Manda Pitha

Hi Readers,

As posted earlier, this diwali I had made Manda Pitha... You most be thinking why Manda Pitha on Diwali right? Manda Pitha is my favorite Pitha among all the Pitha's made in Odisha. My Mom used to make Manda on my birthday always. This time, I had time and since, I like this the most, i had prepared it on Diwali.

Another interesting part is Manda Pitha is very similar to Modak prepared in Maharastra. Modak is a most on Ganesh Chaturthi as Ganapati Bappa loves it. Why not..? Its so yummy... In Odisha we do not have a custom of worshiping Lakshmi Ganesha on Diwali, instead we worship Maa Kali, the ferocious form of Shakti. Similar to durga puja, pandals have Maa Kali idols and she is worshiped. We burst crackers and enjoy sweet dishes, but this is not the biggest festival and we do not get new clothes also... Diverse culture of our great country India... But, mark the similarity, we make same dish that has two different name in two different part of country Manda Pitha and Modak. The form that manda is given is similar to Karanji or Ghujia, Generally, we make different shape and size of it. Some in round shape, some elongated just like Ghujia.. Modak is also round, but the joining portion is generally elongated to make it look like coconut.

In my family, whenever Manda Pitha was made it used to have several stuffing, the normal ones being coconut and jaggery with cardamom flavour, Urad dal savory flavour and spicy potato flavour. My Granny used to make a stuffing with flax seed and jaggery, I loved it because it used to look like melting chocolate that just flows once you bite it. I also like the flax seed aroma and unique flavour.

Enough of talking is not it. I am going to describe a variety of stuffing that I prepared this Diwali.

Ingredients :- 

Outer cover :- 

1 cup rice flour 

1 cup water

pinch of salt

1 tbsp oil to grease

Flax seed filling :- 

1 cup flax seed

3 tbsp jaggery

1/2 cup water

Method :-  

To make the outer cover. Heat water by adding salt. Add rice flour bath by batch when water starts to boil and mix well not to form any lump. When the batter is formed, remove and let it cool a bit, so that you an form the outer cover by hand. When it is still warm, grease hand and knead the batter a little to make a dough. Divide into small portions, using your hand form round circles.

Roast flax seeds till the aroma comes, remove from flame and grind it to fine powder. 

Heat water, add jaggery and form a syrup. Add powdered flax seed and form the stuffing. 

Now this stuffing added onto the outer cover and is sealed. Put the formed pitha's in a idly steamer and steam it till its cooked. 

Ingredients for Spicy Potato Filling :- 

2 Potato chopped into thin pieces

1/2 tbsp turmeric

1/2 tbsp red chili powder

salt as per taste

1/2 tbsp cumin powder

Ingredients for Urad dal filling :- 

1 cup urad dal soaked 4 to 5 hours grind and form batter and keep it as such for 3 to 4 hours

1 chopped onion

1 tbsp ginger chopped

2 green chilli chopped

1 tbsp chopped coriander leaves

salt to taste

Note :- While filling this batter as a filling leave a little gap and do not seal from all sides as Urad dal will expand on cooking and will break the pitha's if it has no gap.

Last Picture.