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Sitabhog
Chhena strands in syrup
সীতাভোগ: Bardhaman's rice-white chhena strands in syrup, with tiny nikuti
Sitabhog belongs to Bardhaman in West Bengal, and families there and across Bengal like to serve it for Bhai Phonta and at Bijoya: it looks like a bowl of fine white rice, but every grain is a strand of chhena and rice flour pressed into ghee, fried pale and soaked in syrup, then tossed with tiny saffron-tinted nikuti dumplings. It is light, soft and fragrant, best eaten with a spoon at room temperature. Common mistake: frying too hot, which colours the strands; sitabhog should stay ivory, so keep the ghee gentle and lift the strands out as soon as they are firm. The syrup should be at the one-thread stage, so a drop pulled between thumb and finger forms a single short thread. Chef's tip: gobindobhog or any short-grain rice ground to a fine flour gives the most authentic, fragrant strands; sieve it twice.
- Total time
- 90 min
- Difficulty
- hard
- Serves
- 6
Ingredients
For the chhena
- 6 ¼ cups full-fat milk
- 3 tbsp lemon juicemixed with 3 tbsp water
- 2 cups ice-cold water
For the strands
- 2 ⅛ oz fine rice flour (gobindobhog if possible)sieved twice
- 1 tbsp sugar
- ¼ tsp ground green cardamom
For the nikuti
- 1 pinch saffron strandssoaked in 1 tsp warm milk
For the syrup
- 10 ½ oz sugar
- 1 cup water
To fry
- 1 ¾ cups gheefor frying
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Method
0/9 doneStep 1: Bring 6 ¼ cups full-fat milk to the boil, take off the heat for a minute, then stir in 3 tbsp lemon juice until the milk splits and the whey looks clear.
8 minStep 2: Add 2 cups ice-cold water, drain through muslin, rinse and hang for 45 minutes until quite dry.
45 minStep 3: Knead the chhena for 8 minutes until smooth. Take out a quarter for the nikuti and knead it with the soaked 1 pinch saffron strands.
8 minStep 4: Knead the rest with 2 ⅛ oz fine rice flour (gobindobhog if possible), 1 tbsp sugar and ¼ tsp ground green cardamom to a soft, smooth dough that does not stick.
Step 5: Make the syrup: boil 10 ½ oz sugar and 1 cup water for 8–10 minutes to the one-thread stage. Keep warm.
10 minStep 6: Heat 1 ¾ cups ghee in a wide kadhai to about 275°F, gentle enough that a pinch of dough sinks and only slowly rises.
4 minStep 7: Press the white dough through a sev press with the finest disc straight into the ghee, in batches. Fry for 1–2 minutes, turning gently, until firm but still ivory. Lift out and drop into the syrup.
15 minStep 8: Roll the saffron dough into rice-grain-sized ovals. Fry for 2–3 minutes until golden and put them in the syrup too.
5 minStep 9: Leave for 20 minutes, then lift everything out with a slotted spoon, toss together gently and serve at room temperature.
20 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 360 kcal
- Protein
- 9 g
- Carbs
- 58 g
- Fat
- 11 g
- Fibre
- 0 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does sitabhog take?
- About 90 minutes in total: 50 minutes to prepare and 40 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 6 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of full-fat milk?
- Oat, soy or almond milk, same amount (use unsweetened for savoury dishes).
- What can I use instead of lemon juice?
- Lime juice, same amount.
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