Patishapta—an authentic Bengali dessert for your sweet tooth

With Durga Pooja round the corner, and my mother-in-law over for a month.. we seem to be having a Bengali Food festival.

Plenty of delicious food is being churned out and  every meal rounded off with some sweet chutney followed by some mishti (dessert).

Paati Shapta is one such recipe that is made very often in my husband’s family throughout the year, but especially for Sankranti.

For the uninitiated non-Bengali , this may sound like a very very curious word, specially since this dish is not commercially available outside Calcutta and is mostly made by the Hindu Bengalis of East Bengal, now Bangladesh.

But let me assure you, this delicate,coconut filled sweet is a true delight to eat and not difficult at all to put together.

The best part is that it can be made ahead! Also, this recipe is a timesaving shortcut that my mother-in-law uses.

So what are you waiting for? Try it!

Ingredients for the stuffing

Coconut, grated- 2 cups

Condensed milk- 1 cup

Cardamom- Elaichi powder

Ingredients for the cover

Fine Semolina or Suji- 1/2 cup

Milk- 1 cup + 1 cup

Plain flour (maida)- 1/2 cup

Method for the stuffing

Use finely grated coconut or frozen coconut. It is great if you could give it a whirl in the mincer, so that the pieces are small.

Powder the cardamom. You could use just the seeds, but I find powdering the cardamom along with the skin makes it even more fragrant. It helps if you add a teaspoonful of sugar while grating.

Add the coconut, cardamom powder and condensed milk into a large wok. Mix well and let cook for about 10 minutes.

It goes soggy and sticky. Be alert, keep stirring and avoid turning up the heat.

Cook until it thickens, likeso.

Method for the cover and assembly

The cover resembles little dosas. In a large bowl, pour the semolina/ suji. Remember to use really fine semolina.

Add in the milk. Twice as much milk.

Add in the flour/ maida and add in another cup of milk. Let the mixture sit for at least 20 minutes, until the semolina absorba all the milk and it is a thick batter.

With a small spoon, pour out a little oval shaped dosa/ pancake onto the pan/ tawa. When it is slightly cooked, (you will realise as the texture of the top part changes too), add a spoonful of the stuffing on one end.

With a flat spatula, turn the edge over and keep turning, likeso.

There you go!

Arrange in a plate

Serve topped with condensed milk/ thickened khoya boiled with milk.

Absolutely fabulous!

Tips :

Instead of condensed milk, khoya and sugar can be used instead of condensed milk. Use equal amounts of Khoya and half the amount of sugar as the coconut.