AKHROT O PATALI DIYE STEAMED RICE CAKE

I remember my failure to prepare our family favourite "dhuki pitha" last year. During this time of the year I get nostalgic about the wide variety of "pithe-puli" my family used to make. They were not restricted to the common "malpoa-patishapta or puli".... so many were they which the family learnt from their stay in Assam and 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 do away with. 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 where date palm jaggery was made at home, 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 she 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 died and with her vanished a lot of good recipes. She hardly taught her little sister, instead they all pampered her to spoil. My mother-in-law is not in the habit of praising anyone unless one submits at her feet. Watching my mother so active, hearing my mother had learnt to cut live fishes including "shing, magur, koi" in class seven, she told "I am the youngest kid and too pampered." Insulting my family had been her favourite sport, so I do not spare and will not. Our mother always says that she was the eldest of the six kids who 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 your home is a quality, knowing to juggle both home and office is a great quality.... sleeping and chatting all day does not contribute anything good to one's life, it makes people crippled sooner! It is surprising to see some enjoy such prisoned life, totally depending on others. I am against it, I wish to die like my father and keep cooking like my mother until then. I will explore easier methods to some complex cooking and create 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.

As told in the business pages, we loved those crispy fried smaller variety of fish yesterday night. I had shown Cristine how to marinate the fish, she patiently does all kinds of fries so well. 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?

So loved the meal yesterday night with deep fried battered fish, dal, bhadhakopi, salad. Today we have an official party to attend and once I finish writing the post, I have to cook a bit. So you know I have to wrap up soon. I think the idea of this steamed cake popped up from my love for the Filipino sweets and Malaysian Kueh. I am pretty sure that the family veterans would have learnt to prepare kueh & puto cakes too if  such countries existed in their map. I find one variety of kueh very similar to our patishapta. To my disgust, I cannot have them on a regular basis. 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 very well.

Add the coconut milk to the flour and whisk very well. There should not be any lump. You can add little water to get that consistency. This home is not too fond of the smell of coconut milk.

Take water in a deep vessel and put for boil.

Grease a cake tin with few drops of oil and then dust with rice flour.

Pour the mixture to it and tap lightly on the kitchen counter.

Shredded the date palm jaggery and spread atop. Break the walnuts and spread atop. Lightly tap the bowl on the kitchen counter top.

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

Place the batter filled bowl right in the middle.

Tie a lid with a heavy towel and cover the whole thing. Cook at low heat for 13-14 minutes.

We should be done.

We will have it fresh, if storing keep the 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.