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Bangladeshi · Bengali

Bhapa pitha

Vegetarian

ভাপা পিঠা · bhapa pitha

A winter street sweet from Bangladesh: crumbly rice flour layered with date-palm jaggery and fresh coconut, steamed in a cloth over a pot until soft.

Bhapa pitha is a Bangladeshi sweet, ready in about 1 hour and made with rice flour, jaggery / palm sugar and coconut. It serves 6 and is rated intermediate to cook.

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Prep
20 min
Cook
30 min
Rest
10 min
Total
1 h
Serves
6
Level
Intermediate
Calories
288

Ingredients

6 servings (12 pitha)

Equipment

Method

  1. Step 1

    Mix the rice flour (opens in a new tab) and salt, then sprinkle over the water little by little, rubbing with your fingers until the flour is damp and holds together when squeezed but still crumbles. Sieve it for fluffy pitha and rest covered.

    Fresh herbs scattered over a finished dish
    How it looks · Photo: Klaus Nielsen on Pexels

  2. Step 2

    Bring a saucepan (opens in a new tab) of water to a steady boil and cover the top with a lid that has a hole in the centre, or stretch a damp cloth over it.

  3. Step 3

    Loosely fill a small bowl halfway with flour, add a spoonful of jaggery and coconut (opens in a new tab), then cover with more flour without pressing. Wrap the bowl in a damp muslin and invert the pitha onto the steam hole, then remove the bowl.

    • 2 min
    • high heat

  4. Step 4

    Cover with the cloth corners and steam until set and the jaggery melts. Repeat with the rest.

    • 3 min
    • high heat

    Food safety: Use a cloth to lift the pitha — escaping steam burns.

About this dish

Origin
Bangladesh · Commonly attributedA traditional winter pitha of rural Bangladesh, also made in West Bengal.Also popular in IndiaMore food from Bangladesh
Dish
Breakfast · Snack · Sweets & confectionery · Desserts
Cooking method
Steamed
Taste
sweet, nutty, mild
Diet
Vegan · No gluten ingredients · Dairy-free · No nut ingredients
All labelsVegan · Plant-based · Vegetarian (lacto-ovo) · Eggetarian · Lacto-vegetarian · Ovo-vegetarian · Pescatarian · Flexitarian-friendly · No gluten ingredients · Dairy-free · Egg-free · No nut ingredients · Alcohol-free · Pork-free · Beef-free · Low-sodium
Worked out from the ingredients. How labels work
Good for
Street food · Budget-friendly
Cook more with
Rice flour · Jaggery / palm sugar · Coconut
Techniques
Steaming

Allergens

None of the 14 major allergens appear in the listed ingredients.

Based on typical versions of these ingredients and not verified allergen-free. Brands differ and cross-contact happens, so always check labels. For severe allergies, follow your clinician’s advice.

Nutrition

288 kcal per serving

Estimated

1 serving ≈ 97 g · recipe makes 6

Where the energy comes from

  • Protein 4%
  • Carbohydrate 76%
  • Fat 19%
Nutrition per serving and per 100 g
NutrientPer servingPer 100 g*
Energy288 kcal297 kcal
Protein3.1 g3.2 g
Carbohydrate55.5 g57.3 g
Net carbohydrate53 g54.7 g
Sugars20.5 g21.1 g
Added sugars19.4 g20 g
Fibre2.5 g2.6 g
Fat6.2 g6.4 g
Saturated fat5.1 g5.3 g
Trans fat——
Cholesterol0 mg0 mg
Sodium106 mg110 mg
Salt equivalent0.3 g0.3 g
Vitamins & minerals per serving
Potassium
118 mg
Calcium
25 mg
Iron
0.7 mg
Magnesium
22 mg
Vitamin A (RAE)
0 µg
Vitamin C
1 mg
Vitamin D
0 µg
Vitamin B12
0 µg
Folate (DFE)
6 µg

How these numbers were made

  • Calculated from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) per-100 g values and the listed quantities.
  • *Per 100 g of combined raw ingredients; the cooked dish may weigh more or less.
  • Jaggery / palm sugar: Brown sugar (FDC 168833) used as a stand-in for unrefined cane jaggery and palm sugar.
  • “—” means the value isn’t known for enough of the ingredients; it is never zero by default.
  • Values are estimates for guidance, not for medical dosing. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov.

Good to know

Tips

  • The flour should be just damp — too wet and the pitha turns dense and gummy.

Common mistakes

  • Pressing the flour into the bowl — it steams dense and hard. Keep it loose.

Serve with

  • Eat warm on a winter morning, with tea.

Storage

  • Best eaten within a few hours.

Original editorial recipe · FriendsPantry editorial · Not yet independently reviewed · Added · Updated

Recipe DNA

How this dish is built

Grouped by each ingredient’s role in the dish. Each band’s width is its share of the dish by weight. Choose a component to see what it does.

What the dish is built around

Main ingredient

Used in steps 1, 3

Baker’s notes

Customise in Bread & Bakery

Timeline and readiness cues

  1. Mix and knead · about 20 min

    Knead until smooth and soft; it should feel like an earlobe.

  2. Rest · about 10 min

    Covered so it doesn't dry out; relaxed dough rolls and shapes without springing back.

  3. Bake · about 30 min

    Puffed with golden-brown spots on both sides.

  4. Start to finish: about 1 h. Times are a guide — warmth changes everything; follow the cues.

If something goes wrong

  • Pale crust

    Likely causes

    • Oven too cool
    • Too little sugar or no milk/egg for browning
    • Over-fermented (yeast ate the sugars)

    What to do

    • Check the oven with a thermometer
    • Brush with egg wash or milk
    • Shorten the fermentation
  • Burnt bottom

    Likely causes

    • Tray too close to the heat
    • Dark tray absorbs more heat
    • Too much sugar in the dough

    What to do

    • Bake on the middle shelf
    • Double up trays or use a light-coloured one
    • Lower the temperature 10–15 °C and bake a little longer

Reviews & corrections

Reviews come from signed-in cooks and appear after a moderator checks them. We never show made-up ratings.

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