Sooji Kakara Pitha
These very popular Sooji Kakara Pitha are mildly sweet and made without the traditional coconut jaggery filling, making them a light and wholesome breakfast option or a snack to be enjoyed without much guilt. These Sooji Kakaras are filled with aromatic yet simple flavors like fennel seeds and cardamom powder and mildly sweetened with brown sugar
Ingredients
- 1 cup Sooji/Semolina
- 2 tbsp All purpose flour/Maida
- 1/4 cup Brown Sugar
- 1/2 tsp Fennel Seeds
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Cardamom Powder
- 2 cups Water
- Oil to deep fry
Instructions
- In a nonstick pan heat 2 cups water. Add salt, fennel seeds, cardamom powder and sugar.
- Once the water starts boiling, add sooji/semolina little by little. Keep on stirring so that no lumps are formed.
- Once the mixture is thick switch off the gas and take out the mixture in a separate bowl and keep it to cool.
- Once the mixture is workable, not completely cool, knead the mixture with greased hands for 5 mins to get a soft dough.
- Now take the smooth sooji dough and divide it in equal portions. Keep a small ½" ball to check if the oil is ready for frying.
- Now take one ball and roll out to make 4" diameter disc.
- Roll all the Pithas in the same way, keep covered.
- In a kadhai or heavy bottomed pan, heat oil.
- Drop the pithas. It should sizzle and rise up.
- If the ball rises immediately lower the flame and cool oil a bit. If the ball doesn't sizzle and rises very slowly, heat oil a bit more.
- Now drop 2-3 pithas in hot oil and fry till golden brown from both the sides. Lightly flip the pithas.
- While frying keep the flame to medium. If you feel the oil is not hot enough then only increase the flame.
- Fry all the pithas in similar way till golden brown from both sides.
- Take out in plate lined with kitchen towel. It absorbs extra oil.
Notes
- Sooji or Semolina. You can either use the coarse variety or the fine variety
- Couple spoons of flour (As per my mom, adding a bit of flour to sooji gives you that smooth texture)
- Cardamom. An important ingredient. It imparts that warm smell and flavor to it
- Fennel seeds. Again, another important ingredient. This gives you that authentic taste and flavor. A little goes a long way.
- Jaggery or Brown sugar. I used brown sugar
- Oil to deep fry. Use some light oil like vegetable oil.