Suji Kakara Pitha, Jagannath Rath Yatra special Suji kakara Pitha, Odisha Recipes

Lord Jagannath temple is one of the famous temple in India. It is located in Puri in the state of Odisha.  My hubby worked in Odisha for 10 year (before transferring to chennai), so I got an opportunity to visit Puri Jaganath Temple many times and to know the importance of Rath Yatra & Maha Prasad offered inside the temple. Today Jagannath Rath Yatra started, so I thought to post famous Odisha special recipes. I gathered some information about Rath Yatra, follow the link to know more about Rath Yatra🙏.
About Puri Jagannath Rath Yatra 
   
     Today I am posting Odisha special Suji Kakara Pitha. It is sweet recipe which is crispy outside and stuffed with sweetened coconut. It is easy to prepare with less ingredients. I first tasted it in Talcher(Odisha). I had it as breakfast along with bara(vada) and ghuguni. It was very tasty 😋, missing those days where I had lots of fun with my friend shruthi 😍.  Okay I am not going back 😉, let's start the recipe..

    Odisha special Suji Kakara Pitha 


Preparation Time : 15 minutes

Cook Time : 20 minutes  

Serves - 10 to 12 kakaras
Recipe Category: Odisha Special
Recipe Cuisine: Odisha
Author: Aruna


Ingredients 

Suji/semolina/upma rava/ - 1 cup
Water - 2 cups
Coconut - 1 cup(scraped/grated)
Sugar - 1/2 cup + 2 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp(or 2 pinches)
Cardamom /elachi powder - 2 tsp
Cashew nuts & raisins - as per wish
Ghee - 2tsp(optional)
Oil - to deep fry

Instructions

1) Take a pan add coconut and sugar.

 2) Mix the above on low flame till the consistency become thick, then add cardamom powder and mix it for 2 more minutes. And take it into plate.

3) Now take a pan add 2 cups of water, 1/4 tsp Salt, 2 tsp sugar.

4) Add suji in hot water and mix it well without any lumps.

5) Mix the suji well, it will take 2 - 3 minutes. 

6) Transfer the suji on plate and spread it. Let it cool a bit.

7) Add ghee to the dough.

8) Knead the dough well without any lumps.

9) Grease you hands with oil and pinch small amount of dough 

10)  Flatten the suji dough with your palm, it should be thick in the middle and thin in corners. So that the stuffing would not leak in oil. You can stuff only coconut mixture or coconut + dry fruits. 

11) Fill the coconut stuff in the middle and grease the corners with water. (don't grease more water). Here I am stuffing only coconut for one sujj ball(just to show you).

12) Close all the corners properly like shown below.

13) Give the dough small ball shape.

13) Then press in the middle of the suji ball and flatten it and keep it in plate. 

14) Repeat the above process, now I am adding cashew nut pieces and raisins along with coconut mixture, close it and give shape. 

15) Repeat the process for remaining suji. 

16) Heat oil in a pan for deep fry, add suji balls one by one carefully. 

17) Fry the kakara's well by turning both sides on medium flames. 

18) Once the kakara's turns golden brown on both the sides take it into plate. 

 19) Repeat the above steps and fry remaing suji balls and take it into bowl. 

 Yummy, crispy & tasty Suji Kakara Pitha is ready to serve 😋. 

You can have it as breakfast or snacks.

Note

◆ Adding dry fruits is optional. 

◆ Yo can also prepare plain kakara pitha without any stuff. 

◆ You can give any different shapes to the dough like traingle, oval etc., 

Tips

 ● Dough should be thick in the middle while stuffing coconut. 

● Kneading the dough without any lumps is an important to get good kakara's. 

Hope this recipe helps you in preparing crispy and tasty suji kakara pitha. 

Also check my other sweet recipes

Moong dal kheer

Almond Mango Sandesh

Dates and Dry fruits burfi
Kaju katli

Maramarla ladoo

Almond semi ya payasam

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Also drop your feedback, it gives motivation to prepare new recipes 😍🤗.

Thanks for visiting my blog,

ArunaSaraschandra 😊

Puri Jaganath Rath Yatra

Lord Jagannath Rath Yatra in Puri 

Every year Lord Jagannath Rath Yatra is celebrated on Ashadha Shukla Paksha Dwitiya (second day in bright fortnight of Ashadha month).  It is believed that every year Lord Jagannath wishes to visit his birthplace Mathura for a few days. To fulfill this desire of his, this Yatra is conducted each year from Jagannath temple to Gundicha temple.

Procession during Rath Yatra

The wooden idols of the three deities, every year, are taken from the Jagannath Temple to the Gundicha Temple. These idols are placed in decorative chariots, and are accompanied by chants and conches, which can be heard all around. Before the Yatra commences, the idols are bathed with 109 buckets of water, which is Snana Pornima. These are then placed in isolation till the day of procession, as it is believed that they are ill. This event is called Ansara. On the day of the procession, the holy ritual of Chhera Pahara is performed by the royal successor of Orissa. At this time, hordes of locals and devotees flock around the temple area.

    During Chhera Pahara, the deities are brought from the temple by the King and are placed on the chariot. Before keeping them, the king himself sweeps the chariot with a broom that has a gold handle. He later decorates the chariot with flowers with his own hands. The ground on which the chariot will move is also cleaned by him, after which sandalwood is sprinkled on it.

  Through this ritual, it is proposed that everyone is equal in the eyes of the Lord. Jagannath temple is accessible only by Hindus but on the day of the Rath Yatra, people of all faiths can visit the temple. The 3 deities remain at the Gundicha Temple, their aunt’s place for a span of 9 days. Later, they are back to their home. This return journey is called the ‘Bahuda Yatra’.

     On reaching the Jagannath Temple in the evening, they wait outside. On the next day, the idols are adorned with new clothes as babies. This event is called Suna Vesa. After this day, the deities are placed again into the sanctum sanctorum, marking an end to the Rath Yatra of Jagannath Puri.

The Chariots in Ratha Yatra

The prime attractions of the Rath Yatra of Jagannath is the elaborate Chariots. The preparation of the chariots starts on the day of Akshay Tritiya. There are 3 main chariots, pulled by hands using long ropes, which are 50 meters in length. It is believed that pulling this rope is like adding to your good Karma, and doing penance for your bad deeds.

45.6 feet in height, Lord Jagannath’s Chariot is called Nandighosa and has 18 wheels. The chariot of Lord Balaram’s is 45 feet in height, comes with 16 wheels and called Taladhvaja. Similarly, Devadalana is Goddess Subahdra’s chariot, which has 14 wheels and come with a height of 44.6 feet. Artists decorate these chariots in a beautiful manner with the help of designs, motifs and paints.

As the procession starts, the chariot of Lord Balram is pulled, followed of Goddess Subhadra and that of Lord Jagannath at last. The distance between the two temples is just 3 km but the whole enthusiasm of the tourists and the devotees clubbed with chants and drum beating, takes a few hours. For the next 9 days, devotees can seek blessings of the Lords and the Goddess.

During the return Yatra, the Bahuda Yatra make a halt at the Mausi Maa Temple. Here the deities are served Poda Pitha, a sweet pancake. It is believed that this pancake is the poor man’s food and the Lord is fond of it.

Jagannath Rath Yatra or the Chariot festival is known to be one of the oldest and also the grandest procession festival, which is celebrated every year in India. It also finds its mention in Puranas of Hinduism such as Padma Puran, Brahma Puran and Skanda Puran.

(Gathered information from wiki and Indian holiday site).