Kishwar Chowdhury's four-ingredient coconut and jaggery bun is the superior snack that's here to make your day.

“Bhapa pitha is traditionally associated with the winter season in Bengal, when fresh coconut is abundant and the weather lends itself to warm treats,” says Kishwar Chowdhury. “Bhapa translates to ‘steam’, while pitha is a term used for a wide range of traditional Bengali dumplings, cakes and sweets. Pitha has been passed down through generations as an expression of love and culinary mastery, almost always by women.

“The base is typically made from rice flour packed into small, semi-circular moulds. A filling made from grated coconut, jaggery or nolen gur (a type of molten molasses) gives the pitha its sweet and slightly nutty flavour. Steaming the pitha in muslin or cheesecloth provides its characteristic soft, chewy texture.

“When I was young, my mother would bring rice flour and jaggery back from Bangladesh or India, as they were hard to source in Australia at the time. When she made bhapa pitha, our extended family would be notified days in advance, and would flock to our home to gorge on the rare delicacies. My love for bhapa pitha will always be intertwined with memories of my mother and the rhythm of her hands as she filled the moulds and tied them up in cloth.”

Ingredients
Makes 6

  • Pinch of salt
  • 3 cups (525 g/1 lb 3 oz) rice flour (chaler atta)
  • ½ cup shaved jaggery (palm sugar)
  • 1 cup (60 g/20 oz) freshly grated coconut (or frozen grated coconut, thawed slightly)

Method

  1. Mix a pinch of salt into the rice flour, then gradually add hot water in stages, kneading until a firm, slightly stiff dough forms (around 375 ml/12½ fl oz should do it).
  2. Allow the dough to rest for 15–20 minutes, then press it through a metal sieve to create a light, grainy textured flour. this step ensures the perfect consistency, giving the bhapa pitha a soft yet slightly crumbly bite.
  3. Set up a simple steamer by placing a small pot of water on the stove. Stretch a layer of cheesecloth tightly over the opening, securing it in place to create a steaming surface.
  4. to assemble the pitha, take a small bowl or mould of approximately 10 cm (4 in) in diameter. fill it halfway with the prepared rice flour, then add a teaspoon of jaggery and a layer of grated coconut.
  5. Cover the filling completely with another layer of rice flour, gently pressing down to secure it.
  6. Place another piece of cheesecloth over the filled mould and quickly flip it onto the steaming surface, leaving the bowl or mould in place to trap the steam.
  7. Allow each pitha to steam for 5–10 minutes, or until the top feels firm and bouncy when tapped.
  8. Carefully lift the pitha off the steamer, peel away the cheesecloth and serve immediately.

Smoke, Rice, Water

This is an edited extract from Smoke, Rice, Water by Kishwar Chowdhury, published by Hardie Grant Books. Photography by Armelle Habib, Ata M Adnan, Rana Pandey (Koi Worldwide) and the Chowdhury family archive. Illustrations by DhakaYeah. Available at excellent independent Victorian bookstores such as Readings and Hill of Content.