Rongali Bihu Special Recipes: Traditional Poka Mithoi & Masor Tenga

You know it is New Year when the Assamese community begins preparation for Rongali Bihu. It is one of the most important festivals in the state of Assam and is celebrated with great joy.

A special thing to notice about the Rongali Bihu is the assortment of traditional food items prepared on the occasion.

These range from sweet fritters to tangy and spicy curries - prepared with mouth-watering flavours that bring people closer together!

For this Rongali Bihu, we have two delightful recipes for you - the Poka Mithoi and Masor Tenga.

Making them at home is easy and we bet you’ll love them for their scrumptiousness.

Jot down the recipes and serve with love on this Rongali Bihu.

Poka Mithoi Recipe

Ingredients Required

• 1 cup Rice Powder
• 1/2 cup jaggery
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Preparing Poka Mithoi

1. Soak the rice for 3-4 hours. Drain well. Spread on a kitchen towel to dry.
2. Pound the rice to a fine powder. Sieve with a very fine sieve. Keep in an airtight container for further use.
3. Roast the rice powder in a heavy-bottomed Kadai till you get a sweet aroma coming out of it. We recommend using Nirlep’s Kadhai with lid for even heat distribution and convenient cooking. Make sure to stir it continuously.
4. Turn off the gas and mix freshly ground pepper with the roasted rice powder.
5. Make a syrup of the jaggery and water on a slow flame and mix a little of this syrup with the rice powder to make firm round balls.
6. Dust the balls with roasted rice powder.

You can store the Poka Mithoi in an airtight container and enjoy it whenever you crave the homemade sweet taste.

Masor Tenga

Masor Tenga is one of the popular main dishes of Assamese cuisine and is an integral dish in the traditional Assamese Thali. This dish is light and tangy and is also known as Tangy Fish Curry.

Here is the Masor Tenga recipe for you!

Ingredients Required

• 1 Kg Fish
• 4 Kokum
• 1 teaspoon Mustard seeds
• 4 Green Chilies
• 2 teaspoon Salt
• 1 stalk Coriander leaves

• ½ Kg Tomato
• 250 ml Mustard oil
• 2 medium-sized Potatoes
• 1 tablespoon Rice Flour
• 2 teaspoon Turmeric Powder

Cooking the Masor Tenga

1. The first step is to prepare the fish. Cut the fish into medium-sized pieces and wash it properly. Add a teaspoon of salt and turmeric power to the washed fish pieces and mix them well. Deep fry the fish pieces in the mustard oil, until the pieces are crisp and brown. Fry the fish pieces in batches. You can use the Nirlep’s induction-compatible deep fry pan for effortless cooking.
2. Meanwhile, add tomatoes in the ingredients as well. Mash the tomatoes to get a puree. Boil the kokum in 500 ml water to make the tangy stock for curry. Chop the boiled potatoes in quarters.
3. Drain out oil from the kadhai in which the fish has been fried, leaving just a teaspoon of the oil in it. To this, add the mustard seeds and slit green chilies. Allow the mustard seeds to splutter and the chilies to turn slightly brown. Now add the chopped boiled potatoes into the tempering and keep stirring them so that the potatoes do not burn. Fry for 2 minutes.
4. Now, add the pureed tomatoes and the remaining salt to the kadhai. Let the pureed tomatoes simmer with the potatoes for 3 minutes. Then add the kokum water to this and stir it in. Bring this mixture to a boil.
5. Finally, add the fried fish pieces to the mixture. Add a little water if required. Mix the rice flour slurry in the curry to thicken it. Add chopped fresh coriander to garnish.

Serve hot with rice or bread of your choice and enjoy!

Happy Rongali Bihu :-)