AKHROT O PATALI DIYE STEAMED RICE CAKE

I remember I failed preparing our family recipe of "dhuki pitha" / steamed, fluffy rice cake last year. During this time of year I get nostalgic about the wide variety of "pithe-puli" my family prepared. They weren't restricted to commonly prepared "malpoa-patishapta or puli".... a variety were they which the family learnt from their stay in Assam, brought with them from their country of origin. The main ingredients used were rice flour, coconut, date palm jaggery. Date Palm Jaggery is that winter special jaggery I perhaps can never stop loving. I keep getting it from Kolkata every winter, the problem is these days food adulteration has reached such heights in my country of origin that getting a good quality of "patali gur" is tough. I come from a family that prepared date palm jaggery was made at home from date palm sap, it gets difficult for me to accept a bad quality one. That homemade liquid date palm jaggery tasted heaven. The grandparent's home had two big mud oven in their courtyard where grandma used to cook all vegetarian items, "chirey, muri, khoi, pithey-puli." Those giant mud ovens ran on natural fuel, "ghutey, pat kathi, kath-kuth".... cowdung cakes, dried jute plant sticks, dried branches of trees. 

You know, I follow few Bangladeshi Pages to keep up with that nostalgic feel, after me no one is to carry forward the family legacy, like the husband's maternal big aunt left us, with her vanished a lot of recipes. She hardly taught her little sister, instead they all pampered her to spoil. Watching my mother active self, hearing my mother learnt to cut live fishes including "shing, magur, koi" in standard seven, she told "I am the youngest kid and too pampered." Our mother says she was the eldest of six kids, she had to help her mother, yet she did her graduation and BEd, bagged a government school job.... oh! what a big mistake she did leaving it. So, knowing to manage home well is a quality, knowing to juggle both home and office is greater quality.... sleeping and chatting all day does not contribute anything good to one's life, it makes people crippled sooner! It is surprising how some accept an imprisoned life, totally depending on others. I am against it, I wish to die like our father, keep cooking like our mother until then. I will explore easier methods to recreate complex recipes like this steamed beauty with date palm jaggery, rice flour, coconut milk with an addition of baking powder and walnuts AKHROT O PATALI DIYE STEAMED RICE CAKE.

We loved the crispy fried smaller variety of fish yesterday night. I had shown Cristine how to marinate the fish, she patiently does all kinds of fries. The husband so loved that he did not touch his share of chicken. I get angry when they waste rice, where to keep the used rice?

We loved the meal yesterday night with deep fried battered fish, dal, bhadhakopi, salad. Today we have an official party to attend. Once I finish writing the post, I have to cook. I have to wrap up soon. I think the idea of this steamed cake popped up from my love for Filipino sweets and Malaysian Kueh. I am pretty sure that family veterans would have learnt to prepare kueh & puto cakes too if  such countries existed in their map. I find one variety of kueh similar to our patishapta. I cannot have them regular. This vegetarian, vegan, gluten free steamed cake with date palm jaggery, rice flour, coconut milk, walnuts AKHROT O PATALI DIYE STEAMED RICE CAKE will lessen your time of cooking and give you the feel of "puli pitha", to some extent of "dhuki" too.

INGREDIENTS :

RICE FLOUR : 1COFFEE MUG
BAKING POWDER : 1/3TSP
THICK COCONUT MILK : 200ML
DATE PALM JAGGERY : 4-5TBSP
WALNUT : 8-10
A LITTLE OF WATER

PROCEDURE :

We are using the following ingredients.

We will take together the rice flour and the baking powder. Sieving is better.

We will mix both well.

We will add coconut milk to flour, whisk. There shouldn't be lump. We may add little water to get that consistency. This home is not too fond of smell of coconut milk.

We will take water in a deep vessel, put for boil.

We will grease a cake tin with few drops of oil, dust with rice flour.

We will pour mixture to it, tap lightly on kitchen counter.

We will shred date palm jaggery spread atop, chop walnuts, spread atop. We would lightly tap bowl on kitchen counter top.

Place a wide bowl with holes, colander atop vessel when water starts boiling.

Place batter filled bowl right in the middle.

Thereafter, we would tie lid with towel, cover vessel, cook at low heat for 13-14 minutes.

We should be done.

We will have it fresh, if storing we need to keep bowl atop another bowl filled with water.... never to refrigerate..... it will turn hard. It will still turn hard, we will steam it for sometime either in the microwave or on the stove top if having later.