Thin rice flour crepes filled with coconut and date palm jaggery — patishapta — are the sweet made at Poush Sankranti, the Bengali harvest festival at the winter solstice. The festival marks the date palm jaggery harvest, and patishapta is the vehicle for its debut.
New jaggery is darker, more aromatic, and more liquid than the block jaggery available year-round. The crepes are cooked in a flat pan until just set, folded around the filling, and eaten warm.
Zone: River Delta
SOURCE: Translated from a recipe shared by a home cook from Nadia district, West Bengal, on a Bengali-language food blog, 2020.
LOCAL NAME: পাটিসাপটা
INGREDIENTS
- 150 g rice flour
- 50 g fine semolina
- 50 g plain flour
- 400 ml whole milk
- 1 tbsp caster sugar
- Pinch of salt
- Ghee or oil for cooking
- 200 g fresh grated coconut (or desiccated — see notes)
- 150 g nolen gur (date palm jaggery, grated (or light brown sugar — see notes))
- 4 green cardamom pods (seeds ground)
METHOD
- Make the filling first: combine grated coconut and nolen gur in a wide pan over low heat. Stir continuously for 8–10 minutes until the jaggery melts and the coconut absorbs it, forming a dry, fragrant mixture. Add the ground cardamom. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
- Make the batter: whisk together rice flour, semolina, plain flour, sugar, and salt. Add the milk gradually, whisking until completely smooth with no lumps. The batter should be thin — thinner than pancake batter. Rest for 10 minutes.
- Heat a flat pan or tawa over medium heat. Add a small amount of ghee and spread it across the surface.
- Pour a ladleful of batter onto the pan and immediately swirl to spread it into a thin circle, roughly 20cm diameter.
- Cook for 1–2 minutes until the surface is set and the edges begin to lift. Do not flip.
- Place a tablespoon of coconut filling in a line down the centre of the crepe. Fold both sides over the filling to enclose it. Slide onto a plate.
- Repeat with remaining batter and filling. Serve warm.
NOTES
UK adaptation: Rice flour from South Asian grocers or larger supermarkets. Nolen gur from South Asian grocers in winter or specialist online retailers year-round. Desiccated coconut as substitute for fresh grated — rehydrate briefly in warm water and squeeze dry before using. Light brown sugar with a teaspoon of treacle as substitute for nolen gur.
US adaptation: Rice flour from Asian grocery stores, Whole Foods, or Patel Brothers. Nolen gur from Patel Brothers or Bengali grocery stores. Desiccated coconut from any supermarket. Light brown sugar with molasses as nolen gur substitute.
Cook’s note: The filling must be completely dry before it goes into the crepe — a wet filling will make the crepe soggy within minutes. Cook it down until no moisture remains and the coconut and jaggery have fully combined.