RICE COOKIES or TIL PITHA. Rice Cake or Til Pitha, as it is known locally is a household favorite in Assam. The combination of soft chewy outer shell and the sweet sticky sesame filling makes it a perfect relish. They are usually made during Bihu - the chief festival of Assam that celebrates the harvesting season. Til Pitha is an essential part of the Assamese Bihu Platter. It is basically rice flour rolls stuffed with a grounded black sesame seeds and jaggery filling.

Even though it looks simple, making the perfect til pitha is an art you will master with practice. How to make Til Pitha: Soak the rice overnight in water. Drain excess water and grind it carefully. You can cook RICE COOKIES or TIL PITHA using 3 ingredients and 9 steps. Here is how you achieve it.

Ingredients of RICE COOKIES or TIL PITHA

It's 2 Kgs of of Sticky Rice (Bora rice in Assamese).
It's 1/2 Kg of Black sesame seeds (Til).
Prepare 1 Kg of Jaggery (Gur).

Roast sesame seeds and pound them to remove their outer shell. Til Pitha is an Assamese Pitha Recipe, which is made by using Sesame seeds, Jaggery and Rice flour. While it is being roasted, place the stuffing of jaggery and sesame mix in the centre. When the rice batter become firm, cover the stuffing by folding it on both sides.

RICE COOKIES or TIL PITHA instructions

MAKING THE RICE OUTER LAYER : Wash and soak the rice for an hour. Strain rice and spread it out on a parchment paper or newspaper and let it dry partially.
Grind the rice to a very fine powder and then sieve it to get fine rice powder.
Now, press the rice powder in the container to make it air tight and cover it with a wet cloth. This layer will be the outer shell of the Pitha..
MAKING THE FILLING : For the filling, wash and strain black sesame seeds, and let it dry. Roast the sesame seeds in a pan or wok until it gives out a nutty fragrance. Coarse grind the sesame seeds..
Melt jaggery in a pan, and add it to the ground sesame seeds. Filling for the pithas is ready..
MAKING THE FINAL VERSION OF SWEET : Heat a tawa to the required temperature.
Scoop out some of the prepared rice flour, and spread the rice flour on the pan and press it gently with your fingers..
Now put some sesame filling. Take care not to overfill. Roll up the pithas to your desired shape and gently push it to the edge of the pan and let it finish cooking while you continue making the next pitha..
Enjoy! Serve the cookies with a hot cup of milk tea..

Lightly heat and remove from fire. Make sure the jaggery does not melt and flow out. The pitha is not allowed to turn brown; it should remain white. This is a traditional Assamese sweet dish that's prepared at the time of Makar Sankranti. It is basically a pancake made of sticky rice and stuffed with til and jaggery.