Pitha is one of the most delicious dessert and one of the most toughest things to make (in my opinion). Not only they require many trials and errors but it also need lots of tips and tricks from the experienced ones! Normally I am not very good at making pitha but in Bangladesh many pitha are traditionally vegan, so I must face my fear and try to make them sometimes!

So today I tried to make Poa Pitha or Teler Pitha. Tel means oil in Bangla, and this pitha is fried in oil, that’s why its also called Teler pitha in many parts of Bangladesh. I am grateful to the Youtube channel below for the recipe of this pitha, it clearly described the whole process with lots of tips and tricks. It is relatively easy to make but a small mistake can make the pitha non-edible. Thank you Jasmin apa for all the details ❤

The ingredients are not that exclusive, except for the rice flour that needs to be coarse.

Other than coarse rice flour, we need jaggary/gur, wheat flour, lots of oil and bit of salt. If you don’t have jaggery, you can make this pitha with sugar too.

I measured all the ingredients before started making this pitha, even water too. First I heated 150ml water in a pot, when it started boiling, I turned off the heat and added jaggery to it. I stirred the jaggery until all of them are completely dissolved.

Then in the same pan, I added the rice flour. I mixed them well until rice flour is evenly mixed with jaggery water. Then we have to cover the rice flour -jaggery batter for half an hour. In this half an hour the flour will absorb the moisture and become soft.

After half an hour, I stirred the batter again, it looked thick.

Now I have added the wheat flour to the batter, I looked like it needed more water so I added little cold water at a time. Until the batter looked thick but runny, I kept adding cold water. Remember to add only cold water when the batter has wheat flour in it.

Then I a pot I added oil and heated to medium to low heat. When oil got warm enough, I added the first scoop of batter directly to the oil.

Also remember to use a ladle, so the shape and size of the pitha remains the same.

In the aluminum pot, pitha were not being cooked properly. Look how the first few pitha turned out 😦 flat and sad.

However, then I changed the pot to cast iron pan. Even though the pan is not that deep, since its been used a lot, pitha did not get stuck on the bottom like the first pot. Aha I wish to use this pan from the beginning!

So if a good pan is used, the pitha should float by self once the pitha is half done. So I flipped the pitha when it floats on the oil and fried for one more minute. I checked both sides if cooked.

Look how beautifully puffed the pitha got!

Oh and I forgot to mention, I added some fennel seeds to the last half of the batter, but it is completely optional.

This pitha reminds me of the winter evening in Bangladesh, when its cold and foggy outside, and all family members gathered around in the kitchen, enjoying the warmth from earthen stove…makes me miss the moments I never had…

Recipe: Teler Pitha /Poa Pitha

Ingredients: Rice Flour (coarse) – 200g Wheat flour – 75g Jaggery- 137g Hot water-200ml Fennel- 1/4tsp (optional) salt- 1/8tsp

1. Dissolve jaggary in very hot water. Add rice flour to dissolved jaggery and rest the batter for 30mins. 2. After 30mins, add wheat flour. If needed add cold water to the batter. The batter needs to be thick but runny. Add salt. 3. In a cast iron pan (which has been used a lot), warm oil in a medium -low heat. 4. Use a ladle to scoop the batter and put it hot oil. Once half done, the pitha should be floating self. After floating, flip the pitha and fry for 1 more minute. 5. Use paper towel to soak extra oil. Don’t crowd two pitha at a time. Enjoy Poa Pitha with Bangladeshi Cha/tea in the evening.