Gillah Pitha | Rice and Jagerry fritters | Assamese dish | Sweet | Bihufestival

To begin with wish all you lovely people a very very happy new year & a happy Bihu. I know I am just not able to keep up with my promise of posting regularly. But I will try and be more frequent now on. Ita already 12 days into 2015. (At time I sit back and wonder how time fly).

On the 15th of January is the first bihu (Assamese festival)of 2015, called the Magh bihu. Magh bihu  is a harvest festival celebrated in Assam and it marks the end of the harvesting season in the reason.  Magh Bihu is the Assam celebration of Sankranti and the celebrations last for a week. The festival of Magh Bihu is dedicated to Agni, the Lord of Fire. However in the rest of India the festival of Sankranti is dedicated to Surya, the Sun Lord. Magh Bihu is synonym of feasts and bonfires which begin one day before of Magh Bihu.The day before people make makeshift huts, known as Meji (the born fire) from bamboo, leaves and thatch. The food for feasting is prepared inside Meji and a community feast is held on the night before. The Meji is burned the next morning and the ashes are scattered on the farmlands to increase fertility. 

If I would have been at my grand parents home, there would have been major preparation for the the day. Lots of savory and sweet dishes called pitha's . I remember my mom mentioning that my grand mother used to bake cakes in wood fire along with different kinds of pitha's. Pitha's are basically made out of rice powder and Jagerry. Today I am doing the simplest of all called the "Gillah pitha". Of course because it's my personal favorite.

Ingredients

• 02 cups - Rice flour
• 02 cups - Whole wheat flour
• 01 cup  - Jaggery
• 02 tbsp - Castor sugar
• 01 tbsp - Aniseed (saunf)
• Raisins 
• Mustard oil for deep frying.

Method 

1. Soak the rice in water over night.
2. Grind the soak rice along with aniseed without any water, you will get a fine paste.
3. Mix wheat flour along with jaggery and castor sugar. Mix the raisins. your batter is ready.
4. Now deep fry the fritters till brown in colour. 
5. Can be stored in an air tight container upto a week.

PS :- Confession this is the second lot that i am making. The one which i made for the post got over with in an hour. Thanks to my friend :)