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| Malpuas |
This week we ventured into the land of Bihar. Without further ado, here's giving credit to the recipes referred to in the post:
Besan ki Machhli - thehungrypalate.wordpress.com
Whole wheat Dal Pitha - vedics.in
Rice Kheer - www.youtube.com
Dal Puri - www.youtube.com
Litti Chokha - rachnas-kitchen.com
Malpua - abitwholesomely.com
I also want to mention here this amazing book - The Bhojpuri Kitchen by Pallavi Nigam Sahay. This was my preliminary read and introduction to the wonderful world of Bhojpuri cuisine. I was sorely tempted to try pretty much everything mentioned here and narrowed it down to a few recipes with great difficulty. And still, the number of things I ended up cooking for Bihar definitely exceeded all the other states so far. I also had a lot of guidance from my friend Pooja Singh 💓 and her mom (thank you, aunty!). Thanks to her I learnt how the cuisine of North Bihar is different from the southern portion, and I've tried to do a bit of justice to both. 😊
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| Laukiwali Khichdi |
Some distinctive features of Bihari cuisine I noted were - the use of panch phoron, the preference for whole wheat over maida, and the love for channa dal and sattu. I have not eaten sattu before so this was a revelation. Sattu is basically roasted gram that has been ground up and it makes for a delicious addition to any pantry. I was unable to procure this from the stores nearby and had to order online. Worth it. Apart from the delicious recipes, Sattu can also be mixed in water and had as a very nutritious and savoury drink. The quintessential Indian protein shake! :)
Coming to the dishes cooked this week - we started with Laukiwali Khichdi - this was a fairly simple recipe taken from The Bhojpuri Kitchen. Cooked like the usual khichdi, but with lauki and lots of extra water added. The final result is a hearty yet simple and healthy khichdi - paired best with pickle and fried papads.
Ease of cooking: 4.5/5
Taste: 4.5/5
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| Besan ki Machhli |
This was suggested by Pooja and I am so glad I tried it. The recipe hails from northern Bihar and the very interesting name means "Gramflour fish". It's a purely vegetarian dish and uses the same recipe as Bihari mustard fish, just that instead of the fish, you use folded crepes made of besan, or gram flour. The gravy has a base of yellow mustard and hits strongly - I would advise toning down the quantity of mustard seeds if you are not a big fan. I am a big fan and so selected the Mustard-est recipe for this that I could locate online. It did give me heartburn for 2 days, but, no regrets.
Ease of cooking: 4.5/5
Taste: 6/5 (Yes, 6 is allowed 😛)
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| Dal Pitha |
Dal pitha is something I came across in The Bhojpuri Kitchen and was very intrigued by the recipe. There are 2 versions that I found online - some using rice flour and some using whole wheat flour. I decided to go with the latter as that's the one the book mentioned. The recipe uses channa dal and a lot of spices - is very healthy as it is essentially steamed. I made a large batch which we then had through the week as evening or late night snacks. Once you have the steamed pithas and have frozen them for future use, they're fairly easy to defrost, fry and whip up when midnight hunger strikes - this is especially useful as C works the night shift. Cna be had with tea, any chutney, or plain - it's yummy by itself too.
Ease of cooking: 3.5/5
Taste: 4.5/5
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| Dal Puri and Rice Kheer |
Dal puri are whole wheat fried flatbreads, stuffed with a mixture of channa dal and spices. This was fairly challenging to make because you have to be very careful the filling doesn't breach the puri, else during deep frying, it escapes and messes up both the puri and the oil. Apart from that, totally worth the effort. Needless to say this was delicious, like a soft dal kachori and pairs so well with a simple rice kheer.
Ease of cooking: 3/5
Taste: 5/5
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| Litti Chokha |
You cannot think of Bihari cuisine without thinking of Litti Chokha. At least, I cannot. And so this HAD to be made. The chokha is so simple to put together - it's just mashed potatoes mixed with a few spices, salt, onion, chillies and coriander. Chokha can also be made with mashed brinjal/eggplant. The litti is a little bit of a challenge as you need 2 sets of dough - one whole wheat and one with sattu. These are layered together in a round bun and traditionally baked over a cow dung fire - I had to make do with a steel grill over the stove, and the result is delicious. The litti looks small but, trust me, even 1 is very filling. Serve this for lunch with generous quantities of ghee and you are set to skip dinner :)
Ease of cooking: 4/5
Taste: 5/5
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| Malpua |
Malpuas were our Bihari dessert. I wanted to make the Parwal ki mithai because it sounded just so exotic, but could not get parwal anywhere. So, malpua it was. Malpuas are pretty much an all-India delicacy, however, there are slight variations across regions. Some places use Maida, some use Rawa, some use wheat, but the basic procedure is pretty much the same - fry it like a pancake and then dip it in sugar syrup. These have been made using wheat, a tiny amount of rawa and almond flour and the result is HEAVENLY. They were crisp and oh so delicious!
Ease of cooking: 4.5/5
Taste: 5/5
Thanks to this week's culinary tour I am all stocked up on sattu and am hoping to use it more!
Coming up next: Time to party in Goa!
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