Home ›› 05 Dec 2021 ›› Nation
Winter cakes (pithas) are very popular in the country. Different types of pithas are made throughout the year.
But the winter season is the best for making and having different types of delicious pithas. The best time to have pithas is foggy mornings and evenings of winter.
With the onset of winter, sales of some seasonal food have started in Rajshahi and Khulna regions. One of them is Bhapa pitha, a traditional cake made with rice flour by cooking it in steam.
In Rajshahi, on various footpaths at busy crossings, such as Alupatty crossing, Zero Point of Shaheb Bazaar, Lakshmipur crossing, Rajshahi court area, Rajshahi Rail Station, Bus stand, Talaimari, Kajla and Binodpur areas, scores of people, mainly women, are seen preparing and selling Bhapa pithas.
These cakes are mainly consumed during evening, night, and morning. Many people have got rid of their financial constraints by taking the profession of making Bhapa pithas and selling those to customers, reports our Rajshahi correspondent.
Murshida Begum was seen preparing Bhapa pithas by sitting in a roadside corner in Singra area in Natore with an earthen cooking pot filled with hot water on a makeshift furnace made with mud.
Boiling water from the earthen pot was giving away hot steam on which she was placing some wet rice flour mixed with molasses and shredded coconut in a pot.
The hot steam helped rice and coconut to become soft, flavoured and tasty. A large number of consumers were seen purchasing the cakes from her.
She said each piece of the cake is sold at Tk 10 and she usually sells pithas worth Tk 2,000 to Tk 2,200 daily.
She also said sales would boost further with the decrease in day temperature.
She maintains her four-member family by selling the cakes during winter, she added.
Amirul Islam and his wife were selling Bhapa pithas at Feroz Chattar Bazar area of Godagari upazila. They set up the shop in a van.
There is a furnace in the van and with rice flour, date molasses, and shredded coconut, they were making pithas. Many people were seen visiting the van in the evening to purchase pithas.
Raihan, a customer, said Bhapa pitha is a traditional food of winter in Rajshahi region.
He said the hot, steaming pitha in cold weather gives a special dimension to enjoy the winter.
Another customer Shahid said most housewives nowadays do not know how to make Bhapa pitha.
“Even if they learn how to make it from someone, it is an extra burden to make Bhapa pithas at home,” he said.
Seller Champak Howlader said he had been selling Bhapa pithas at Godagari every winter for the last seven years.
People from all walks of life gather to eat pithas in the evening at different places of the city in Khulna. More than 100 temporary pitha stalls have been set up in Rupsha Ghat, PTI Mor, Dolkhola Mor, Shishu Hospital Road, Tarer Pukur Par, Picture Palace Mor, Clay Road, Moharaj Chattar Road, Station Road, Kodomtola Road, Khan Jahan Ali Road, Sonadanga Bus Stand, New Market, Khalishpur, Daulatpur, and Rail Station areas of the municipality.
Stall owners were busy serving customers hot pithas.
Businessmen said for launching this business, a large amount of money is not needed and anyone can start this business with a little amount.
Not only that, they use pieces of waste wood or dried twigs of trees as fuel that also minimises their cost. Some of them use gas cylinders.
Nurunnahar, a seasonal pitha maker of Khulna, makes pitha every winter and this year is no different. She started selling Chitoi pithas 15-20 days ago.
Private Service holder Mamun said Nurunnahar is a good pitha maker and his pithas are tasty.
“I buy pithas from him every year,” he added.
