Chocolate Narkel Naru Truffles -- in a flowchart

Durga Pujo is over. Umpteen of them. Spread over weekends, weekdays and months, there were gorgeous pics of Ma Durga and glamorous pics of her devotees all around on my Facebook feed. I could feel the festivity right here, on my laptop. We had our own share of fun too. Saptami'r anjali, Ashtami'r bhog, Nabami'r arati, we meticulously followed the traditions, draping nine yards after work on a weekday and dragging tired children with their homework folders from mandaps to mandaps.

It wasn't religion that pushed us.

We were okay with offering an evening anjali after the day's meal, circumventing the scriptures which speak of fasting. We diligently bowed our heads in front of the protima, her bright gaze penetrating our hearts, but only a moment later we stood in a line smiling at the camera urging the photographer to make us look as slim as possible. If we found that the queue for Bhog was too long and the Khichuri wasn't enticing we trooped off for a Sri Lankan meal winding it down with Singa beer.

It wasn't religion. It was tradition.A pleasure in the mere sense that we belonged even if we were many miles away. It was more precious than religion.

It is for the same reason that I did Lokkhi Pujo and made Narkel Naru soon after. And it is for this that many of my friends do the same. When the oil lamp flickers and they read "Lokkhir Panchali" in a sing song voice, they are not praying for wealth or riches, they are actually building a bridge to their beginning.

My paternal grandparents were very ritualistic when it came to religion. Lokkhi Pujo and Saraswati Pujo were done at home by my Grandfather who sat straight, sacred thread around his bare upper body, chanting mantras in crisp Sanskrit. The entire neighborhood was invited on Kojagari Lokkhi Pujo and his perfect Sanskrit diction in the smoke filled Thakur Ghor made the whole thing very mystic.

But in that Thakur Ghor, you had to fast for anjali and sit cross legged with your toes tucked under the hems of your dress. There were allowances made if you were a child but adults were held to high standards. To pick flowers for Pujo, you had to shower and change into fresh clothes. The Bhog offered to the Goddess had to be cooked in much sanctity.You weren't allowed to touch the Bhoger thala until pujo was over and you knew not to enter the Thaku Ghor if you had your periods.

Chicken in Mint, Coriander and Coconut Gravy

This year I have had no time for any gardening. It saddens me for I love seeing things grow but then I have realized I need to prioritize instead of taking up too many things and then not doing any of them right or rather simply delegating. Yes, I love delegating and if it is the husband who is at the receiving end I can turn into a full tyrant nagger. Unfortunately the husband has had not much time himself and after cleaning up the weeds and planting three cabbage plants which BS lugged from school he has refused to take my orders.

My family does not seem to understand the value I bring into their life. $#%$#%. And it does not stop at the other adult alone .My girls seem to follow the same route.

The other day I was particularly mad about something and told them --" You do not listen to me, I am going to go away and be some other kids' Mommy".

A statement which according to new age child psychologist would have scarred a child's formative mind and stunted their mental growth.
Nothing like that happened. My girls were not even bothered.

Instead the next day LittleSis comes and asks me, "Mommy, if you are going to be other kids' Mother, what is going to happen to their Mommy ? Are they going to have two Mommies? Won't their house get too crowded?" !

Nary a thought about her own Mother being gone was discussed.

But not to worry. For I still have neighbors.

I mean I cannot delegate my work to them or make them understand my billion dollar worth but I can borrow their Mint. And there is no dearth of it. Come summer their Mint bush grows and spills over and creates havoc as if she had Persephone's number on speed dial. They are only too happy if I snip off some. And no doubt that is what I do.

For a couple of weeks, every Saturday or maybe even Sunday I have been making this chicken curry with mint, coriander and coconut.We are trying to eat more fish and vegetables and less meat these days. Definitely very less of mutton or any red meat. But at least two days a week it is chicken curry for us and more for LittleSis who is a big time meat fan. With this kind of a curry you need to make little else and along with a rice and salad it makes for a nice weekend lunch.

The idea of this curry came from Srivalli's(who blogs at Cooking for all Seasons) Mutton Semi Gravy or Mutton Gojju. That it was Andhra style nailed it for me. To it got added the mint-coriander masala paste I make for Pudina Dhania Chicken  which was inspired by Aayis Recipes.Following Sri's idea I also added some coconut to the paste. The chicken curry was really very good.We all loved the gravy so much that I have made it several times now.

The best part is you can also use the same recipe for fish or Paneer and it tastes awesome

Chicken in Mint, Coriander and Coconut Gravy  

Marinate 2lb of chicken with 2 tsp ginger-garlic paste, salt, turmeric powder and 2-3 tbsp of thick yogurt.


In a blender jar add
1/2 cup of coriander leaves 
1/2 cup of fresh mint leaves 
4 green chili(optional)
 
2 tbsp of chopped garlic 
1 tbsp of chopped ginger 

1" stick of cinnamon 
4 clove 
1 small piece of Star Anise 

1/3 cup of thick coconut milk or grated coconut
With a splash of water make a smooth paste.

Now heat Oil for cooking

Temper Oil with
4 green cardamom 
2 clove 
small tej-patta 
1/2 tsp Fennel seeds.
Add 1 tsp of sugar and caramelize sugar

Next Add 1 onion roughly chopped. Fry till onion turns soft and brown on the edges.

Add the marinated chicken pieces and saute till chicken pieces lose their raw coloring and turns golden yellow with brown spots.

Add
the green masala paste
1 small tomato chopped,
1/2 tsp of Kashmiri Mirch,
and 2 tsp Coriander powder
Mix well and cook the chicken in the masala for 10-15 minutes. If any water is release from the chicken let it evaporate. Finally when you see oil seeping out at the edges add about a cup of warm water.

Mix well and add salt to taste.A sprinkle of rock salt or beet noon enhances the taste.
Also add 6 green chili slit if like me you had not added chili to the paste. Add a few more mint leaves and cover and let the chicken cook You can do this step in the Pressure cooker too.

PatiShapta on Sankranti -- with a touch of Nutella and Maple Syrup

I really had no intention to make a dessert again today. Sankranti, Columbus Day, Republic Day -- no, I wasn't going to celebrate them by making anything sweet. Enough !! My Ma though had other ideas. She had already made the coconut-kheer stuffing and was all ready to launch into Poush-Parbon frenzy.

"Nah, no more sweets. Do you realize how much of sugar we have consumed all through December?"

My Ma, a very sparse eater herself of course did not consume all that.But I was quiet adamant. Then she said she would make some moog-samali. I of course had no idea, what that was. She wanted to do a savory version of it which needed green peas.We had no green peas.

Then this happened. Late yesterday night, Poli sent a mail asking for a Pati Shapta recipe for her boys. I was filled with guilt. My girls deserved something sweet on Sankranti, I thought. And so do my parents. And well the husband. And maybe me too, a tiny bite. What is a tiny bite in fact in the bigger scheme of Poush Parbon.

The recipe is same as my old one. No rice flour this time. If you scroll down there I have updated the batter recipe.

Also I have smeared with nutella the inside of the pati-shapta because the kids love nutella more than the coconut-kheer thingy. Drizzled with some maple syrup these were soft, sweet delights for the new beginnings of a new season. Never mind that is just cold, winter here.

Pati Shapta Recipe


Gokul Pithe Recipe

Narkel Naru for Durga Pujo

Aaj Shoshthi. The Sixth day of Navratri and the beginning of Durga Puja. Strangely this Pujo, I do not miss home much. And I should have.

Even AnandaMela or Desh does not excite me much this year. I did not even book an online copy. Anyway it is only "Sirshendu" and "Bani Basu" that is worth a read, maybe I will borrow later I say to myself.

Instead I pine for a lost childhood, a childhood resplendent with glamor, light, excitement and happiness of Pujo. I miss the fervor, the excitement which would begin early with the colorful print ad of the annual Pujo Shankhya AnandoMela and would go on late after Lakshmi Pujo lingering on till Diwali. I miss the last minute packing, the new clothes, the bite of my new black ballerina, the jostling crowd, the blaring sounds, the pujo-pujo gondho... Or maybe I don't.I sometimes think I have just glamorized the whole thing and put layers of brighter colors over a faded sepia print. But I cannot deny the excitement, the wait, waiting for Pujo.

I try to enjoy Pujo here, for sake of myself, for my daughters. To let them know where their parents came from, where their roots lie. I buy them new clothes, I save clothes bought at "Back to school" sale to be worn during Pujo. It doesn't really matter much, clothes and shoes are necessities bought year round, new clothes for them does not herald Pujo.

We try go to the mandap(the place where Durga Pujo is being held) almost every day, back from work we deck up in finest silks and chiffon and are at the mandap late for the anjali but in time for dinner. The dhup-dhuno, the flowers, the Mother's glistening face enchants the little ones, they play round the mandap with their friends like we did.
If it is an extremely busy day like today we visit the Krishna Temple nearby instead. There Navratri celebrations are at a crescendo and in midst of Lalita Sahasranama chants I feel contented. Back home we string up twinkling Christmas lights on the porch, pick flowers to offer to the tiny idols sitting on my Puja shelf and light a lamp.

I cannot pass on to my daughters the pleasure of waiting for all those months for Durga Pujo, they will not know the excitement that Pujo can bring but I can redefine Pujo for them and that is what I do.

Maybe in the process I also redefine home. Maybe I am home this pujo.

And in my own way I make some sweets for Shoshthi. These were sweets which were actually made at Dashami, after the immersion, to sweeten lives and memories. These were Narkel Narus, two kinds. Gure'r Naru, the ones made with jaggery, deep brown in shade and Chini'r Naru, the pristine white ones made of sugar. I never like the gur'er naru much, with a little incompetence on the cook's side, these would be as hard as marbles. I preferred the white chini'r naru and this is what I make, late in the night after everyone goes to bed.

I cannot afford to grate a coconut, I have no time and the frozen MTR brand works just as fine for me. Unlike my Ma who uses whole milk and reduces it painstakingly, I use condensed milk and evaporated milk, cuts my cooking time by half. Rituals need not be so hard that we loathe & forget them, it is better to find easier means to enjoy them instead.

I am done in time for bed and an early start tomorrow. And yet I have a batch of narus which I will take as offerings to the goddess tomorrow. Narus, sweet, decadent and delicious, the perfect beginning to 5 days of Durga Pujo.

Edited to Add: And though it took me more than 30 mins to make these, it shouldn't have. I am slow and I kept the heat at low-medium, which stupid cook keeps heat at low to medium when they are cooking for a party. The better ones can do this under 30 and so these Narkel Narus join the Express Indian Party @ Anita's.
I am also sending the first pic to Heirloom:CLICK. The recipe is age old, the shortcuts are not.


Happy Durga Pujo

Get this recipe in my Book coming out soon. Check this blog for further updates. 

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Narkel Naru/ Coconut Laddoo

You Need

Shredded Coconut -- slightly more than 3 cups. I have used the frozen MTR brand, you can grate and use fresh coconut. When using frozen thaw before use

Sugar -- 1 cup

Evaporated Milk -- approx. 2 cups. If using Whole Milk, you need to reduce 4 cups of milk to 2 cups

Condensed Milk -- 1/4 cup. You can skip this and increase sugar but I prefer this How I Do It

In a heavy bottomed deep pan mix the shredded coconut and sugar with hand thoroughly

Put the pan on low heat and then stir for 4-5 minutes. The sugar will melt and mix with coconut and the coconut will be lightly roasted

Add about 2 cups of evaporated milk and 1/4 cup of Condensed Milk to the above. Add some cardamom seeds. Note: If you need more or less sweet, taste and adjust accordingly

Mix it all together and at low to medium heat cook with frequent stirring till the coconut is cooked. Keep stirring till the milk almost dries up and the coconut mix comes out clean from the sides. You will know by the slight change in color and the fact that the mix will no longer stick to the pan. Don't dry it too much, else you cannot make the balls. Note: When you think it is almost done, test it out by trying to make a ball that stays. Approx time to reach this stage - 30-40 mins at medium heat

Take the pan off the heat and cool slightly. When mix is still warm to touch, make balls by rolling between your palms

Store in an air tight container. I usually refrigerate but my Ma used to keep it out.

Similar Reads:

My '07 Pujo Post

More on Pujo and Pujo Shankhya

Thai Vegetable Soup

Live in Nannies are not fun. Especially if they tell you "C Didi to apnar theke double mota chilo" ( C Didi (her previous employer) was doubly fat than you)

While Bong Mom wonders if she should be thankful that her fatness quotient hasn't reached the full potential, the Nanny continues, "M Didi to apnar theke koto slim, monei hoyna duita bachcha" (M Didi(apparently the most favored of all past employers) is so much slimmer, doesn't look like she has two kids)

Bong Mom hastily drops the cookie she was munching on and proceeds to make some soup in mortal fear of her bulging anatomy being discussed in the next Didi's house.

Now to the Thai Vegetable Soup which is a delicious one that I first had at my friend N's place. I was apprehensive at the thought of consuming so many "good for me" veggies at one go. But my fears were allayed after the first spoonful. It was warm, delicious, with the subtle hint of spice and very comforting with the thought that consuming such liquids might put your waistline back to there rightful position.

I am out of sync with most events in blogosphere but just saw this one and thought this soup would be a good entry as it has Red Lentils as one of its main ingredients.
So this goess off to My Legume Love Affair brainchild of Susan and hosted this time by dear Srivalli

Also since I am getting comments saying "Yellow" this goes off to Sunshine Mom' FIC Yellow

Thai Vegetable Soup

How I Did It

Heat 3 tbsp of Peanut Oil.

Add 2 tbsp of grated fresh Ginger and 1 small Red Chilli pepper finely sliced. I added 3 hot green Indian Chillies. You can also add 2 crushed dry red chili pepper.

Add 1 small Red Onion chopped and saute till translucent

Add 1 small parsnip roughly chopped, 4 large carrots chopped, 2 stalks of celery thinly sliced and 1 medium potato peeled and sliced. You can play around with the veggies, I added turnip instead of parsnip.

Edited on 01/31/11: Roasted a butternut squash with olive oil, salt, pepper and little honey. Instead of above vegetables used the roasted squash and potatoes

Add 1/4 tsp of Cumin powder and 1/4 tsp of Curry Powder and saute for a couple of minutes. I added about 1 tsp of Curry Powder
Edited on 01/31/11: Use a pinch of Garam masala in absence of curry powder

Add 1/2 cup of Red Lentil (our very own Masoor dal). Mix well and add about 6 cups of water or vegetable stock. Add salt.

If you have Kafir Lime Leaves add two of them. Instead 1 tsp of lime zest will do just fine

Cook till the veggies and lentil is done.

Cool and puree in batches in a blender

Bring back to a boil on the stove top. Add 1 cup of coconut milk (less is fine).

I added about 1 tbsp of fresh lime juice at this point, add according to your taste. Garnish with fresh corriander and basil leaves.




Trivia: Curry powder is a mixture of spices of widely varying composition developed by the British during their colonial rule of India. Yeah they made everything fanous from "Curry Powder" to "Slumdog Millionaire"

Thai Red Curry

This Thai Red Curry is for GBP and also my dear friend N who has no clue that this blog exists.
N is the first Bong friend I had made after coming to US and when I think of it now, I cringe thinking of the way I befriended her
It had been more than two months that we had arrived and I was yet to meet a single Bengali soul, not considering the hubby of course. How I pined to gossip in Bengali, to chat with someone about Kolkata, to ask someone the best place to buy Hilsa. But there was none.

Of course there were the Bong organizations like all other cultural desi organizations beckoning to you with a smile in return for the yearly membership fee. But no, D would not be a part of them, he flatly refused to be part of the Bengali milieu that spoke and talked about a Bengal they had left some thirty odd years back. Though D is a Bengali and has grown up in Bengal unlike me who stayed outside Bengal for a considerable time, he lacks the full dosage of Bangaliana (the Bengaliness) a true blood Bengali has and was as happy in absence of the above.
Ok but this about N and not D so let’s not deviate

In my then state of frustration I was walking the aisles of K-Mart in lack of better things to do, when I hear fragments of Bengali being spoken in the neighboring aisle. I peered and I see this young couple, the girl in a Salwar-Kameez talking animatedly to her husband about some mundane K-Martish stuff.
I felt an immense urge to butt in and join in their discussion, voicing my opinion too in Bengali and then maybe inviting them over. But I restrained, I was frustrated yes, but still short of being labeled a lunatic.

Back at the Parking Lot while I was getting into my car, they were there too, lugging something into their trunk. I felt the urge again and this time asked D. D being the non-passionate Bong refused to play a role but gave me leeway to do things I wanted. The couple in the mean time were closing the trunk and revving the car. In a sheer state of desperation I bolted toward their car, said “Hi” muttered something about me being Bengali and it would be nice if we could meet etc. and scribbled my number on one of D’s business cards and ran. Yeah I just ran back while they stood there patiently, quizzically…

Thankfully none of us knew anything about Quixtar aka Amway

Then one day she called and I called and as they say – Rest is History

N has since grown to be my best friend. Though she is younger to me and is a English major, she was kind and patient enough to let me explain my tacky tech assignments to her while I attended grad school. She still listens to all my woes, gives me all her support and occasionally chats up my 3 yr old too. She is an awesome human being and a great friend and a foodie at heart and yesterday was her twins – 2 cute boys first birthday. Lots of happiness to them and their Mom & Dad

Recently N & her family were on house hunt and almost every weekend they would be out with the twins. If they were in my 15 mile radius I would ask them to drop by for lunch. Since N loves Thai food I made Thai Red Curry with Chicken for her on the weekend they finally decided on a house they liked. I served it with a Fried Rice, but its best with White Jasmine Rice. Just like N we love Thai Food too and this curry came out perfect. I often use shrimp instead of Chicken in this recipe and that comes out better.

I mostly frameworked my recipe from here - this site. I did throw in my own steps but the whole thing is pretty easy and quick and you can mould it around your comfort level. I did not use Fish Sauce as I had none. The recipe says chicken stock and cornstarch, but I don't think you need these. I also do not exactly remember the measures as I did this a month back, so give me some leeway there too


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Thai Red Curry

What You need

Chicken ~ 1 and ½ lb approx. I used skinless Chicken Thighs cut in small pieces(this is approximate measurment)
Onion ~ 1 large grind to a paste
Red Bell Peppers ~ 3 cut into thin slices
Garlic ~ 2 cloves minced


Coconut Milk ~ 1 can
Red Curry Paste ~ a 4 oz can of Maesri Brand Red Curry paste . This is pretty hot. So you could add less of this

Sweet Basil Leaves ~ 7-8
Lime Zest ~ from half of a medium sized green lime
Kafir Lime leaves ~ 2-3 if you can get hold of them . I never found them

For Marinade (if you are doing it)
Ginger paste ~ 1 tsp
Garlic Paste ~ 1 tsp
White Vinegar ~ 1 tbsp

Salt

How I Did It
Marinade the chicken pieces with 1 tbsp of vinegar, salt and 1 tsp each of ginger paste and garlic paste. I did this because I cannot have chicken when it has not been marinaded, I get a smell !!!
Heat Oil in a Wok/Frying Pan
Add 1 clove of minced garlic and 4 Basil leaves(no need to chop them)
When you get the fragrance of Basil and Garlic, remove the garlic and the basil leaves from the hot oil. Now you get a beautifully flavored oil which you use for rest of the recipe
Now to this oil add the chicken pieces, lightly brown them and remove and keep aside
Add Onion paste and fry till it turns pink
Add 1 clove of minced garlic
Sauté and add the red bell pepper
When the Pepper turns soft add the Red Curry Paste. I added the entire content of the can. It was fiery spicy but I liked it. You may like to reduce the level if you wish
Cook for couple of minutes and then add the Coconut Milk. You may need to add ½ or more cups of water at this point.
Let it come to a boil and add the remaining Basil Leaves
Add the chicken pieces and let it simmer at medium heat
Add salt and 1 tsp sugar and cook to desired consistency
Add the Lime Zest or Kafir Lime Leaves

Trivia: The word basil comes from the Greek βασιλευς (basileus), meaning "king", as it is believed to have grown above the spot where St. Constantine and Helen discovered the Holy Cross (Source: Wiki)

Poush Parbon er Pati Shapta

India being a predominantly agrarian country the harvesting season is joyfully celebrated during the months of Poush-Magh and Falgun (January to February), the festival being known by different names in different regions. In Bengal the harvesting festival is known as Poush Parbon (Winter Festival), poush being the name of the month.

This festival also celebrates Makar Sankranti or Poush Sankranti — marking the sun's passage from Capricorn to Aquarius
This festival is also known as Pithey Parbon in Bengal, pithey being a sweet made with basic agrarian ingredients of the region like rice, date palm etc. .There are several varieties of Pithey known as Gokul Pithey, Ashkey Pithey, Shajer Pithey etc. Along with this, sweets like Pati Shapta, rice-flour crepes filled with khoya and coconut stuffing, Soru Chakli and many more are also made. A very nice article on this festival and the variety of sweets made can be found here

PatiShapta -- Crepes filled with a coconut kheer stuffing

Though Poush Parban is more of a rural festival, urban households in Bengal celebrate it too, the emphasis here being on the food galore rather the pithey galore.

My baba’s side i.e my paternal grandparents house were a bit of a radical and didn’t celebrate poush parbon with much fervor but at my Dida’s house or my Maternal grandparents house all three days of sankrati were celebrated. I vaguely remember my Dida going around the house tying fresh hay to all the door handles in the house. She would also make varieties of pithey, the first batch being Ashkey pithey. She would store the first batch of pithey in an earthenware container as an symbolic offering to gods and later immerse it in the river.

With time however this has changed, even my Ma does not go around tying hay to door knobs and does not make all the 8-10 varieties of pithey on this day. She does make Puli Payesh, pati sapta and gokul pithey though. My Ma-in-law make sthis amazing Gokul Pithey and next time I am going to learn from her. This time I made Pati Shapta, rice flour crepes filled with stuffing of coconut & khoya, which I learnt from Ma. Traditionally I should have used Khejur Gur or Date Palm Jaggery but because of my khejur gur ration I used sugar instead

Ok so heres the recipe. This is going to be a piece of cake for all my friends from Southern part of India. In fact you guys can give me inputs on how to make this better as this was my maiden effort.

Pati Shapta

What You Need

For the pur or stuffing

Grated Coconut ~ 3 cup
Khoa ~ 12 oz
Sugar ~ 1 cup. If you can use Date Palm Jaggery that would be best

For 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

How I Did It

For the Pur or Stuffing

Take 3 cups of grated coconut. Fresh is better but I used frozen. Microwave the frozen one, to make it soft and fluffy
In the Kadai or Frying Pan mix the grated coconut with 1 cup sugar and mix with hand, pressing a little, so that The coconut will become slightly moist because of the sugar. This step is before the pan is put on the stove.
Next Microwave the khoya to make it a little soft
Put the Kadhai/Frying pan with coconut mix in it on the stove and stir.
Add the khoya and keep on stirring till the mixture turns a light brown and is sticky. At this point the mix should not dis-integrate but should look like a light brown slightly sticky granular substance. It took me almost 30 mins to do this


For 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 serving
Drizzle the crepes with condensed milk and serve hot. Ideally my Ma use to thicken the milk, sweeten it and pour it over the crepes. I cut the method short with condensed milk

What I learnt
While using rice flour you have to be careful to make the batter a little more thinner and the crepe more thin, only then it remains soft even when cold. My batter in this case should have been more thin, a consistency that would spread easily on the griddle by tilting the griddle around


Updated on Jan 14th, 2020:

Finally, I have got hang of the Rice flour in patishapta

Make Batter

Rice Flour (from Indian stores) -- 1 Cup
Maida or AP Flour - 1/2 Cup
Sooji or Fine Rawa -- 1/4th Cup

Milk -- 2&1/2 Cups at room temperature

Sugar -- 3 Tbsp

Make a smooth batter by whisking the above ingredients, make sure there are no lumps. The batter should be thinner than pancake batter.

Make the Crepes

Take a small non-stick crepe pan. My omeltte pan serves the purpose.

Brush the pan with a few drops of oil. Raise the gas heat to high.

Take little less than 1/4th Cup of batter and pour on the center of the pan, quickly swirling the pan to spread the batter.

Now lower heat to medium and cook the crepe until edges start turning light brown. Lift the edges to see if the crepe is developing brown spots.

Put the stuffing towards the edge and wrap the crepe around it. Remove and serve hot

Get this recipe in my Book coming out soon. Check this blog for further updates.