Friday 21 October 2011

Tekeli Mukhot Diya Pitha


Best to serve as Breakfast


This Pitha is a popular snack of the people of the North Eastern region of India, a favourite of the Assamese. It is quite easy to make, healthy as well as a filling pitha.
To make 7 to 8 pithas you need only three ingredients:




These pictures above and below show the smaller size of Pithas, for which half a kilo of  rice will make 12 Pithas on the lid of a small kettle.


Few Assamese terminologies :
1.Pitha : A snack, rice powder is the main ingredient. Pithas are of quite a few variety, both sweet and savory.
2.Joha Saol : A variety of tiny grained rice with a delicious aroma.
3.Tekeli : Pitcher
4.Mukhot Diya : To put on the mouth or to place on the mouth.
5.Goor : Jaggery
6.Teel : Sesame seed
7.Saolor guri : Rice powder



Joha saol

To make 7 to 8 pithas you need only three ingredients:
1.Freshly ground powder of 850gm Joha Saol. Before grinding, wash rice, soak for an hour and keep for an hour taking out of water so that  the water drains out.
Any other variety of rice can also be used, but I love the aroma and the taste of Joha rice best for this Pitha.


 2.Teel 2 cups. 



3.Goor 1/2 cup or to taste.



"Tekeli mukhot diya pitha" meaning of this is, to make the pitha by placing or steaming it on the mouth of a tekeli i. e. a pitcher or a kettle. Apart from the tekeli, you also need a small bowl to shape the pitha, the size of which should be that of the mouth of the tekeli and 2 soft damp napkins.
                                    Method:
Rinse teel thoroughly ...
 ...rub with hand while wet and let dry ...most of the skin will fall off....


Grind teel, but not fine. Mix goor with teel. Both the ingredients can be used separately layering the pitha.


Boil water in the pitcher


The most important part of making this pitha is to prepare the Saol guri. Add little water and knead well, too much water will spoil the pitha by making it sticky. It should remain powdery but some amount of water must be fed to the Saolor guri. Sieve it through a steel strainer so that no lumps remain.




Place a damp napkin on the bowl, spread saoolor guri-teel-goor in layers, top layer being saolor guri. Press with your hand. The pitha will take the shape of the small bowl.




Wrap this with the napkin, hold both edges and lift up from the bowl.


Place it on the mouth of the tekeli.....


...and put on the lid. The pitha will be cooked by the steam of the boiling water in the tekeli. Steam only for 3 to 4 minutes.


Delicious Pitha is ready. Serve piping hot.

10 comments:

  1. Seems labor-intensive, but delicious to look at. Thanks for the pictures.

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  2. Looks tempting!! The pictures have made this recipe look simple, but it sure is time consuming!
    Thanks for enlightening abt this dish... seeing and reading abt it for the first time! :)

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  3. I am hearing and seeing this tekeli vessel for the first time! Seems to be easy to make! We can steam in our idli vessel. But we don't get this rice. I will remember this and get the rice, if I can, sometime! Teel is very good for health. So I will definitely try it. Thank you!

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  4. the first pic is like an idli (south indian) & the elaborate preparation reminds me of rava idli

    this must require lots of patience to make at home

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  5. @ gigihawaii :
    @ Shilpa :
    @ Sujatha :
    Thank you so much for checking. It is very simple to make this pitha, not at all time consuming. Rice powder is a common ingredient in almost all Indian kitchen, made in our handy electric grinders. In this above recipe I've explained the age old method, which has become much simpler now with electric steamers and food processors. In our modern kitchens it's very simple and easy to make this pitha, just like the idli. I also replace sesame with stuffing like cooked vegetable, meat or keema, turns delicious!

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  6. @ Sandhya :
    Thank you so much. You can try using the idli steamer. Any rice other than the sticky one can be used. I use Joha rice for the wonderful appetizing aroma. Yes, teel is indeed good for health, but you can replace with your favourite filling while making this pitha.

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  7. @ Onkar :
    Thanks a lot. Yes, this pitha is indeed very tasty, filling and healthy.

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  8. Thanks for explaining the elaborate process of making.Is this an Assamese dish ? The end products looks delicious. It resembles Idli,and also Puttu a Kerala delicacy!

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  9. @ R. Ramakrishnan :
    Yes, it is an Assamese dish,as well as dish of almost all North Eastern states.A very popular one. Although it looks like idli, tastes very much like puttu. I learnt to make puttu and many other delicacies from Kerala as my sister-in-law is from there. Thank you so much.

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