''Dal Pitha (दाल पिठा) also known as ''Pithi, is a Bihari dish that is a mixture of spicy

lentils The lentil (''Vicia lens'' or ''Lens culinaris'') is an annual plant, annual legume grown for its Lens (geometry), lens-shaped edible seeds or ''pulses'', also called ''lentils''. It is about tall, and the seeds grow in Legume, pods, usually w ...

is stuffed into

rice flour Rice flour (also rice powder) is a form of flour made from finely milled rice. It is distinct from rice starch, which is usually produced by steeping rice in lye. Rice flour is a common substitute for wheat flour. It is also used as a thickening ...

doughs and then boiled or steamed in a

saucepan A saucepan is one of the basic forms of cookware (not technically a pan), in the form of a round cooking vessel, typically deep, and wide enough to hold at least of water, with sizes typically ranging up to , and having a long handle protrudi ...

. Indian language defines "dal" as lentils and "

pitha Pithas () are a variety of food similar to pancakes, dumplings or fritters, originating from India and Bangladesh. Pitha can be sweet or savoury, and usually made from a dough or batter, which is then steamed, fried or griddled. Very few varieties ...

" or "pithi" as whole wheat or freshly prepared rice flour

dumplings Dumplings are a broad class of dishes that consist of pieces of cooked dough (made from a variety of starchy sources), often wrapped around a filling. The dough can be based on bread, wheat or other flours, or potatoes, and it may be filled wi ...

. The steamed dumplings have a shape similar to that of Gujiyas in the past.

Region

Dal Pitha is a traditional Eastern Indian dish that is consumed in the states of

Chhattisgarh Chhattisgarh (; ) is a landlocked States and union territories of India, state in Central India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ninth largest state by area, and with a population of roughly 30 million, the List ...

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in East India, eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north ...

, and

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

. It is also a famous cuisine in the region of

eastern Uttar Pradesh Purvanchal () is the region of eastern Uttar Pradesh. Purvanchal is also a proposed state in India, encompassing 32 eastern districts of Uttar Pradesh. The proposal, introduced in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly in 2011 by then Chief ...

, especially in the

Bhojpuri region Bhojpur is a ethnolinguistic and cultural area in the Indian subcontinent where the Bhojpuri language is spoken as a mother tongue. The Bhojpuri region encompasses parts of the Indian states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Jharkhand, and the Madhe ...

History and culture

The history of this simple and healthy dish is deeply rooted in the sociocultural dynamics of this agrarian region. People in the rural villages, particularly those in the Mithilanchal region, were required to work long hours away from home on the farms. They needed a light lunch that would give them instant energy and keep them feeling full for a long period.

Variety

Dal Pitha
a snack, comes in both sweet and savoury varieties. The lentil stuffing is the key to this recipe. People typically love the Bihari snack for the morning, which consists of rice flour dumplings filled with a hot, masala lentil filling. The sweeter variety, where the dal filling adds an extra mixture of

coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (biology), family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, ...

and

jaggery Jaggery is a List of unrefined sweeteners, traditional non-centrifugal cane sugar consumed in the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, North America, Central America, Brazil and Africa. It is a concentrated product of Sugarcane juice, cane jui ...

to give the dumpling a sweet taste, is particularly popular in some areas of

and Northern Bengal.

Nutrition

The main component of Dal Pitha is lentils, which are a great source of plant-based

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residue (biochemistry), residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including Enzyme catalysis, catalysing metab ...

. They contain essential amino acids that aid muscle development. Additionally, high in

dietary fiber Dietary fiber (fibre in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) or roughage is the portion of plant-derived food that cannot be completely broken down by human digestive enzymes. Dietary fibers are diverse in chemical co ...

, lentils facilitate digestion and prevent constipation. The rice flour used in Dal Pitha provides

complex carbohydrates A carbohydrate () is a biomolecule composed of carbon (C), hydrogen (H), and oxygen (O) atoms. The typical hydrogen-to-oxygen atomic ratio is 2:1, analogous to that of water, and is represented by the empirical formula (where ''m'' and ''n'' ma ...

. It is also rich in

essential vitamins A nutrient is a substance used by an organism to survive, grow and reproduce. The requirement for dietary nutrient intake applies to animals, plants, fungi and protists. Nutrients can be incorporated into cells for metabolic purposes or excrete ...

and

minerals In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid substance with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. (2011): M ...

such as

iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...

potassium Potassium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol K (from Neo-Latin ) and atomic number19. It is a silvery white metal that is soft enough to easily cut with a knife. Potassium metal reacts rapidly with atmospheric oxygen to ...

magnesium Magnesium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Mg and atomic number 12. It is a shiny gray metal having a low density, low melting point and high chemical reactivity. Like the other alkaline earth metals (group 2 ...

, and

vitamin B B vitamins are a class of water-soluble vitamins that play important roles in cell metabolism and synthesis of red blood cells. They are a chemically diverse class of compounds. Dietary supplements containing all eight are referred to as a vita ...

References

{{Reflist Pitha Bihari cuisine Jharkhandi cuisine Bengali cuisine Wheat flour

Region

History and culture

Variety

Nutrition

See also

References