Nokshi pitha aka nakshi pitha recipe is one of the most authentic and scrumptious Bengali pitha recipes. It is crispy, flaky, sweet and irresistibly delicious in taste. It is an old traditional Bengali pithe which almost got lost with time due to our busy life schedule. It is an asset of the Bengali pithe recipe which is prepared during poush parbon. It is basically a rice flour pitha which is designed beautifully to showcase a homemaker’s art skill. It is mostly served as snack with tea, but it can be relished at any time of the day whenever hunger calls.
Table of Contents
About the recipe
Tips and Suggestions
How to make Nokshi pitha (step wise photos)
Recipe Card
What is Nakshi Pitha?
Nakshi pitha aka nokshi pitha is a pitha recipe prepared with rice flour. It originated in the Narsingdi district of Bangladesh. It is prepared in various designs. The name of the pitha nokshi means design. The women of that district were highly skilled in the art but due to the negligence of society, they could not get the scope to create their artwork. One day a girl made a rice cake with designs on it and slowly it was modified to nakshi pitha. It is also referred to as pakkon pitha.
In this preparation, smooth and soft rice flour dough is prepared and divided into small portions. Then it is rolled out into a small thick disc. You can design the disc of your choice with a toothpick or khejur kata and then deep fry them twice till crispy and golden. Then dunk them into jaggery syrup aka nolen gurer sheera for some time and then take them out.
I know many people are not aware of both the terms ‘Poush parbon’ and ‘Bengali pitha’. Before going through the recipe, let me tell a few words about these two terms.
What is Poush Parbon?
Poushparbon is one of the most integral parts of Bengali culture which has been conserved by generations and is celebrated each year in January. Poushparbon is celebrated in Poush mash of Bengali year which is also popular as the month of pitha-puli. During this occasion, every Bengali house is flavored with Nolen gur (date palm jaggery), coconut and kheer (reduced milk). Various kinds of Bengali pithe are prepared in each Bengali kitchen to celebrate the festival of food.
What is Bengali pithe?
During poushparbon, 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, choshir payesh, pua pitha, nakshi pitha are a few of the most popular ones.
There are different ranges of nokshi pitha that are prepared during Sankranti. Few people use nolen gur to prepare the syrup and few use sugar syrup for the pitha. Few people use normal jaggery for the syrup but flavour it using some whole spices.
As a Bengali, I have grown up eating this delight. I still remember how my grandmother (Dida) used to ground the rice grains and prepare nokshi pitha so perfectly and beautifully. The pitha was distributed to neighbors and relatives other than family members. Till now, I can’t forget the taste and memory of this delight.
Honestly, nokshi pitha is not a simple Bengali pithe recipe. It requires only 4 basic ingredients to prepare the pitha- rice flour, jaggery, oil and water. All the ingredients required to prepare the dish are easily available in any kitchen pantry, except patali gur. But nowadays, you can buy Nolen Gur or Patali Gur online any time of the year. The difficulty level of preparing this Bengali recipe is moderate. You need to be skilled enough to handle the rice dough. This recipe demands time and patience from you like most of the other Bengali pithepuli.
The preparation of the nakshi pitha recipe is divided into three parts. First, we need to prepare the soft rice flour dough with which we need to prepare small thick discs and then design it according to your creativity.
Secondly, we need to deep fry the pitha once till a light golden colour over medium flame. Then allow the pitha to cool down completely. Now, again fry them once more over medium flame till golden brown in colour.
And in the third step, make one string syrup with jaggery and water. Then dip the pitha into the hot syrup for some time and then strain it out.
Nakshi 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 make the recipe easier for you on your very first attempt. If you follow the steps precisely then you will definitely get perfect nokshi pitha as the outcome.
Tips to prepare perfect Nokshi pitha
- Add a little bit of salt during the time of preparing the dough. It enhances the taste and flavor of the pitha.
- After preparing the dough, cover it with a wet cloth, or else the dough will become dry and hard. As a result, cracks will occur during the time of shaping them.
- Oil the surface before shaping the dough to prepare pitha. It will make your job easier and the dough will not stick to the surface.
- Don’t roll out the pitha too thin or else it may break during the time of frying or dipping in syrup.
- If you don’t have khejur kanta then you can use a toothpick to design the pitha.
- Always fry the nakshi pitha twice to make it crispier. Don’t go for shortcuts.
- Make one string consistency syrup for the recipe.
- Dip the nokshi pitha in hot syrup for 2-3 minutes. Not more than that.
How to make Nokshi pitha?
To prepare nokshi pitha, first we need to prepare the rice flour dough. For the dough, first take a pan and add water to it. Then add a little bit of salt into the water and allow it to boil. Once the water starts boiling, put the flame in low and add the rice flour to it. Cover the pan and cook it in the lowest flame for 2 minutes. Then mix the content thoroughly and turn off the flame. Don’t touch the pan for 10 minutes.
Transfer the content to a separate plate. Allow the content to release a little bit of heat and knead the mixture thoroughly for 10-15 minutes to a smooth and soft dough. Make sure the mixture is warm during the time of kneading. Then transfer the dough into a bowl and cover it with a wet cloth.
Put some oil on the chapatti board and rolling pin and make it ready before use. So the dough doesn’t get stuck to the surface.
Take out a small portion of the dough and make small-sized balls with the help of hands and flatten them. Then take a dough ball and roll it out to a thick small disc on a chapati board with a rolling pin. The thickness of nakshi pitha is around 1 to 1.5 cm. Now cut it with the help of a cookie cutter. Keep the extra part with the rest of the dough. Cover the rest of the dough with a wet cloth during the time of rolling and designing.
Transfer the rolled-out disc to a piece of aluminum foil or butter paper. Now this is the time to showcase your creativity. I used a bottle cap to make a circle at the center of the pitha. But make sure not to press the cap too hard or else the center portion may get cut and come out.
On the other hand, take a khejur kanta or a toothpick to design the pitha. Like this repeat the whole process and make the pitha ready. Cover them with a wet cloth so they don’t turn dry.
On the other hand, put a pan on flame and allow it to become completely dry. Add enough oil or ghee to deep fry the nakshi pitha recipe.
Once the oil is moderately hot, add the pitha and fry them over medium flame till golden in colour. It takes around 4-5 minutes to fry them. Strain the pitha from the oil and transfer them to a tissue-lined plate. Repeat the process and fry all the pitha till golden. Allow the pitha to cool down completely. At this stage, you can store the pitha in an airtight container for 2 months.
In the meantime, take another pan to prepare the syrup. Add nolen gur and water into the pan and turn on the flame. Allow the jaggery to melt completely and cook the syrup until you get the one-string consistency. Then turn off the flame.
On the other hand, put the pan on flame and allow the oil to become hot. Once the oil is hot, add the half-fried pitha into the oil and fry them over medium flame till golden brown in colour.
Then transfer the pithe directly into the hot syrup. Dip them in syrup for 2-3 minutes and then take them out to a separate plate. Repeat the process and make the rest of the nokshi pitha. Now it’s ready to serve. After cooling down you can store it in an airtight container for one month.
Many Bengali pitha recipes have already been shared in my previous posts. You may like a few of them like
Patishapta
Pua pitha
Dudh puli
Choshir payesh
..And Many more…
Ingredients:
1 cup = 250 ml
For the rice dough
- 1 cup Rice flour
- 1 cup Water
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
Ingredients for Nokshi pitha
- 1 cup Nolen gur aka Date palm jaggery
- ⅔ cup Water
- Oil to deep fry the pitha
Instructions:
- For the dough, first take a pan and add 1 cup water to it. Then add ¼ teaspoon salt into the water and allow it to boil thoroughly.
- Once the water starts boiling, put the flame on low and add 1 cup rice flour into it. Cover the pan and cook it in the lowest flame for 2-3 minutes. Then mix the content thoroughly and turn off the flame. Don’t touch the pan for 10 minutes. Transfer the content to a separate plate.
- Allow the content to release a little bit of heat and knead the mixture thoroughly for 10-15 minutes to a smooth and soft dough. Make sure the mixture is warm during the time of kneading. Cover the dough with a wet cloth.
- Put some oil on the chapatti board, rolling pin and prepare it before use. So the dough doesn’t get stuck to the surface. Apply some oil on your palms as well.
- Take out a small portion of the dough and make small-sized balls with the help of hands and flatten them.
- Take a dough ball and roll it out to a thick small disc on a chapati board with a rolling pin. The thickness of nakshi pitha is around 1 to 1.5 cm.
- Now cut it with the help of a cookie cutter. Keep the extra part with the rest of the dough. Cover the rest of the dough with a wet cloth during the time of rolling and designing.
- Transfer the rolled-out disc to a piece of aluminum foil or butter paper. Apply some oil on the top of the disc.
- Now this is the time to showcase your creativity. I used a bottle cap to make a circle at the center of the pitha. But make sure not to press the cap too hard or else the center portion may get cut and come out.
- Now take a khejur kanta or a toothpick to design the pitha. Like this repeat the whole process and make the pitha ready. Cover them with a wet cloth so they don’t turn dry.
- On the other hand, put a pan on flame and allow it to become completely dry. Add enough oil to deep fry the nakshi pitha recipe.
- Once the oil is hot, add the pitha and fry them over medium flame till golden in colour. It takes around 4-5 minutes to fry them. Strain the pitha from the oil and transfer them to a tissue-lined plate. Repeat the process and fry all the pitha till golden.
- Allow the pitha to cool down completely. At this stage, you can store the pitha in an airtight container for 2 months.
- In the meantime, take another pan to prepare the syrup. Add 1 cup nolen gur and ⅔ cup water into the pan and turn on the flame. Allow the jaggery to melt completely and stir it at regular intervals. Cook the syrup until you get the one-string consistency. Then turn off the flame.
- On the other hand, put the pan on flame and allow the oil to become hot. Once the oil is hot, add the half-fried pitha into the oil and fry them over medium flame till golden brown in colour.
- Transfer the pithe directly into the hot syrup. Dip them in syrup for 2-3 minutes and then take them out to a separate plate.
- Repeat the process and make the rest of the nokshi pitha. Now it’s ready to serve.
- After cooling down, you can store it in an airtight container for one month.
Serving Instruction
Transfer the nokshi pitha to a serving plate. Serve this delectable Indian cake as a companion with a cup of tea and enjoy the Bengali delicacy.
How to store Nokshi pitha?
You can store it in an airtight container for 3-4 weeks in a cool dry place.
Ingredients
1 cup = 250 ml
For the rice dough
- 1 cup Rice flour
- 1 cup Water
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
Ingredients for Nokshi pitha
- 1 cup Nolen gur aka Date palm jaggery
- ⅔ cup Water
- Oil to deep fry the pitha
Instructions
- For the dough, first take a pan and add 1 cup water to it. Then add ¼ teaspoon salt into the water and allow it to boil thoroughly.
- Once the water starts boiling, put the flame on low and add 1 cup rice flour into it. Cover the pan and cook it in the lowest flame for 2-3 minutes. Then mix the content thoroughly and turn off the flame. Don’t touch the pan for 10 minutes. Transfer the content to a separate plate.
- Allow the content to release a little bit of heat and knead the mixture thoroughly for 10-15 minutes to a smooth and soft dough. Make sure the mixture is warm during the time of kneading. Cover the dough with a wet cloth.
- Put some oil on the chapatti board, rolling pin and prepare it before use. So the dough doesn’t get stuck to the surface. Apply some oil on your palms as well.
- Take out a small portion of the dough and make small-sized balls with the help of hands and flatten them.
- Take a dough ball and roll it out to a thick small disc on a chapati board with a rolling pin. The thickness of nakshi pitha is around 1 to 1.5 cm.
- Now cut it with the help of a cookie cutter. Keep the extra part with the rest of the dough. Cover the rest of the dough with a wet cloth during the time of rolling and designing.
- Transfer the rolled-out disc to a piece of aluminum foil or butter paper. Apply some oil on the top of the disc.
- Now this is the time to showcase your creativity. I used a bottle cap to make a circle at the center of the pitha. But make sure not to press the cap too hard or else the center portion may get cut and come out.
- Now take a khejur kanta or a toothpick to design the pitha. Like this repeat the whole process and make the pitha ready. Cover them with a wet cloth so they don’t turn dry.
- On the other hand, put a pan on flame and allow it to become completely dry. Add enough oil to deep fry the nakshi pitha recipe.
- Once the oil is hot, add the pitha and fry them over medium flame till golden in colour. It takes around 4-5 minutes to fry them. Strain the pitha from the oil and transfer them to a tissue-lined plate. Repeat the process and fry all the pitha till golden.
- Allow the pitha to cool down completely. At this stage, you can store the pitha in an airtight container for 2 months.
- In the meantime, take another pan to prepare the syrup. Add 1 cup nolen gur and ⅔ cup water into the pan and turn on the flame. Allow the jaggery to melt completely and stir it at regular intervals. Cook the syrup until you get the one-string consistency. Then turn off the flame.
- On the other hand, put the pan on flame and allow the oil to become hot. Once the oil is hot, add the half-fried pitha into the oil and fry them over medium flame till golden brown in colour.
- Transfer the pithe directly into the hot syrup. Dip them in syrup for 2-3 minutes and then take them out to a separate plate.
- Repeat the process and make the rest of the nokshi pitha. Now it’s ready to serve.
- After cooling down, you can store it in an airtight container for one month.
