Pua pitha recipe | Meetha pua | Sweet pua | Poa pitha | Bengali pitha

I know many people are not aware of both the terms ‘Poush parbon’ and ‘Bengali pitha’. Before going through the recipe, let me tell few words about these two terms.

What is poush parbon?

Poush parbon is one of the most integral part of Bengali culture which has been conserved by generations and is celebrated each year in the month of January. Poush parbon is celebrated in Poush mash of Bengali year which is also popular as month of pitha-puli. During this occasion, every Bengali house is flavoured with nolen gur (Date palm jaggery), coconut and kheer (Reduced milk). There are various kinds of Bengali pithe that are prepared in each Bengali kitchen to celebrate the festival of food.

What is Bengali pithe?

During poush parbon, new harvests and nolen gur arrive and this is used to prepare Bengali pithe in each house to celebrate the culinary diversity. There are myriad Bengali pithe recipes in Bengali cuisine, among which patishapta, puli pitha, pua pitha are few of the most popular ones.

Pua pitha is the easiest Bengali pitha recipe which is perfect for a novice. In fact, it could be the best recipe to begin the journey to prepare bengali pithe. Even the first pitha recipe which I have learnt was Pua pitha.

There are different ranges of poa pitha that are prepared during Sankranti, among which meetha pua, malpua, teler pitha are few of the popular varieties. For different types of pua, the pua batter is sometimes prepared with rice flour, all-purpose flour and semolina or the combination of these three or two ingredients. Both Jaggery and sugar are used as sweeteners to prepare different types of pua pitha. In few places, even ripe bananas and coconut is also added into the pua batter.

Meetha pua gets prepared very easily without investing much time and effort. In fact, it requires only four basic ingredients excluding water which are easily available in any Bengali kitchen pantry. The best part of the recipe is that it can be prepared in huge batches without any extra effort.

Pua pitha recipe with step by step photos and instructions have been provided in the ‘Instructions’ section of the recipe. I have included all the tricks and tips below and in the instruction section to prepare fluffy, round and puffed-up sweet pua.

Tips to prepare perfect pua pitha

How to make pua pitha?

To prepare the pua pitha recipe, first take a large mixing bowl and then add 1 cup all-purpose flour, ½ cup semolina, ½ cup sugar into it and whisk it. Many people use whole wheat flour aka atta too instead of all-purpose flour due to health consciousness. But the taste and texture will slightly differ if you use atta for the recipe.

Add ½ cup warm water, ½ cup warm milk into the mix and whisk it in circular motion to prepare a lumps free, smooth batter. Whisk it in one direction for 4-5 minutes to make the batter airy. Cover the batter and allow it to rest for 20-30 minutes.

After the resting time, whisk the batter once again for half minute.

Put a pan on flame and add enough oil to deep fry the pua pitha. Once the oil is hot, drop a small portion of the batter to check the temperature of the oil. It the batter floats then it’s perfect to fry the pua pitha.

Pour the batter with a large spoon into the oil and deep fry it over medium flame. Once the pua floats in oil, splash hot oil with a spoon on the top until the pua puffs up and then flip and fry the other side of the pua. Fry both the sides till golden brown in colour. Drain the excess oil and keep the pua pitha aside. Whisk the batter again and repeat the whole process to fry rest of the pua pitha.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup All-purpose flour (Maida)
• ½ cup Semolina (Rava)
• ½ cup Sugar (Chini)
• ½ cup warm Milk
• ½ cup warm Water
• Oil to deep fry the Pua pitha

1. First take a large mixing bowl and then add 1 cup all-purpose flour, ½ cup semolina, ½ cup sugar into it and whisk it with a whisker.
   

2. Then add ½ cup warm milk and ½ cup warm water into the mix and whisk it in circular motion to prepare a lumps free smooth batter. Whisk it in one direction for 4-5 minutes to make the batter airy.
   

3. Cover the batter with a plate and allow it to rest for 20-30 minutes.
   

4. Then either with a large spoon or whisker whisk the batter once again for a minute.
   

5. Put a pan on flame and let it become completely dry. Add Oil for deep frying the pua pitha. Put the flame in medium high and let the oil become hot.
   

6. Once the oil is hot, put the flame in medium and drop small portions of the pua pitha batter into the pan to check the temperature of the oil. It the batter floats then it’s perfect to fry the pua pitha.
   

7. Then pour one large spoon full of batter into the hot oil and fry the pua pitha on medium flame. Once the pua pitha start floating on the oil splash hot oil carefully on the top side of the pitha to puff up. Once the corners get light golden flip the pitha.
   

8. Fry the pua pitha evenly from both the sides till light golden brown in colour. Strain the excess oil and transfer the pua pitha on to a plate lined with kitchen tissue. The kitchen tissue will absorb the excess oil from the pitha.
   
   

9. Repeat the process (Step 7) and prepare pua pitha with the remaining batter.
   

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