Bihari dal pittha

Bihari Dal Pitha is a rice dumpling with a spiced lentil filling. Uma Raghuraman’s selected recipe uses ground soaked rice for the casing and chana dal for the crumbly filling.

The soaked rice is ground with water, thinned with further water and mixed with salt and oil. It is stirred over low heat until the batter cooks into a soft dough.

The soaked chana dal is drained and ground coarsely with green chillies, ginger, garlic, salt, carom seeds, cumin seeds and black peppercorns. The paste is cooked in a little oil until crumbly, then chopped coriander leaves are stirred in off the heat.

The steamer and hands are greased with oil. While the dough is still warm, balls are shaped into cups, filled with the lentil mixture and sealed with greased fingers; the unused dough is kept covered.

The filled pithas are placed in the greased steamer and steamed. They are served hot, with chutneys or sauces offered alongside the spiced filling and soft rice casing.