Nonta or Jhaal Koraishutir Patishapta - Bengali Crepes

The deluge of Pithe and Patishapta photos on my social media feeds finally got to me. I wasn't feeling exactly inclined to making anything as both my mother and in-laws have been not that well, and my mother, the trooper that she is did not have the energy to make anything for Sankranti.

But then the "hyangla" person in me got the better of me. If I did not make anything for Sankranti, how would I eat at least a patishapta ? It is not that we have a mishti'r dokan across the street selling perfectly rolled patishaptas or doodh puli or roshobora bobbing in syrup. Btw, all this patishapta and pithe being commercially sold is a very recent affair. There used to be pithe utsab etc but never were these found in neon lit glass shelves of mishtanno bhandars. It was always a made-in-the home affair.

So finally, I got my fat behind off the couch and made two kind of stuffing on Thursday night -- the traditional coconut-jaggery stuffing and a savory green peas stuffing. Now the problem with stuffing is, they are so good by themselves that it is hard to wait to make the actual thing that goes around the stuffing. It needs lot of mental strength to not keep eating them.

Now why the green pea savory stuffing? Because my girls are not fond of the sweet coconut jaggery stuffing. On the other hand, they both like the green pea stuffing that goes in a koraishutir kochuri. 

So the easiest workaround to do ek dheel e dui paakhi, is to make the nonta or jhaal patishapta with the same koraishuti filling and the regular sweet patishapta with the coconut-jaggery stuffing.

Nonta or Jhaal Koraishutir Patishapta - Bengali Crepes

The Green Pea Stuffing

Defrost 2 cup of frozen sweet peas. I usually prefer the Microwave for such purpose.

Put in a blender

the peas

1 tbsp of peeled and chopped ginger

2 green chili(optional)

very little water, a tsp to start with

Make a fine paste

Heat Vegetable Oil in a frying Pan

Add a pinch of Hing/Asafoetida. I will insist on this as it lends an awesome fragrance. Many Bengali homes will add a little whole cumin instead of Hing, but I will steadfastly stand by Hing. I sometimes do the tadka with cumin + Hing.

Add the pea paste that you just made. Sprinkle 1 tsp of Dry Roasted Cumin + Red Chilli Powder(Bhaja Moshla). Add salt to taste. If your peas are not sweet enough add a little sugar. If you like it hot add some Red Chili Powder. Improvise.

Now keep stirring till the water from the pea mix totally evaporates and the mixture becomes dry, thicker and congeals like in 4th picture anti-clockwise. This takes a good 15-20 minutes or more. Basically it should come to a stage where you can make a small ball for the stuffing.

Batter for Crepe

Maida or All Purpose Flour ~ 3 cup

Sooji or Semolina ~ ½ cup

Rice Flour ~ ¼ cup.

Milk ~ 4 cups + a little more. As you make the batter, if you feel the batter is not thin enough to spread out add more. Note: the batter needs to be really thin and you may need more milk for this. Ideally the batter should spread easily on the griddle when poured.

1/4 cup of Sugar

Make the Crepe

In a big bowl add,

3 cup pf Maida/ All Purpose Flour

1/2 cup of Sooji

1/4 cup of Fine Rice Flour. If you have store bought rice flour you may need to grind it once more in your dry grinder to make it fine. 

1/4 cup of Sugar

Add 4 cups of Milk, do not add all the milk all at once, add it as you mix so you get an idea as to the consistency of the batter. You may need to add a little more of milk or water depending on the batter thickness. The batter should be a little more liquid than pancake batter. Make sure the batter has no lumps.

Cover the batter and set it aside for couple of hours to rest.

Heat a Frying Pan and smear a little oil/ghee on it. Just a brush of oil or ghee is fine.

Take a ladle full of batter (about quarter cup) and pour it on the Frying Pan and tilting the pan and moving the mixture with back of the ladle, evenly distribute the batter in a circle . You have to do this quick before the mix sets.

Once you feel the bottom side of the crepe is cooked, put the stuffing lengthwise towards one of the edge of the crepe. It is the same with savory or sweet stuffing.

Fold the crepe into a roll and lightly press it down. Give it a minute to get the brown spots, if you like it that way. Take it out on a plate and start with the next,

For the traditional sweet patishapta follow this old recipe of mine

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