Kola Pitha
Kola Pitha or Banana Fritters- think of a cross between donuts and banana pancakes but a lot crispier.
If you are Bengali, you definitely had pitha at least once in your lifetime. Pitha is a type of rice cake found all over Bangladesh and West Bengal. There has to be over hundred different types of pitha spread across the two regions, each localities having its' unique recipes. Think of a Bengali versions of Dim Sums. There are so many varieties of it, it could be sweet, stuffed with cheese and coconut or savory, stuffed with shredded meat or potatoes. Depending on the type of pitha being prepared, it can be fried in oil or ghee, slow-roasted over a fire, steamed, poached in milk, or baked and rolled over a hot plate. In fact, it is such a special delicacy for us we even have Pitha Festivals called "Nobanno Utshob" and "Poush Parbon" typically held in the winter months when crops are harvested. Bengali New Year is another occasion, and excuse to feast on all kinds of glorious pithas.
You know when Bananas start to ripen, most people would resort to baking banana bread? Well, us Bengalis we love turning them into delectable and crispy kola pitha. In our house, we like to have the best of both worlds - traditional kola pitha with sprinkle of powdered sugar. Wanna know what's even better!? Warm and crispy banana fritters with a bowl of Tilamook’s old fashioned vanilla ice cream and a generous drizzle of hot fudge. Get. In. My. Belly.
But where is the recipe?
You see, these are the very first pictures I took for the blog when it was just a tiny little idea and we hadn’t even the finalized the name — The Spice Odyssey. I do plan on recreating this dish and sharing the recipe someday. I just don’t know when because I have a million different recipe ideas in my head and I’d like to be able to share them all with you.
Our goal is to showcase these dishes with as much accuracy in the recipe and story as possible. I want you to know that researching, developing, testing and finally writing recipes is a very rigorous and meticulous task. Then there is the visual storytelling, food styling, photography and videography which can be a time-consuming and exhausting, it takes up majority of our free time after work.
But we absolutely love being able to do this on our own time. Anyway, my point is thank you for being patient and supporting us in this journey. You can stay up to date on our Instagram: @TheSpiceOdyssey.
