art-culture

Tripura

The Tripuri (Tipra or Tipperah) people are the original inhabitants of the state of Tripura in North East India. The indigenous Tripuri people comprises the communities of Tipra, Reang, Jamatia, Noatia, Uchoi and others. The Tripuri people have their own culture and cuisine. The Tripuris are non-vegetarian, though there is a minority modern vaishnavite Hindu vegetarian following. The major ingredient of Tripuris cuisine for non-vegetarian food includes pork, chicken, mutton, turtle, fish, prawns, crabs, and frogs.

podha pida

Ingredients:

500 gm - black gram dal (urad dal)

500 gm - rice

1 nos - coconut (whole)

500 gm - guda (jaggery) / sugar

2 inches (15 gms) - ginger

1 tsp - black pepper powder

2 tsp - ghee

2 tsp - salt

Method

Soak black gram dal and rice for about six hours.

Wash the dal and rice cleanly and grind it.

The paste should be fine and thick.

Add salt and mix well.

Keep paste aside for 2/3 hours.

Grate the coconut.

Cut ginger into very small cub sizes.

Then mix coconut, jaggery/sugar, ginger and black pepper powder and mix well.

Pre-heat oven for 10 minutes and grease it with ghee.

Pour the paste into the tray and keep it in the oven.

Keep the oven very hot for 30 minutes.

Then keep it moderately hot for 30 minutes.

It should be checked with a needle and when its colour is golden brown the Poda Pitha is ready to eat.

Then remove the whole Poda Pitha (baked cake) from the oven and allow it to cool down.

Cut it into small pieces and serve it with any chutney preferably with coconut chutney

arisa pida

Ingredients:

1 cup - good quality rice

1/2 kg - jaggery

4 nos - cinnamon (powdered)

200 gms - vegetable oil or ghee

½ tsp – salt

Method

Boil 2 ltrs water in a wide mouth pan, add sugar, salt, cinnamon powder and 1 tbsp ghee.

Pour semolina slowly and stir continuously, cover the pan and reduce the flame.

Cook till it absorbs the water completely (to the consistency of chappati). Let it cool.

Knead it properly to make a smooth dough.

Heat a pan, add coconut and sugar, fry till the coconut turns golden brown.

Make small balls of semolina dough, roll it and stuff it with the fried coconut.

Deep fry till golden brown.