Nakshi Pitha: Bengali Wedding Cookies

Nakshi Pitha, an artful Bengali dessert crafted from rice flour, captivates with its intricate design and indulgent sweetness.

Nokshi, or Nakshi Pitha originated in the rural areas of Bengal. The traditional hand carved nokshi pitha is extremely popular in the rural areas during weddings, festivals, and Eid. For generations, these work of art delicacies has been sent to the groom’s family as gifts.

Designing each pitha involves practice, passion and creativity. It is believed that the rural women used to express their inner thoughts through these intricate designs. In the otherwise uneventful village life, preparing these pithas used to be an event itself. Growing up, I’ve heard about Nokshi pakon pitha so much, but never had the opportunity to try them. So I grabbed the opportunity to learn how to make them from a dear aunt (a dear friend’s mother) last year.

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Traditionally, the pithas are designed using the thorns of date palm trees. In the absence of the thorn in our urban life, we used cookie cutters and toothpicks. We(my friend and I) along with my daughter and her kids had so much fun making and decorating the pithas as auntie guided us patiently along the way. It is a fun memory and I can imagine how the rural women must have a blast as well.

Though making Nakshi Pitha can be a time-consuming process, especially when carving intricate designs, the result is a unique and delicious dessert that is not only tasty but also visually impressive.

Nakshi Pitha – Bengali Wedding Cookies

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• Author: Lail Hossain
• Total Time: 0 hours
• Yield: 0 Serves 10-12 1x

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Description

Nakshi Pitha, an artful Bengali dessert crafted from rice flour, captivates with its intricate design and indulgent sweetness.

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Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

• 1 cup moong dal
• 1.5 cup water
• 1 cup rice flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoon ghee/butter
• Oil for deep fry
• For Syrup
• 2 cup sugar
• 2 cup water
• 2 cardamom
• 2 cinnamon pieces (1inch each)

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Instructions

1. Roast moong dal on low heat until fragrant and crisp.
2. Using food processor, grind dal to powder.
3. Boil water with salt. Add ghee.
4. When water is boiling hot, add the rice and dal flour slowly. Lower the heat to medium low and mix with a wooden spoon making sure no lump remains.
5. Take the dough off the flame after about 3-4 minutes when water dries.
6. Cover and let the dough rest for about 10 minutes.
7. Knead the dough very well in lightly rice flour dusted surface until smooth.
8. Divide dough into 4 balls and knead again to make it soft and smooth.
9. Roll out each ball closer to ½ inch onto a lightly floured surface
10. Brush some oil over the dough. Cut out pitha using your favorite cookie cutters. We used our Islamic shape cookie cutters.
11. Using toothpicks make designs on each pitta. Get creative here!
12. Air dry all pitha for 1-2 hours.
13. Make syrup with sugar and water. Keep it aside.
14. Heat oil for deep frying. When oil hot, fry each pitha on medium heat until it becomes light golden.
15. Remove the pitha from oil and place into syrup for about a minute.
16. Remove pitha from syrup and serve on a platter.

• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 2.5hrs
• Category: Dessert
• Method: Baking
• Cuisine: Indian