My Food Story: A sweet, nostalgic dish

There is a nostalgic memory behind this recipe. It is that of my childhood days spent with my grandmother. My grandma was a culinary expert during the 1940s. She used to cook amazing dishes with very few ingredients and create zero waste recipes. I have learned all age-old forgotten recipes from my grandma’s kitchen. This recipe is dedicated to her. I usually make this dish for my loved ones during Durga Puja and festive periods.

Ragi Dhood Poolis Payes

Ingredients

Milk – 1 litre

Rice flour – 300 gm

Ragi flour – 200 gm

Rava – 100gm

Cardamom powder – 2 tsp

Coconut – 100 gm (Grated)

Jaggery – 3 tsp

Clarified butter (Ghee) – 2 tsp

Almonds – 2 tsp (Chopped)

Cashew nuts – 2 tsp (Chopped)

Method

First heat water in a Mitti Handi at high flame. In the meantime, grind the rice to a coarse powder. Now, take one-and-half-cup of rice powder, Ragi powder and Rava and keep adding to the boiling water to make a dough. Add a little ghee and salt to the dough. Knead the dough finely to make the pooli pithas soft.

Heat ghee in a Mitti Handi and add the grated coconut. Keep adding the jaggery and Ragi flour. Gradually add the dry fruits and prepare the stuffing mixture. Add a little milk, so that the stuffing mixture doesn’t get burnt.

To make the poolis pithas, give the shape of a conch or any other preferred shape. Steam the poolis on a Mitti Handi with the help of a steaming vessel. Once done, keep it aside. Add the poolis in the boiling milk. Keep stirring the poolis and Rabri milk, till the milk reduces to half and a thicker consistency. Now add cardamom powder and allow it to cool. Refrigerate and serve chilled with dry fruits

My Food Story is a collection of stories and recipes that celebrate India’s traditional plant-based ingredients sourced from local biodiversity. You can see these recipes on our interactive dashboard (https://www.cseindia.org/page/myfoodstory).

Join us as we showcase the recipes shared with us by the participants of a recently concluded recipe contest.

Sucheta Bose is an entrepreneur, home chef and faculty from Odisha