Arisa Pitha

Name: Arisa Pitha
Prep time: 12 h
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 12 h 25 min
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: Odia
Ingredients: 300 g raw rice; 200 g Jaggery; 15 g black sesame seeds; 2 g cardamom powder; 50 ml Water; 250 ml oil

A dense, deep-fried rice-and-jaggery sweet offered to Goddess Lakshmi on the Thursdays of Manabasa Gurubara during the Margashira month.

🇮🇳India· Odisha

Prep: 720 min
Cook: 25 min
Total: 745 min
Servings: 6
Difficulty: Medium
Calories: 230 kcal

Ingredients

0 of 6 gathered

Servings

Equipment

•Kadai
•Grinder

Nutrition

Per serving, approximate

Calories: 230 kcal
fat: 8 g
carbs: 40 g
fibre: 1 g
protein: 2 g
calories: 230 kcal

Instructions

1
Soak the rice for four hours. Drain well and grind it into a fine flour.
2
Melt the jaggery (unrefined cane sugar) with water in a pan to make a thick syrup.
3
Mix the rice flour into the warm jaggery syrup. Knead it into a smooth, firm dough.
4
Add the cardamom powder and sesame seeds. Mix them evenly into the dough.
5
Let the dough rest for a few hours, or overnight, so the rice absorbs the syrup.
6
Shape the dough into small, flattened discs.
7
Heat oil in a kadai (deep pan) to medium heat. Gently slide in a few discs at a time.
8
Fry on low to medium heat until deep golden-brown and cooked through on both sides.
9
Drain them on absorbent paper. Let them cool completely before storing.

Chef's tips

Fry patiently on low heat so the centre cooks through without burning the outside. Resting the dough overnight gives a better texture.

Ingredient substitutions

black sesame seeds → white sesame seeds

Storage

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.

Reheating

Best eaten as is; can be warmed briefly in a pan.

Common mistakes to avoid

•Frying on high heat, which burns the outside and leaves the centre undercooked.
•Making the dough too runny instead of firm, which makes it soak up excess oil.