BANGLADESHI VAPA PITHA

 Ingredients:

Rice flour -2 cup Warm milk or water-1/2 cup Salt- 1 ts Sugar- 2 ts Shredded coconut - 1/2 cup Shredded Jaggeryr- 1/2 cup

Accessories needed: Vapa pitha making pan  (if you do not have the pan, take a saucepan with lid and some aluminium foil; and follow the alternate way described in the below ) Small bowl One piece of cloth.

Method:

1. 
   For this pitha the rice flour have to be little coarsely grinned  Back in our country there are lots of place where we can grind the rice grain for this kind of pitha. But in USA I have to make my own coarsely grinned rice flour. So here is the procedure to make your rice flour for this pitha. Take 3 cups of Bashmati rice, wash them well and put in a strainer to drain the water completely. Now place some paper towel on a large tray and spread the washed rice on it. Keep in a warm place to dry the rice.Occasionally spread them. When the rice dried up completely grind them in your coffee grinder.
2. Now it is time to make the delicious pitha. Take 2 cups of rice flour in a mixing bowl, add the salt and sugar, and mix them. Now slowly add the milk in the dry mix and start to mix them. This mixture will neither be like a dough nor like a batter, it will just be wet. When you take some mixture in your palm and press them, it will form a ball at first and then break down.
3. Now cover the bowl and set it aside for around 4-5 hours.
4. Now pour water up to the half of the pan and put the pan on the burner to boil the water. In the mean time grate the coconut and jeggary and set aside.
5. Now take a strainer, place it on top of a bowl and put some rice flour mixture (which you prepared earlier) and sieve it trough the strainer with the help of your hand.
6. Take the small bowl spread some flour mixture on it to cover the bottom, put some shredded coconut and shredded jagger, and then again put some rice flour mix on top of them and gently press the top to make it plain. Now cover the top of the bowl with the piece of cloth and carefully flip the bowl with the help of the cloth on the the hole of the pan where vapor started to come out. Then carefully take out the bowl and cover the pan with the lid. (The piece of cloth will hold the bowl shaped pitha on top of the covered saucepan) Wait for around 4-5 minutes to cook the pitha in the steam. Then carefully take it out  from the pan with the help of a big spatula or big spoon.
7. Prepare rest of your pitha and enjoy with your family .

Alternate way if you do not have the pan(I used this method):

Take water up to the half of a saucepan and cover it with the aluminium foil (use double layer of foil and try to fold the side of the foil tightly so that vapor can not be come out ) . Take a fork and make some holes in the middle of the covered foil. Those holes will be the only way to come out of the vapor from the saucepan where you will put your pitha to make. Put your saucepan on the burner to boil the water.