Gokul Pithe
DownloadDuration: 45 mins
Serves: 15
There are several mythology and rituals associated with ‘Holi’ – the festival of colours, which has been celebrated in India for thousands of years.
One such legend says that Lord Krishna as a young boy asked his mother Yashoda why he was dark, while Radha was so fair. His mother playfully suggested that he could throw colours on Radha and change her complexion to any colour of his choice. Lord Krishna was quite fascinated with this idea and smeared Radha and other Gopis with colours. In fact the Holi of Braj, Mathura, Barsana and Vrindavan are world famous for its connections with the divine love plays of Lord Krishna and Radha.
‘Gokul Pithe’ – a Bengali sweet, traditionally made during the festival of ‘Makar Sankranti’ was apparently considered to be a favourite of Lord Krishna.
Ingredients
- 1 cup white flour
- 1/2 cup rice flour
- 1 tbsp groundnut oil
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 cup grated coconut
- 1/2 cup homemade kheer
- 15 green cardamoms
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 cup water
Method
- Make a smooth batter with white flour, rice flour, oil and milk. The consistency should not be too thin. Keep it covered in the fridge overnight.
- Mix the batter well just before the preparation.
- Take a heavy pan and dry roast the coconut, kheer and 1/2 cup sugar on low flame.
- When the mixture becomes bit sticky, take the pan off the heat and let it cool down.
- Make small flattened balls and place a cardamom in the centre of each balls. Keep them aside.
- Make sugar syrup by heating the remaining sugar with water. Keep it aside.
- Heat oil in a pan.
- Dip the balls in the batter and deep fry them.
- Once done, soak them in the sugar syrup for couple of minutes.
- Strain from the syrup once they become bit soft and serve.
