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Khira Gaintha is a delicious sweet dish, rice balls are cooked in thickened milk laced with nuts, cardamom, kesar and coconut. It is from Oriya cuisine and usually made as an offering to the Lord Jaganath. 

What is a Pitha ? 
 Pitha is a variety of flatbread, dumpling or fritter familiar to Bangladesh and Indian sub-continent. It may be sweet or savoury which is usually made during festivals. It is familiar to states of Orissa, Assam, Nepal, Jharkhand and Bihar. 

What is the major ingredient used in Pitha? 

Rice flour is the main ingredient in most Pitha recipes though other ingredients may be used along with it. Gaintha Godi, Malpua Pitha,Suji Kakara Pitha, Tala Pitha,

What are the variations you find in Pitha? 

Every state has many different kind of Pitha varieties on it. As I have studied the Odisha Pitha for the event, the different varieties I found were arisi Pitha, Chakuli Pitha, Poda Pitha, Ruka Pitha and Chunchipatra Pitha. 

About the event: 

It's raining Pithas at Shhh  Secretly Cooking Group. The month of May, made us learn about Pitha.  Sasmita of First Timer Cook suggested to make any variety of Pitha. Her blog has many dishes from Oriya cuisine and I would like to try her stir fry from Oriya cuisine  Chhanka Tarkari. It has the goodness of many vegetables in it or one can use any vegetables that they have on hand.  I was paired with Swaty of Food Trails25.  The secret ingredients I gave were pepper and ghee and she prepared the delicious Sooji Kakara Pitha. I am curious to make them soon during some festive occasion.  I was given condensed milk and saffron and I prepared this Khira Gaintha. 

khira gaintha

Khira Gaintha and Rasmalai

Pitha and Khira Gaintha are both new to me. I did search on google, looked on youtube and finally made a few changes to the ingredients that I had in hand. Khira Gaintha has rice balls in thickened flavoured milk while rasmalai has dumplings made of paneer. Though, Rasmalai is quite popular, Khira Gaintha is not known to many of us. 

Let's get to the recipe of Khira Ghaintha.

Ingredients:

For the thickened milk: 

• 3/4 litre milk
• 200 ml condensed milk
• a few strands of saffron
• 1/4 teaspoon cardamom powder
• 8 almonds
• a few coconut pieces
  
  

  For the rice balls:

• 1 cup water
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp oil
• 1 cup rice flour
• 2 tsp ghee
  
  Method:

To make the rabdi, boil milk for sometime. Let it reduce in quantity by at least thirty percent. Add saffron strands to it, put condensed milk and cook for a couple of minutes. Put it aside. Finally, add cardamom powder to it. 

To make the rice balls: Take a cup of water in a pan. Add a pinch of salt and oil to it. Once the water comes to a boil, simmer and slowly mix the rice flour to it. Mix it well. Switch of the stove. Slowly, knead the mixture with a little ghee.

To make Khira gaintha : Make small balls of it, put them on a plate. Once the balls are formed, slowly put them in the thickened milk and  bring to a boil. Put coconut pieces and almond slivers to it. Let cool. Refrigerate and serve chilled.

Take a tip: 

Evaporated milk may be used, then you need to add sugar to it. As I have used condensed milk, no additional sugar is used. 

Evergreendishesdev

Khira Gaintha

Khira Gaintha is a traditional recipe from Odia cuisine. It is one of the Pitha varieties prepared in that state. It is usually made during festivities.

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Course: Dessert, festive sweet, lunch

Cuisine: Indian, oriya

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• For the thickened milk:
• 3/4 litre milk
• 200 ml condensed milk
• a few strands of saffron
• 1/4 teaspoon cardamom powder
• 8 almonds
• a few coconut pieces
• For the rice balls:
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp oil
• 1 cup rice flour
• 2 tsp ghee

Method

 

1. To make the rabdi, boil milk for sometime. Let it reduce in quantity by at least thirty percent. Add saffron strands to it, put condensed milk and cook for a couple of minutes. Put it aside. Finally, add cardamom powder to it.
2. To make the rice balls: Take a cup of water in a pan. Add a pinch of salt and oil to it. Once the water comes to a boil, simmer and slowly mix the rice flour to it. Mix it well. Switch of the stove. Slowly, knead the mixture with a little ghee.
3. To make Khira gaintha : Make small balls of it, put them on a plate. Once the balls are formed, slowly put them in the thickened milk and  bring to a boil. Put coconut pieces and almond slivers to it. Let cool. Refrigerate and serve chilled.

Notes

Evaporated milk may be used, then you need to add sugar to it. As I have used condensed milk, no additional sugar is used. 

Khira Gaintha

The other Oriya dishes shared on the blog are : Aloo Bharta, 

If you ever recreate this recipe, take a picture and share it on Instagram by tagging @foodiejayashree or on Facebook by tagging @evergreendishes. I will be glad to see your creation. Have you  check out my e-books ?

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