Recipe: Have You Tried Assam's Pitha?

India is a country of so many cultures and cuisines. Yet, there's always a touch of similarity.

So we find South India's Idli replicated in Assam's Pitha. They look the same but taste so, so different, Ronjita Kulkarni discovered on a recent trip to Assam.

Both are made of rice, but while one is savoury, the other is sweet.

Pitha is a snack, which can be had with Chole Chaat or just a cup of tea and its relatively easy to make if you find the right container or pot.

Ingredients

Serves: 2-3

• 2 cups approximately glutinous rice
• 100 gm sesame seeds, roasted
• Jaggery or sugar to taste

Method

• Soak the rice in several cups water overnight.
• Drain well the next morning for maybe half an hour.
  Grind without water, so it has a powdery Kerala puthu type consistency.
• Have water boiling in a large saucepan, with a narrow mouth and tie a handkerchief across its mouth.
  In a flat katori or bowl add a small quantity of the wet rice powder.
  Then add a layer of mixed jaggery and til.
  Follow it with another layer of rice powder and invert the katori onto the cloth covering the mouth of the boling pot of water.
• Cover and let it steam till cooked and it holds together as a rice cake.
  Serve with chai or Chole Chaat.

Watch the video to see how it's made in traditional Assam style.

• REDIFF FOOD