Last Updated on December 14, 2020 by Chef Mireille
Oriya Semolina Manda (Suji Manda Pitha) – Semolina Fritters stuffed with coconut are the perfect Indian festival or tea time treat.
Oriya cuisine is the food from the Northeastern Indian state of Odisha, formerly known as Orissa. Just about every blog/website that focuses on Oriya food includes a recipe for this. After consulting many, I came up with this one that worked really well.
This is a very traditional food of the region to serve for religious festivals, but it tasted just as good for breakfast with a cup of coffee.
Before we get to today’s recipe, let’s take a look at some other Indian snacks you can enjoy during tea time – both sweet and savory options.
Indian Tea Time Snacks
- Kai Pola – #GlutenFree Plantain Cake
- Baath – Semolina Coconut Cake
- Bolinhas – Goa Coconut Cookies
- Handvo – Savory Lentil Cake
- Plantain Pakoda
- Erral Masala Vadai – Shrimp Fritters
- Lobia Vada – Black Eyed Pea Fritters
- Sabudana Vada – Sago/Tapioca Fritters
- Gobi Pakora – #GlutenFree Cauliflower Fritters
- Manipuri Fish Pakora – #GlutenFree Fish Fritters
- Mysore Pak
- Bangalore Goli Baje
- Chickpea Spinach Samosaa
- Mava Samosa
- Kajji Kayalu
IN THE MAKING – HOW TO MAKE ORIYA SUJI MANDA PITHA
Not overly sweet. They’re crispy on the outside and soft porridge like consistency on the inside with the delicious coconut filling. This was such a new concept to create a dough out of semolina porridge, but it has filled my head with so many ideas. With this technique, I can experiment with different fillings. So step out of your comfort zone and try cooking a new cuisine today!
I did it and so can you!
Oriya Semolina Manda
Ingredients
- 2 cups semolina
- 4 cups water
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup sugar divided
- 3 teaspoons ground cardamom divided
- 2 tablespoons ghee
- 1 cup frozen grated coconut or freshly grated coconut
Instructions
- In a large pot, boil water. Once it is boiling, add the salt, 1/4 cup of the sugar and 2 teaspoons of the cardamom. Turn the heat on low and slowly add the semolina, stirring constantly. Cook for 2-3 minutes stirring constantly, until thickened.
- Leave to rest until it is cool enough to handle.
- In a skillet, melt the ghee. Add coconut and sugar. Toast until golden. Turn off the flame and add the cardamom. Stir to combine.
- Divide the filling into 6 equal portions.
- With wet hands, knead the semolina for a few minutes and divide into 6 large balls. Make a well in each ball and place one portion of the filling inside. Cover to seal. Form back into a ball and then flatten into a disk, about 1/2" thick. Make sure the filling is well sealed and the outside is nice and smooth. Otherwise, it can open during frying and then it just becomes a big mess in the oil. Keep on wetting your hands as necessary, while filling and sealing.
- Heat enough oil or ghee for deep frying. (ghee is traditional) Fry until golden brown, about 5-8 minutes.
- Remove to paper towels to drain excess oil. Serve hot.
- To reheat, warm them up in the toaster oven so they can retain the same texture.
Notes
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Perfectly made..perfectly fried…you got it perfect girl..
https://anshu-mymomsrecipes.blogspot.in/
I am in awe of the way you research your recipes. Way to go Mer. Cheers
Wow perfect snack dear
Event: Dish name starts with Q till Feb 28th
Forget stuffed puri, I have not even tried the basic puri yet :D! Thanks to your foccacia, I lost the fear of yeast 🙂 and hopefully I will losse the fear of deep frying too soon 🙂
Great pithas and hats off to the awesome effort!
Seriously i loved your theme, you have shared wonderful dishes with us,beautiful manda.
very well made… looks so so inviting…
Delicious very nice recipe, Love coconut in cardamom in there
This is very new to me Mir. And I love the way you have taken the pains to search and put up the recipe with step by step pics. Great job! And with that coconut filling I am sure it was very delicious…
An absolute beauty Mir. I appreciate your enthu in trying going out of your comfort zone!
Mir, thanks to you I read on a authentic recipe, kudos on your courage and never giving up spirit!..I am so impressed with you!..That seriously looks wonderful, it looks yum enough to be tried!
Kudos to you for trying such a traditional dish. It's totally new to me, but sounds very delicious.. Well done.
Love this traditional recipe and the way you tried all lovely recipes is awesome
That s a wonderful dish you made and looks so tempting. Kudos to you for trying all these traditional recipes. And keep on trying those stuffed puris one fine day you will sure get master s in making puris.:)
Mir…super and kudos for the effort..Mandas are new to me sounds inviting ..we do make a similar sweet with this stuffing with APF..
Love to try this Oriya delicacy..Perfectly made..
A very new dish to me and lots to be explored in the Indian cuisine yet.. Your pictures are so clear Mir! Love it…
I must really say this one is new to me. I know dishes with the sweet semolina filling but this one is entirely different and sounds wonderful.