BROCCOLI KAJU KISHMISH DIYE CHITOI PITHA

 IT IS 12:45 PM AT THIS TIME, I FELT LET ME WRITE MY BLOGPOST!

I had been thinking since last night, if I have my first meal post 4:30pm; mostly outside of home, why cannot I go out of home at that time, have my food, sit in the eatery for sometime or in any bench underneath a tree or at a bus stop for sometime & then do the walking ; head back home by 7:30pm-8pm? Even if I come at 10pm, no one would say anything! T & T's television make a good pair, Cristine is there to provide cheese & whisky or beer, cigarettes! If the world leaders could think above the earnings for their respective nations & ban tobacco altogether, I would have been the happiest person! I remain in constant fear about the son picking up such bad habits from his father; because my brother has taken up! Two to three years back I used to write my blogposts in the daytime right? What made me shift it to the evenings I do not remember! Since childhood, I had been an unmindful person at home, in the roads, everywhere! With age, the condition aggravated! I cannot remember most of the things or I may have a selective memory, I remember what I want to! T thinks the last one holds true! I have never known the son's assessment of his mother, his secretive self gets on my nerves! I never push him away, though I feel frustrated at times. This I have learnt from my mother, to remain loyal to one's children, this got her a good life! Also, the father lived his life in his own terms & made a happy exit! His daughter-in-law loved him more than a daughter can! What else could my parents ask for; given they were too middle-class without any aspirations! 

WHAT ARE MY PLANS TODAY?

Nothing as such! It may not be just another Monday for me, cannot be but I tremendously dislike going gaga about specific dates in social media! It causes too much of an irritation in me these days! Aging might be a reason & we continuously keep evolving! In my case; I have seen, the more I age, more I feel keep aloof from what does not suit me! I try to keep my cool in most of the cases, though I think I need to work more in this area! Today morning, I made some humble chapati to go with the reheated pointed gourd & potato curry; people got mango too! I would have one small chapati with the curry, then go out & have coffee or tea with little something sitting in a food court! That's for a happier self! Next, I wish to do brisk walk, come back home & share this Bengali recipe in different forums! Thereafter, we would have a choice of dinner with "pabda mach, shutki mach er torkari, dal"; the day demands us to have homely Bengali Food! In fact, I have at least ten to twelve authentic Bengali rustic recipes one of which could have been shared today! But something is stopping me from sharing those! What I share has to be Bengali in essence, a bit modified so I can say; okay world, you can go & cook, have it!

WHAT IS THIS BROCCOLI KAJU KISHMISH DIYE CHITOI PITHA?

Pitha is a Bengali term which can be pancakes to fritters; steamed or fried! Not I but the wiki translates it as this! As a Bengali, I am not even bothered about analysing what it means, winter is just synonymous with "pithe-puli" among us, the forefathers brought with them the skill of making a wide variety of them! I see the present day Bangladesh making even more variety of pitha / savoury & sweet pancakes, dumpling, fritters! I appreciate that they are versatile with regards to having those; like with vegetarian & non-vegetarian sides! But in our family, pitha making is strictly a vegetarian affair! I am unwilling to break that rule as of now! This particular recipe of Pitha is almost oil-free, how beautiful it sounds; minimal oil pancakes? To have those  pancakes for your breakfast, you would not mind a bit of rice intake, may I say that? To it's original self, I have made some inputs adding broccoli, chopped raisins & cashew nuts to the batter, call it fusion food! Also, I have used store bought rice flour for the purpose whilst traditionally soaking, half drying & grinding the rice is  demanded! But I was trying a simplified recipe, also wished to be more & more inclusive today! There are a couple of YouTube videos I consulted who insisted store bought rice flour would get the same fluffy mid section without using cooked rice paste! But I could not get the desired fluffier middle in all of them but they were soft on the top with a crisp bottom as chitoi pitha / savoury Bengali rice cakes should be! Then, who can stop me from sharing this vegan, gluten-free, savoury snack on stovetop; BROCCOLI KAJU KISHMISH DIYE CHITOI PITHA? The following were my first meals today & wow, I baked a cake too!

The middle picture is of Kueh Pie Tee, I loved the taste filled with turnip, eggs & a chilli sauce!

INGREDIENTS :

RICE FLOUR : 1 1/2 COFFEE MUG

FINELY CHOPPED BROCCOLI : 1 MEDIUM TEA CUP [I USED SHREDDER]

FINELY CHOPPED GREEN CHILLI : 1 TBSP

CHOPPED RAISIN : 2 TSP

CHOPPED CASHEW NUT : 2 TSP

CRUSHED BLACKPEPPER : 1/2 TSP

BAKING POWDER : 1/3 TSP

SALT : AS REQUIRED

OIL : 1 TBSP + A LITTLE TO BRUSH

PROCEDURE :

We would wash the broccoli well & mince or shred the heads using whatever suits us! We would also mince the washed green chillies, chop the cashew nuts & raisins!

In a bowl we would take the rice flour & salt, mix well! We would gradually add lukewarm water to get a consistency of batter which would not be paste like, neither runny! We would keep it covered for sometime!

We would remove the cover & add the broccoli bits, chopped green chillies, chopped raisins & cashew nuts & mix well! Thereafter, we would add the baking powder, crushed black pepper & oil, fold in well!

Now, the batter is ready to cook!

We would heat the wok, a deep, round one & brush with a little of oil! The wok needs to be really hot to cook them! 

We would pour a standard sized round spoonful & cover immediately! Each one may take 2-3-4 minutes to cook! The  cooking should be done at medium to low heat, given the wok is really hot!

For every 2-3 rice pancakes, brush the wok centre with oil! Serve & have them fresh & hot!

These rice cakes are meant to rise more at the centre, but mine were really soft at the top & crisp at the bottom! Also, the authentic recipe do not ask for adding any extra ingredients in the batter! 

You can go ahead with mine & enjoy with any curry, sauce, chutney, pickle! I served T with mayo & sour-spicy mango pickle, I had them with a sweet mango pickle!