Shirgoja, A Regional Pitha of Bangladesh, Guest post by Khadiza of Khadiza's Kitchen
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Step by step recipe of Shirgoja is a traditional pitha of greater Barisal region of Bangladesh.
Author: Lail Hossain
Recipe type: Breakfast
Cuisine: Bangladeshi
Ingredients
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup Milk
- 1 beaten egg
- 2 table spoon of breadcrumbs
- Pinch of salt
- 1½ tablespoon Ghee/ oil
- Oil for frying
- For Sugar Syrup:
- 1 cup sugar
- 1½ cup water
- 1 piece cinnamon, about 2”
- 3 green cardamoms
Instructions
- Make thin sugar syrup with sugar, water, cinnamon and cardamom. Set aside.
- Boil milk. Add a pinch of salt, and flour and mix. Form dough like dough for roti or chapatti.
- Transfer the dough to a bowl. Knead well.
- Add the ghee or oil.
- When the dough cools a bit add the beaten egg and breadcrumbs. Knead well. You may find it difficult to incorporate everything smoothly but keep kneading. You may need to add some extra breadcrumb to work comfortably with the dough.
- The kneading part is very important. The smoother and glossy dough you can make by kneading, the softer pitha you will get after soaking in the syrup.
- Now make round balls and shape them with special dice. You can shape them without the dice using a cookie cutter. Better yet, just apply some imagination and your artistic mind to design small pieces of pitha.
- Heat enough oil in a pot so pithas can be deep-fried. Now, the frying part is very important. If not fried well, the pithas will remain hard, especially in the center, even in the sugar syrup. The oil must be heated on medium low flame and it must not be too hot. Too hot oil will make the pithas get the outer color fast but leaving the center raw. The oil must not be cold either. Carefully, heat oil on medium low heat and fry the pithas well until dark golden brown.
- Transfer the pithas into lukewarm sugar syrup and soak them for at least ⅞ hours. If soaked well, the pithas will be soft like gulabjamun or laalmohon.
Notes
Kneading and frying is very important to soak perfectly in the sugar syrup. Knead very well until glossy.
While frying, the temperature of the oil must be perfect. It should neither be too hot or mild hot. If it is too hot the pithas will go dark brown without being cooked in the center. And if oil is little hot the pithas will absorb a lot of oil and will taste bad. Therefore, oil should be heated on the same temperature from beginning to end. It should be on low medium heat and bubble should occur when you add the pithas. Remember oil should not be so hot that smoke can be seen. Also, remember to fry them with patience, with more time, so that they are perfectly fried inside out.
Always put the pithas in luke warm syrup. If you put them on piping hot syrup, the texture of the pitha will be ruined.
While frying, the temperature of the oil must be perfect. It should neither be too hot or mild hot. If it is too hot the pithas will go dark brown without being cooked in the center. And if oil is little hot the pithas will absorb a lot of oil and will taste bad. Therefore, oil should be heated on the same temperature from beginning to end. It should be on low medium heat and bubble should occur when you add the pithas. Remember oil should not be so hot that smoke can be seen. Also, remember to fry them with patience, with more time, so that they are perfectly fried inside out.
Always put the pithas in luke warm syrup. If you put them on piping hot syrup, the texture of the pitha will be ruined.
Recipe by WithASpin at https://withaspin.com/2013/11/15/shirgoja-a-regional-pitha-of-bangladesh/