Pithe Puli Utsav at Sreebhumi serves up sweet nostalgia

The air is thick with the inviting aroma of nolen gur (date palm jaggery) as you walk into Pithe and Puli Ustav at Sreebhumi. Stalls serving a variety of pithes — steamed, charred and fried — line the street, evoking warm memories of recipes handed down by grandmothers. (Photographs by Krishnungshu Gangopadhyay)

Bhapa Pithe — steamed dumplings made of rice powder and jaggery — are served piping hot. 

Gokul Pithe — fried dumplings stuffed with coconut and jaggery and soaked in sugar syrup and Bhaja Pithe — crispy lentil and sweet potato shells with a coconut–jaggery filling, deep-fried till golden. 

Malpuas — deep-fried sweet pancake, crisp at the edges and soft inside, soaked in sugar syrup — are available in many varieties.

Rosh Bora — lentil and semolina fritters soaked in sugar or jaggery syrup and Choshir Payesh — tiny bits rolled by hand from a rice flour and maida dough and cooked in jaggery-flavoured milk.

Patishapta — crepes made of flour and semolina with a coconut and jaggery filling — can be served dry or topped with thick milk. Doodh Puli — crescent shaped flour and rice dumplings with a filling of coconut and jaggery cooked in milk.

Sweets from various corners of Bengal such as rosogolla, kalo jaam and shor bhaja are also available.

The goodness of pure ghee made with milk whey — a fragrant and healthy indulgence.