Lobongo (Laung) Lotika

Lobongo lotika is an extremely tasty bengali sweet dish, which is a parcel of white flour(maida) with a khoya filling inside, sealed with a clove(lobongo) and then coated with a sugar syprup and hence the name lobongo lotika.

Preparation Time: 30 minutes

Cooking Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients

White flour (maida): 250 gms
Sugar: 250 gms
Cloves: 25gms( depending on how many lobongo lotika we are making)
Khoya kheer: 250gms
Milk: 1/2 litre
Grated coconut: 1 cup
Refined oil


For the Filling

Coconut Filling

Take a non stick frying pan and warm it, then add the grated coconut to the pan. Keep stirring it and keep adding sugar bit by bit until it becomes sticky. Keep it aside to cool.

Khowa Filling

Boil the milk, add the required amount of sugar to it and add the khowa to it. Let the milk boil and keep stirring until it dries completely.

Make a mixed filling of the coconut and the khowa.

How to Prepare the Dough?

The maida should be taken in a vessel and a pinch of baking powder should be added to it and then add a small amount of refined oil  to it. Then water should be added in requisite amount to knead a smooth dough. Keep the dough covered for 15 minutes. Make small equal sized balls from the dough.


How to Prepare the Sugar Syrup?

Take a vessel and add 1/2 litre water in it.  Add the sugar to it and keep boiling until a very thick consistency sugar syrup is prepared. The consistency should be so thick that it should immediately crystallize on adding it from above on the lobongo lotikas.

How to Prepare the Lobongo Lotika?

Take the ball and roll it out just like we do to make pooris. Add the khoya mix in between and then seal the ends from the sides in the form of a rectangular wrap. Then seal the remaining two ends on the reverse side in the form of a square wrap. Seal the centre with a clove. Once the lobongo lotika are made , deep fry them in refined oil in medium flame , until they are golden brown in colour.

Add the sugar syrup on the lobongo lotika from above so that it crystallizes on it. Make sure that both the sides get evenly coated. Serve at room temperature.

Cholar Daaler Pitha/ Chanar Daaler Pitha

Makar Sankranti is widely celebrated in the different states in India as a harvest festival and has different names in the different states, Poush Sankranti, Bihu, Pongal, Maghi and so on. People fly kites on Sankranti, make various sweet dishes and so on. In Bengal , Makar Sankranti is celebrated by cooking 'pitha'( bengali sweet dish). In winter the aromatic 'notun gur'(date palm jaggery) is used in preparing several mouth watering pithas. The major ingredients used to prepare pithas in Poush Sankranti is date palm jaggery, rice flour, coconut and milk.
Cholar pitha is a very tasty , juicy pitha and is very easy to prepare.

Preparation Time: 30 minutes

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

Chana Daal (cholar daal) : 250 gms
Grated coconut: 1 cup
Sugar (for syrup): 1 cup
Sugar(for dough and coconut): to taste
Khowa: 250 gms
Milk: 1/2 litre
Cardamom: 2-3
Maida(white flour): 1/2 cup
Refined oil


Method

 For the Dough
Soak the chana daal in water overnight. Pressure cook the chana daal the next day(1-2 whistles). Make sure that the daal should not be over boiled(since the dough will not have the proper consistency then). Mash the chana daal finely and keep mixing white flour bit by bit until a smooth dough is prepared. Make sure that maida is not added in excess because otherwise the pitha will be too hard and the sugar syrup will not penetrate it.

For the Filling

Coconut Filling

Take a non stick frying pan and warm it, then add the grated coconut to the pan. Keep stirring it and keep adding sugar bit by bit until it becomes sticky. Keep it aside to cool.

Khowa Filling

Boil the milk, add the required amount of sugar to it and add the khowa to it. Let the milk boil and keep stirring until it dries completely.

Make a mixed filling of the coconut and the khowa.

How to Prepare the Sugar Syrup?

Take a vessel and add 1/2 litre water in it. Crush the cardamom and add it to the water. Add the sugar to it and keep boiling until a thick consistency sugar syrup is prepared. Once the syrup is prepared, cool it.

How to Prepare the Pitha?

Grease your palm with ghee, take a small amount of the dough in your palm and make a round (just like while making chapattis). Put the filling in between the hollow, fold it, and then seal the ends. Fry the pitha in medium flame until it is golden brown. Immediately add the fried pithas to the cool syrup ( make sure that the hot fried pithas are added to the cool syrup so that the sugar syrup can penetrate the pitha properly). Keep the pithas soaked in the sugar syrup overnight. The next morning savour the delectable juicy cholar pitha.