Bhapa Pitha Recipe (Bengali Steamed Rice Cakes with Coconut and Nolen Gur)

Quick answer: Bhapa pitha, or bhapa pithe in West Bengal, is a small steamed cake of damp rice flour with a layer of grated coconut and nolen gur (new date-palm jaggery) inside. The cake is shaped in a small bowl, wrapped in cloth and steamed over boiling water for about 5 to 10 minutes. It is one of the winter pithe made for Poush Sankranti.

Kitchen note: This recipe is not yet kitchen-tested by a HinduTone cook. The quantities and timings follow common home methods; judge doneness by look and texture, and adjust for your stove and ingredients.

What is bhapa pitha?

Bhapa means steamed and pitha (pithe in West Bengal) is the broad Bengali word for cakes, dumplings and sweets made from rice flour. Bhapa pitha is the simplest of them: rice flour, a filling of coconut and jaggery, and steam. The Daily Star of Dhaka has called it one of the most popular pithas of Bangladesh, and the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival published chef Kishwar Chowdhury's family version, made in a small bowl and steamed over a pot covered with cloth.

Its season is winter, when the new rice has been harvested and the date palms are tapped for sap. That sap is boiled down into nolen gur, which comes as a runny syrup (jhola gur) or set into cakes (patali gur). The Quint describes nolen gur as a winter-only product of the date palm. Poush Sankranti, the last day of the Bengali month of Poush, is the day Bengali homes are most likely to make pithe, and bhapa pitha sits beside patishapta and dudh puli on the plate.

For the festival itself, see our Poush Sankranti in West Bengal guide.

Ingredients

Rice-flour layer

Filling

Equipment

• A pot or wide pan with a narrow mouth, half filled with water
• A piece of muslin or thin cotton cloth to tie over the mouth of the pot, plus a second small square of damp cloth
• A small steel bowl about 8 to 10 cm (3 to 4 inches) across, or a small cup
• A lid or bowl to cover each cake while it steams

How to make bhapa pitha (stovetop)

Prepare the flour

1. Put the rice flour and salt in a wide bowl. Sprinkle in the warm water a tablespoon at a time, rubbing it through the flour with your fingertips.
2. Stop when the flour looks like damp sand and holds its shape when you squeeze a little in your fist. It should not become a dough. If it is wet and sticky, rub in more flour.
3. Push the damp flour through a sieve, or rub it between your palms, to break up lumps. Cover it with a damp cloth so it does not dry out.

Prepare the filling

1. Mix the grated coconut, grated gur and cardamom. Many cooks use the filling raw; others warm it in a pan for 3 to 4 minutes until the gur just melts, then cool it. Raw filling stays juicier; cooked filling is easier to handle.

Set up the steamer

1. Bring the water in the pot to a steady boil. Stretch the muslin tightly over the mouth and tie it with string so it sits like a drum skin a few centimetres above the water.

Shape and steam

1. Lightly fill the small bowl halfway with damp flour. Do not press it down.
2. Scatter a spoonful of filling in the centre, keeping it away from the edges.
3. Cover with more flour to fill the bowl, and level the top lightly with a finger.
4. Lay the small square of damp cloth over the bowl, turn the bowl upside down onto your palm, and place it on the stretched muslin. Lift the bowl off gently so the cake stays in a mound wrapped in the small cloth, or leave the bowl over it as a cover.
5. Cover with a lid or an upturned bowl and steam for 5 to 10 minutes, until the top looks set and feels springy when tapped.
6. Lift the cake off with its cloth, peel the cloth back and turn it onto a plate.

Serve hot, as is or with a little jhola gur poured over. Bhapa pitha is best eaten within minutes of steaming; it firms as it cools.

Idli steamer, pressure cooker, Instant Pot and rice cooker

• Idli steamer or bamboo steamer: shape the cakes in small greased steel bowls or cups, set them in the steamer and steam with the lid on for about 8 to 12 minutes, until set. The shape is different, but the taste is close.
• Pressure cooker: use it only as a steamer. Put water in the base, set the bowls on a stand, close the lid without the weight (or with the vent open) and steam 8 to 12 minutes. Do not pressure-cook them.
• Instant Pot: use the Steam setting with the vent set to Venting, or a glass lid, and the cakes on the trivet in small bowls.
• Rice cooker: the steaming basket works for 2 or 3 cakes at a time.

Naivedyam notes

Customs differ from family to family. In some Bengali homes the first pithe of the day are set aside for the household shrine before anyone eats; others make no formal offering. If you offer bhapa pitha, keep a portion aside before tasting and follow your family's practice, or ask your priest.

Nolen gur and other substitutions abroad

Fresh nolen gur is hard to find outside Bengal. Bangladeshi and Indian grocers in larger cities sometimes stock patali gur in winter; check the label says date palm (khejur). Regular cane jaggery gives a good bhapa pitha with a milder, less smoky taste. Date syrup is made from the date fruit, not date-palm sap, so it does not taste the same, but a teaspoon mixed into regular jaggery adds some of the dark, fruity note. Dark muscovado sugar is a fair last resort.

Do not use glutinous (sticky) rice flour: the cake turns gummy. Desiccated coconut can stand in for fresh if you first soak it in a little warm water for 15 minutes and squeeze it.

Vegan and gluten-free

Use only water to dampen the flour and the cake is vegan and free of wheat gluten. If you are cooking for coeliacs, check that your rice flour is labelled gluten-free, since some is milled alongside wheat.

Common mistakes

• Flour too wet: it packs into a dense, gluey cake. It should be crumbly and just hold when squeezed.
• Flour too dry: the cake falls apart when you turn it out. Add water a spoon at a time.
• Pressing the flour into the bowl: the cake turns heavy. Spoon it in loosely.
• Filling touching the edges: the melted gur leaks out. Keep it in the centre.
• Weak steam: the outside stays powdery. Keep the water at a rolling boil and top it up with boiling water.
• Steaming too long: the cake dries and hardens.

Storage

Bhapa pitha is best eaten fresh. Cool leftovers and refrigerate them within 2 hours in a covered container; eat within a day. To reheat, steam for 2 to 3 minutes. The damp flour can be kept covered in the fridge for a few hours if you are steaming in batches.

Allergens

Contains coconut, and milk if you use it to dampen the flour. Coconut is not one of the 14 major allergens on UK labels, but a small number of people react to it, so mention it to guests with allergies. Rice flour contains no wheat gluten, but check labels for cross-contact. Some families add chopped nuts to the filling; leave them out for anyone with a nut allergy.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between bhapa pitha and patishapta?

Bhapa pitha is a steamed cake of damp rice flour with the filling sealed inside. Patishapta is a thin crepe cooked on a pan and rolled around the filling. Both use coconut and gur.

Why did my bhapa pitha break when I turned it out?

The flour was probably too dry, or it was not steamed long enough to set. Dampen the flour a little more and steam until the top feels springy.

Can I make bhapa pitha without a cloth?

Yes. Shape and steam the cakes in small greased bowls in an idli steamer or a covered pan with a stand. The cloth method gives the traditional rounded shape.

Are there other steamed pithas for the winter harvest?

Yes. Bengal, Odisha and Assam each have their own rice-flour sweets for the season, with different names and shapes. For an Assamese sweet, see our til pitha recipe, and for Odisha our makara chaula recipe.

When is Poush Sankranti in 2027?

Makar Sankranti falls on 15 January in India per the panchang; some government lists mark 14 January. Bengal keeps Poush Sankranti by the Bengali panjika, and the West Bengal government's 2027 holiday list had not been published at the time of writing. Confirm with your local panchang or temple priest.

Can I use shop-bought rice flour?

Yes. Fine, non-glutinous rice flour works. Freshly milled flour from soaked rice holds moisture better, so packaged flour may need a little more water.

Sources

• The Daily Star (Dhaka), Salina Parvin, "Winter pitha", 15 December 2014: https://www.thedailystar.net/winter-pitha-55332 (accessed 12 November 2026)
• Melbourne Food and Wine Festival, "Recipe: Kishwar Chowdhury's bhapa pitha", 10 September 2026: https://www.melbournefoodandwine.com.au/recipes/recipe-kishwar-chowdhurys-bhapa-pitha/ (accessed 12 November 2026)
• The Quint, Lesley D Biswas, "The Mishti Bengal Eats in Winter: 3 Yummy Ways to Use Nolen Gur", 25 October 2017: https://www.thequint.com/lifestyle/food/winter-season-bengal-jaggery-nolen-gur-sweets (accessed 12 November 2026)
• Deccan Chronicle, "Kites, sweets and togetherness: Poush Parbon's link to pan-Indian Sankranti", 12 January 2026: https://www.deccanchronicle.com/lifestyle/culture-and-society/kites-sweets-and-togetherness-poush-parbons-link-to-pan-indian-sankranti-1929949 (accessed 12 November 2026)
• US Food and Drug Administration, "Safe Food Handling": https://www.fda.gov/food/buy-store-serve-safe-food/safe-food-handling (accessed 12 November 2026)
• Food Standards Agency (UK), "Food allergy and intolerance advice for consumers": https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/food-allergy-and-intolerance-advice-for-consumers (accessed 12 November 2026)

Last reviewed: 12 November 2026.

Related guides

• Poush Sankranti in West Bengal
• Patishapta recipe
• Dudh puli recipe
• Nolen gur payesh recipe
• Sankranti recipes by state
• Makar Sankranti 2027 guide