Poda Pitha
The favorite food of Lord Jagannath, Poda Pitha is a slow-cooked, baked rice cake from Odisha, traditionally prepared for the Rath Yatra festival.

Ingredients
- 1 cup Rice, soaked overnight
- 1/2 cup Urad dal, soaked overnight
- 1 cup Grated coconut
- 3/4 cup Jaggery, powdered
- 1/2 tsp Cardamom powder
- Handful of cashews and raisins
- 2 tbsp Ghee
Instructions
- Grind the soaked rice and urad dal into a thick, slightly coarse batter. Allow it to ferment for 6-8 hours.
- To the fermented batter, add grated coconut, jaggery, cardamom powder, nuts, and raisins. Mix well.
- Grease a pressure cooker or a heavy-bottomed pan with ghee. Traditionally, it's lined with a banana leaf.
- Pour the batter into the cooker/pan.
- Cook on a very low flame for about 45-60 minutes. If using a pressure cooker, cook without the whistle.
- The pitha is cooked when a skewer inserted comes out clean and the top is a beautiful caramelized brown.
- Let it cool down completely before slicing and serving. The 'poda' (burnt) crust is the most delicious part.