Enduri Pitha - Remembering Prathamastami

Prathamastami is an Odiya festival where people pray for the long life of the eldest child. During this pooja, the eldest child gets new pair of clothes which usually comes from the maternal uncle's side (Mamu Ghara) and also sits in the pooja. Earlier there used to be clothes which Mama jee will send and I will be very happy to wear it and tease my younger sister. But with time, things changed. I started getting money instead of clothes..so I can buy whatever I like.. not just clothes.. So as you see, even the traditional festivals have their evolution in some way or the other.

The one tradition that never changed in my last 30 years of life, is the tradition of making Enduri Pitha on Prathamastami. We all just love this pitha. Its a simple recipe but takes time to prepare.. mostly the batter takes time... Just like Idli or Dosa batter takes time to ferment and be ready. This Pitha is a traditional Rice+Urad Daal Mix pitha with sweet coconut stuffing and covered with turmeric leaves and then steamed. 

Last year during Prathamastami I did not get time to make this Pitha at home so I decided that the next time I get some time off during the week day I will start the preparation and will make it for a Saturday breakfast. So I did !!! 

Below goes  the list of ingredients and a pictorial step-by-step description of how I made it. The Pitha came out to be nice and soft, but I think it because too large due to the size of  the leaf that I used. But I will keep practicing, and some day I can make this Pitha just like my mother - Mami, back in Cuttack, Odisha. 


Ingredients needed

• 1 cup skinless whole biri daali {Urad Daal}
• 3 cups Basmati Rice
• A few green turmeric leaves (I had to use banana leaves because we don't get turmeric leaves here)
• 1 tea spoon crushed black pepper - About 8-10 whole pepper corns crushed in a mortar
• Non-stick oil spray
• Sweet coconut stuffing (See my last post for the recipe of this stuffing)

Equipments needed

• Idli stand with 3 racks or so
• A deep pot for boiling water

Getting the "Pitha" batter ready

• Soak the rice and urad daal separately in enough water for about 4-5 hours. Some people soak it overnight. I think its not that necessary
• Then grind rice and urad daal separately with as little water as possible. The rice paste should be a little grainy and the urad daal paste can be smooth
• Then mix both the pastes together. Add salt. Mix the batter with a fork rigorously so that everything comes together nicely
• Keep this batter covered and in a warm place. In California, its very hard to find a warm place in this weather so I turned on the oven to "Warm" setting and switched on the oven light... left the batter inside the oven for over 2 hours. Then I turned off the oven and let the batter sit there over night. This way, the batter gets a virtual warm environment and rises up. If the batter does not rise up, then the pith will be a disaster like rock. Trust me on this... this is my third attempt on Enduri pitha and as you can see it is still not perfect like Mami's back home

The "Pitha" set up

• Take the batter out and add the crushed pepper corns to it and mix it nicely so that the pepper is incorporated in the batter
• Keep one small size banana leaf (or turmeric leaf) on a plate
• Spray non-stick spray over the leaf. You can just smear the leaf with whatever oil you have at hand. Non-stick is not mandatory. This is just to make sure that the leaf and peetha have a barrier in between
• Spread a little batter - about 3 spoons, on the leaf
• Put some stuffing on the batter exactly in the middle
• Now fold the leaf from right to left so that it becomes a semi-circle stuffed cake
• Keep the stuffed leaf on an Idli stand. Use the second and third racks if possible. Do not use the first rack. Fill the boiling pot with water up to the first rack of the Idli stand. Keep the idli stand inside the boiling pot and let the pitha boil/cook
• Steam the peetha on the Idli stand for about 15-20 mins or till the pitha is cooked

Enjoy this "Pitha" with either Aloo Dum or even Odiya style mutton curry.