Rice to Taste!

Here we bring you some yummy recipes, from two different states of India, to enjoy this season

Bihar Khoya Pitha

Pithas are white and round in shape and they do resemble momos but are very different from them. Popularly eaten in Bihar and Assam, the flour dumplings can be made with a variety of fillings depending on your taste buds, dal pithas are spicy and sweet pithas are made from khoya and gur. Traditionally, it is eaten for breakfast and dinner but can be eaten whenever one craves for it. It can also work as a perfect snack. So, here’s the recipe of Sweet Khoya Pitha.

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• Serving: 4 to 5 guests
• Time taken: 30-40 minutes

Ingredients

• Rice flour- 500 gms
• Khoya- 150 gms
• Sugar- 100 gms
• Milk- 2 litres
• Dry fruits (optional)

Method

• Step 1: You can start with preparing the fillings for your dough. Take khoya in a bowl and mix sugar into it, mix it well.
• Step 2: After that you can add dry fruits into the mix. This is completely optional, as some opt for it and some may not.
• Step 3: Here comes the main part, take the rice flour in a bowl and knead it well. With adding milk into it you can also use little water but not too much, as it may spoil the rice flour mixture.
• Step 4: Once a perfect dough is ready start making small balls of it, then pressing it in between start adding khoya fillings to it and close the dough in a round shape.
• Step 5: Last but not the least put the prepared round balls in the boiling water directly, keep it there for 20-25 minutes and take it out one by one. And you are ready with delicious Khoya pithas to serve your guests and family.

Sikkim’s Chang

Sikkim’s Chang is an old traditional drink prepared by Tibetans and is quite popular in north-east regions of India. Rice is the highlight of this local drink on hills. Chang or Tongba is a drink that can be easily be prepped at your home but the only thing is that it requires at least a day or two for the rice to ferment. In most of the areas of Sikkim, the drink is brewed and served in bamboo pie. The drink is commonly served hot and consumed in colder regions. So, get ready to make Chang, sitting at home.

• Preparation time: 55-60 minutes (Total)
• Fermentation: 2 days at least, also the more you ferment the better the chang tastes.

Ingredients

• Ragi and millets or basmati rice - 1 kg
• Koji Rice - 5 gm

Method

• Step 1: If you are choosing ragi and millets, cook them for one hour. If you are taking rice alone, cook them normally in a cooker adding water. Here, we are going ahead with ragi and millets.
• Step 2: Add koji rice (fermented rice) to start the process of fermentation in the cooked millets. Store the millets in a jar and let it ferment for at least 2 days in a dark room away from the sunlight. You will soon get a sweet fermented smell from the jar and that will be the sign it’s ready.
• Step 3: Once rice starts ageing you can strain the produced alcohol in a jar and again pour in water in the main jar and keep it to ferment more. The current batch can be used now. And you can keep the main jar to get you next batch after few days.
• Step 4: Pour the brewed liquid into a glass and put boiling water into to it, this makes the concentration of the drink mild and here is your sip of filtered Chang brew.

From the January 2021 issue of FHM India.