poush Parbon" or "Poush Sankranti" as this festival marks end of the month "Poush". 

During this auspicious time of the year several desserts are prepared using freshly harvested paddy, nolen gur (date palm jaggery) and coconuts which are called as "Pithe" or "Pitha". The sweet shops in Kolkata are bursting with the sweets made up of "Nolen Gur". Every household is filled with the aroma of Pithe at this time of the year.

I grew up seeing my Mom and Grandma making these pithe. They use to spend their whole day (of Sankranti) making several types of pithe and payesh (rice pudding); I'm just following their footsteps. Well, I have to also confess that I don't make so many varieties of pithe-payesh but I do make three to four varieties. 

Pithe or Pitha is a type of cake or dimsum common in the Eastern India and Bangladesh. They are made up of rice flour or wheat flour batter (or dough), stuffed with sweet or savory ingredients and then cooked. 

"Hridoy Horon Pithe" is a very palatable and easy on the eye delicacy. "Hridoy Horon" is a bengali term which means "Heart-robbing". This dessert literally steals your heart when you look at it. When I made it at the very first time, trust me I couldn't have it, not because it didn't turn out well but due to its exceptional and affectionate look. Anyway that's another story :)

So, let's start with this heart stealing recipe of the pithe: