Pitha festivities in winter season

Pitha is the traditional cake of Bangladesh. The origin of cake as an appetizer and dessert of our country's ingredients depends on season. The taste of pitha depends   on environment, geographical climate and agricultural production of the country.
In winter season, Pitha' or cakes are made with 5 kg of new rice's powder in maximum house in our country's every villages in every day. Bhapa pitha, chitui pitha, patti sapta, kholajali, chhitruti pitha, mara pitha and many more pitha surfeit in every houses. In winter all the members of the house and the neighbors used to sit around the stove. Cakes were made and everyone ate hot cakes together. There is still this culture in the village. Not many of these cakes are made in town houses. The children of the town buy cakes from the cake shop and eat them.
Culinary specialist and experts Meherunnasa has huge knowledge about our country's traditional pitha. She said, "Special ingredients for making pitha or cake's are rice powder or rice flour, molasses, coconut, milk, eggs, sugar syrup, meat, a little salt and various spices."
A few items are currently given color in the cake. I am currently researching and learning about color with carrot, beetroot, mint leaves, spinach leaf juice we can use as food color. Flour, semolina and sweet potatoes have been used in some cakes since the British rule.  
When she explains about our traditional pitha she mentioned some exceptional pitha's name like Nakshi pitha, Bhapa pitha, chitui pitha, patti sapta, kholajali, chhitruti pitha, mara pitha, zhinuk pitha, mach pitha etc.
  She said, " Nakshi pitha is a traditional pitha of Bangladesh. Nakshi pitha originates from Narsingdi district near Dhaka which is known from history. It is also known from history that the people of that area were very fancy and the craftsmanship of the zamindar bari was incomparable.
The artist's mind is expressed through the art of cake. In a village in Narsingdi, alpana was painted with rice powder. Seeing this, a 13-year-old girl boiled rice flour, pressed the boiled pulp with her hands and made a beautiful design with the thorns of a palm tree like bread. All the members of mother and grandmother's house were surprised to see that design. After drying in the sun, everyone in the village comes to see the design. After doing a lot of research, the design bread is fried in a little oil and then dipped in dipped oil and picked up with molasses syrup. Designed from the time of British rule, the cake was marketed as Nakshi Pitha. The story of that girl's nakshi cake spread and she got married to a wealthy family for her virtues.
The innate artistic attitude of uneducated girls in rural Bangladesh is expressed through cakes. It is commendable that the girls of Bangladesh make such a beautiful, delicious and nutritious cake.
"I did the first research and found the names and recipes of 130 types of cakes." Here need to mention that she published a recipe book with 250 recipes of our country's traditional food.
Today Meherunnasa share some unique traditional pitha's recipe which can helpful to understand our traditional pitha culture and women's can learn about our traditional pitha recipe.    

Nakshi Pitha
Ingredients:
l Rice powder - 2 cups,
l water - 3 cups,
l salt - half a teaspoon,
l molasses - 1 cup,
l thin face stick - 2 or date skewers as desired,
l oil for frying - as quantity.
Method:
1. Boil water with � tsp salt in the oven. When it boils, pour rice powder and cover it for 5 minutes.
2. Then turn off the stove, shake well and cool and apply.
3. Grease the bread. Divide the rice husk into small pieces, grease a little thick bread with oil and make a design with date thorns.
4. Now lightly fry in a little hot oil.
5. On the day you give the molasses syrup, heat the oil again and fry it brown.
6. Squeeze the cake with half a cup of water and soak it for 1 minute. This is how the popular nakshi pitha of Bangladesh tradition was made.
(Tips: Nakshi pitha can be stored for 1 month by tightening it again.)

 Zhinuk Pitha
 Ingredients:
l Rice powder - 1 cup,
l water - one and a half cup,
l salt - a little,
l molasses - half a cup,
l new comb - 2,
l oil for frying - quantity.
 Method:
1. Boil in the oven with 1 cup water and a little salt.
2. Cover with rice powder in boiling water and reduce the flame.
3. After 5 minutes, open the lid and shake.
4. When the rice powder is cooked, cover and keep it for 5 minutes.
5. And turn off the stove.
6. When it is cold, apply it well. Cut the lentils into small pieces.
7. Now make a circle with one hand and narrow the other side.
8. Now press and pull with a clean comb. It should look like oysters.
9.  Now fry it in brown oil with olive cake.
10. On the day you give the molasses syrup, heat the oil again and fry it brown. Squeeze the cake with half a cup of water and soak it for 1 minute.

 Patai Naksha Pitha
(Lengra population hilly area)
Ingredients:
Rice powder - 3 cups,
powdered sugar - half a cup,
 salt - a little,
banana leaves - as needed,
food color - as needed.
 Method:
1. Make a paste by mixing 1 cup of rice powder with 2 colors in 2 bowls with the required amount of pony and salt.
2. Cut the banana leaves into small pieces.
3. Make a small hole in the coconut shell and mix the sweetness of the mind with the paste on the leaves and design with two different colors.
4. Then dry in the sun.
5. Now deep fry in oil and sprinkle with sugar powder.
 
 Fish design cake (Mach Pitha)
Ingredients:
l Flour - 2 cups,
l minced cooked hilsa fish - 1 cup,
l onion powder - 1 tbsp
l coriander cumin powder - 1 tsp
l coriander powder - quantity,
l raw chilli powder - quantity,
l salt - to taste,
l oil - quantity.
Method:
1. Spread the flour with 2 tablespoons oil and a little salt and adequate amount of water and cover for 1 hour.
2. Heat 1 tsp oil in a pan and fry the minced fish, then fry with onion, green chillies, cumin and coriander powder for 2 minutes.
3. Drizzle with coriander leaves and salt.
4. Divide the dough into 6 parts.
5. Cut a piece of sand into thin slices on both sides of the bread like bread. Cover the middle part with cold minced meat on both sides.
6. Take the shape of the head on one side and the shape of the tail on the other side with pepper or cloves.
7.  When everything is ready, fry it in deep oil until brown. This is how fish cake was made.
(Tips: Boil the fish pieces, turmeric, salt and a little water and choose the thorns. Other fish besides hilsa fish can also be used.)