Gokul Pithe

Happy new year and happy Makar Sankranti to you all.
This post is going to be a part of #Foodiemonday #Bloghop this time our theme is makar Sankranti regional special.

Makar Sankranti will be celebrated on 15th January. Its a Hindu festival celebrated in every part of India. It is a harvest festival celebrated differently in different states.

And known by different regional names.
Pongal in Tamil Nadu, Uttarayan in Gujarat, Maghi in Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab, khichri in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. And Makar Sankranti in other states.

Day before it Punjab celebrate Lohri, Bihu in Assam,  Shishur Saenkraat in Kashmir.

In west Bengal its known as Poush Sankranti/Poush Parbon or Makar Sankranti. We celebrate it in the last day of Bengali month Poush.

Making of pithe or puli is must in every Bengali home to celebrate this harvest festival. Rice flour, coconut or date palm jaggery or khajur gur are mainly used in these special kind of sweets .

Date palm jaggery is available in winter only. In Bengal you can get lots of delicacies with this jaggery flavour in this season.

Feeling nostalgic to remember my childhood days.
Our dinner of this day was only delicious puli pithe.
Mom spend all day to prepare these delicacies. Paesh/kheer/pudding with date palm jaggery or khajur gur, patisapta, dudh puli, moong dal pithe, steamed rice dumpling or aske pithe stuffed with dried milk or khoya and grated coconut, ranga aalur pithe, nonta/savory pithe stuffed with spicy green peas and outer layer was mashed potatoes, rice flour, salt and spices.

And our most favourite gokul pithe.
Coconut and khoya or dried milk mixture dipped in maida/all purpose flour batter, deep fried and soaked in sugar syrup.

Very easy to make if you have the stuffing. You can make the stuffing and store in refrigerator. Make whenever you want. I made some laddu too with the remaining stuffing. Its too yummy.

Recipe

For stuffing

Khoya or dried milk  – 2 cup grated or mashed

Coconut  – 1 cup grated

Date palm jaggery/khajur gur  – 1 cup grated

Dry fruits of your choice

For the batter

All purpose flour or maida  – 1 cup

Semolina or suji  – 1/4 cup

Baking soda  –  1/4 teaspoon

Ghee/clarified butter  – 1 teaspoon

Milk or water  – 1 cup

For sugar syrup

Sugar  – 1 cup

Water  – 1 and 1/2 cup

Cardamom powder  – 1/4 teaspoon

Oil or ghee/clarified butter for deep frying

Method

Heat a pan and add khoya or dried milk. Saute for some time. Stir continuously. Add the grated coconut and date palm jaggery.

If you don’t have this jaggery use sugar. Add 3/4 cup and mix well. Keep stirring. When the jaggery or sugar melted taste it then add more if require.

Add dry fruits. I usually use cashew nuts and raisins. You can use any dry fruits of your choice.

Saute till the mixture dried up completely.
Switch off the flame and let the mixture cool.

In a bowl mix maida/all purpose flour, semolina/suji, ghee/clarified butter and soda. Make a thick but flowing batter with milk or water. For better taste use milk. You can add 2 tablespoon milk powder or milkmaid too. Mix well, make a smooth batter without any lumps.
Keep it aside.

Mix sugar and water in a thick bottom pan. Boil it to get a medium thick syrup. Add cardamom powder. Mix well. Keep aside.

Make small balls with the khoya/dried milk, coconut and jaggery mixture. Flatten it with your palm.

Dip these small patties in the flour batter. Coat the batter uniformly and deep fry them in hot oil. Fry on medium flame till golden brown.

After frying dip them in the sugar syrup.
Immerse them in sugar syrup for half an hour.

Serve the sugar syrup soaked patties hot or cold.
Enjoy this finger licking gokul pithe with mild jaggery flavour this Sankranti.

Happy cooking. Stay happy!  Stay blessed….