Maharashtrian Pithla Recipe
'Pithla' is a regional speciality from an Indian state - Maharashtra. It is prepared using gram flour, onions and garlic-chilli paste with aromatic, warm tempering of curry leaves, cumin and mustard seeds. The hot and freshly prepared pithla can be best enjoyed with bhakri/chapati or served as sides with steamed rice.
Ingredients
- 1 cup gram or chickpea flour
- 1 tbsp oil vegetable
- 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
- 1/4 tsp asafoetida
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 8-10 nos curry leaves
- 1 nos onion small
- 1-2 nos green chillies
- 3-4 nos garlic cloves
- salt as per taste
- coriander leaves handful
- water as required
Instructions
- Start with preparing garlic-chilli paste. For this, you'll need mortar and pestle.
- Roughly chop garlics and chilli; then add into mortar and pestle along with little salt.
- Crush everything together until rough paste is formed.
- In a mixing bowl, add gram flour, turmeric powder and garlic-chilli paste.
- Gently mix together and then add around 1 cup of water. Combine everything until lump-free mixture is formed.
- Next, heat a pan over high heat and add oil into it.
- Once oil is hot; add mustard and cumin seeds. Let them sizzle for few seconds.
- Turn heat to medium and add asafoetida into the pan. Next add curry leaves and gently combine everything.
- Tip-in chopped onions into it and season with salt.
- Stir for few minutes or until onions are softened.
- Once onions are softened, turn heat to low and slowly add gram flour mixture into the pan.
- This mixture immediately starts to thicken, so gently add water into the pan while stirring continuously.
- Add around 2-3 cups of water and stir continuously.
- Turn heat to medium and allow it to cook for another 10-15 minutes or until gram flour is cooked.
- Cook until raw taste of gram flour goes off; if required add more water while cooking.
- Gram flour mixture will starts to thicken. It should be thoroughly cooked in another 15-20 minutes.
- Test taste and adjust salt if required. Simmer it for another 5 minutes.
- Finally add finely chopped coriander leaves and mix it together.
- Pithla is ready; serve it with hot bhakri, chapati or rice and some sliced onions, lime on sides.
Notes
- Use a lump-free mixture of gram flour with water.
- Cook gram-flour mixture over medium-low heat while stirring continuously.
- Add water as required which helps to cook gram flour mixture and will thicken eventually.