Tribal Cuisine: Mandia (Ragi )Kakarapitha

Ingredients

1. Mandiaflour- 500gm
2. Suji- 500gm
3. Sugar/ jaggery- 250gm( more or less as per taste)
4. Salt- as per requirement
5. Oil- as required
6. Green cardamom powder- 2 gm
7. Cow ghee- 25 gm
8. Fennel seed/ saunf- 3 gm
9. Grated coconut-400gm
10. Black pepper powder/ coarsely crushed -2 gm

Preparation method

• Sieve Ragi( mandia) flour and mix with suji and keep aside.
• In a pan/ kadhai boil water with the salt, sugar,fennel seeds and ghee.
• Bring the water to a boil in a medium flame. once the sugar melts in water , add Ragi and  suji mix.
• Stir continuously for 4-5 minutes over a low flame.
• Cook till all the sujiragimix  is swollen and the mixture starts coming together like a ball.
• Once the mix thickens like halwa, turn off the flame.
• Remove the mixture on a plate and allow it to cool down for about 8-10 minutes.
• Grease your palms with a little ghee and knead the mixture to form a smooth dough and keep aside with a cover.
• Heat another pan.
• Add grated coconut and sugar/ jaggery , cook for 3-4 minutes till the sugar/ jaggery melts.
• Once the sugar/ jaggery melts completely, add cardamom powder and black pepper.
• Mix and roast everything for half a minute, switch off the flame and keep aside.
• Check the dough after 15 minutes. Apply a little ghee on hands and knead the dough to make it smooth.
• Divide the dough into 35 equal portions. Apply a little ghee on your hands and pick a portion of the dough.
• Roll it between your palms. Use your fingers to give it a shallow bowl shape.
• Fill the dough with stuffing and close the mouth of the dough by collecting the corners and pinching it at the top.
• Press the ball between your palms to flatten it. Press the ends slightly. Similarly, stuff and prepare all the Pithas.
• Heat the oil ,Keep the flame medium-high. Once oil turns heat then reduce the flame to medium low.
• Drop the Pithas in the oil and fry them for 1 mins from one side. After 1minutes, turn them upside down and fry Pithas from both sides till golden brown.
• Once they turn golden brown, pick them up with a slotted spoon. Tilt the spoon at the corner of the pot. This will discard the extra oil back in the pot.
• Take the Pithas out on a plate and serve them warm.
• Fry all the Pithas similarly; each batch will take around 6-7 mins to fry up.
• MandiaKakaraPitha is ready to be serve.

Prepared by: Sabnam Aferin

Cuttack, Odisha

You can reach her at [email protected]