Saturday 11 January 2014

Ranga Aloor Puli - with a twist

Happy Makarsankranti to all my friends, here is a traditional Bengali delicacy, which is made in our family with a great twist in terms of ingredients and taste. This is a very old recipe which is getting handed over in our family for 3 generations. It was originally a treasure from my didubhai or grand mother, who was an amazing cook. From her, my mom has taken over, and now, it is me, who tries her hand in this fabulous as well as out of the world Puli Pithe. 
Now, you may ask,puli pithe is made almost every house hold of Bengal during this time of the year,, so what is so special about it !! Let me explain, the 1st specialty lies on its soft texture.Since the outer layer is made out of Ranga Aloo or sweet potato instead of rice, it has a distinct, tasty and melt in the mouth feature. Second, the filling or stuffing is made with grated carrot, grated coconut and nolen gur or jaggery, which again is quite different and unusual combo, since the normal practice is the filling of coconut and gur. The end result is this amazing dish, which I have never had in any other household. 


Ingredients:


  • Ranga Aloo - 1 kg
  • Flour - 1 cup
  • Nolen Gur - As required
  • Grated Coconut - 1 Cup
  • Grated Carrot - 1 Cup
  • Milk - 2 litres
  • Ghee - 3 tbsp
  • Bay Leaves - 6 

To prepare the stuffing, mix the grated coconut and carrot with one tbsp of ghee. Place it in a wok and cook on very low temperature. Add the nolen gur or jaggery  to the mixture and stir continuously till it dries up and become a bit sticky.


Boil the Ranga Aloo till soft. Remove from water and keep it dry and warm. Now mash the boiled potatoes till it is smooth. Add flour a little at a time and knead for 5 minutes till it forms a dough. Now take a small amount from the dough and make a ball. Press at the centre of the ball to make a well. Put a little stuffing and seal the ends.


Make all the pulies and keep them in a flat surface in a single layer.


In the mean time, boil the milk in a large vessel with the bay leaves. Boil till the milk thickens a bit. Now add 2 tbsp of ghee to the milk and mix well. Add the required amount of nolen gur and mix with the milk. I am not mentioning the amount of nolen gur, since the sweetness of gur depends on its quality. You need to adjust the amount based on your taste.


When the nolen gur mixes well with the milk, add the stuffed puli pithe into the milk one by one. Be careful, donot stir, otherwise the pithe will break.


Give it a final boil and remove from heat. Serve hot or cold as per your choice. 




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