Chandrakanti Pitha - an Odia festive delight
a traditional odia sweet delicacy using moong dal, a perfect during festive occasions in odia households
Ingredients
- 1 cup Moong dal (split yellow lentils)
- ¼ cup Rice
- ½ cup Sugar
- 2 tbsp Coconut (grated)
- 1 tsp Cardamom powder
- 2 tbsp Ghee + for greasing
- 1 pinch Salt
- 1½ cup Water + for soaking and blending
- Oil for deep frying
Instructions
- In two separate bowls, soak moong dal and rice for about 5-6 hours or even overnight.
- Drain and wash both moong dal and rice separately.
- Using a blender, first make a paste of the soaked moong dal by adding little amount of water (2-3 tbsp). Keep in mind not to make a very fine paste.
- Transfer the moong dal paste to a bowl and now make a fine smooth paste of soaked rice.
- Mix both the paste in the bowl, keep aside.
- Meanwhile grease a plate with ghee and keep aside.
- Now in a deep pan boil water along with sugar, salt, cardamom powder, 1 tbsp ghee and grated coconut.
- When the sugar melts completely, lower the heat.
- Add the dal-rice paste slowly and start continuosly stirring to avoid the mixture stick at the bottom.
- After few minutes (around 4-5 minutes) the mixture starts to slightly thicken.
- Now add 1 tbsp ghee, and keep stirring.
- When the mixture seems to leaving the sides of the pan, turn off the heat.
- Transfer the mixture onto the greased plate.
- Using a greased spatula, spread the mixture evenly keeping the height as desired for the pitha.
- Keep aside and allow to completely cool down.
- Now grease a knife and cut the cooled mixture into desired shapes.
- Meanwhile heat oil in a pan.
- Over low-medium heat, deep fry few cut shapes until they turn golden brown, flipping in between.
- Once done, trasfer to a plate lined with tissue papers and allow to drain out the excess oil.
- Similarly deep fry rest other shapes.
- Serve these chandrakanti pitha warm or cool as desired !
Notes
- Coconut is totally optional but adds a nice texture and flavor to this deep-fried pitha.
- Don't boil the water along with sugar for a long time. When the sugar melts completely start adding the paste slowly.
- Some chopped dry fruits can be added here too along with coconut.
- Always grease the knife to get sharp shapes before cutting.