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    Home » Sweets and Desserts » Pukhlein ~ Rice Jaggary Bread from Meghalaya

    Pukhlein ~ Rice Jaggary Bread from Meghalaya

    Published: Apr 17, 2014 · Modified: Oct 5, 2020 by Srivalli · 22 Comments

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    I had almost given up on the remaining North-East Dishes. I stopped cooking for the states when we started in April and I had about six states left. For over two weeks, I kept saying I still have six more to do and finally Konda asked how long will I keep repeating myself! Well, that's how much it took me to understand and realize I hardly have time to procrastinate anymore.
    This weekend, I finally managed to make all six and the feeling was such a relief! I can't express in mere words the feeling I had when I finally clicked the pictures. Writing about it was an altogether different story. I read so much about these states, read and reread again. However, nothing came up.
    At the last moment, I came across this video, that talked about Pukhlein, a breakfast bread from Meghalaya. I looked no further. The fact that it looks either like our Athirasam or Neyyappam, as a different story. I suddenly remember reading about it and wanting to make it. Of course, we read so much that nothing stayed for long.
    I know you think this is not bread, however, check out the video where the person says this is a breakfast bread that's sold in Meghalaya. So I have not deviated, even though this tastes much like our sweets.
    The Meghalaya cuisine can be divided into three distinctive styles: Garo, Khasi, and Jaintia. Out of the three styles, I thought the Khasi had some recipes I could do, of course, that was more clear only after I saw the video and how it resembles what I think it does.
    The Khasi recipes include a variety of rice preparations, such as 'Jadoh' (red hill rice prepared with pork), 'Jastem' (rice prepared with gravy of pork, ginger, onions, and turmeric), etc.
    Among other recipes of the Khasis are:
    Mylliem chicken - It is prepared with the help of different condiments, especially the small round Khasi peppers and chicken.
    Dohkhlieh - Dohkhlieh is a special kind of pork salad, made from boiled pork, onions, and chilies.
    Dohneiiong - This dish has gravy. In this preparation, pork is cooked with black sesame seeds.
    Tungrymbai - It is prepared with fermented soya beans.
    Pumaloi - Pumaloi is a typical Khasi recipe prepared with powdered rice.
    Pukhlein - This dish is prepared with the help of powdered rice and jaggery.
    Pudoh - This item is prepared from powdered rice, with stuffed pork and then it is steamed.
    Putharao - Putharao is made with steamed powdered rice.
    All the above details are from different sites I happened to read. So it was clear I could only make Pukhlein.
    Check this article and you will know what I mean.
    I ended up reading and enjoying the scenic Shillong and how it is referred to as the Mecca of authentic Chinese food. Kyat, the local brew made from rice, adds zing to all the local celebrations.
    Anyway, though I could have done what looked like a regular Rice pancake as seen in this picture, I was keen on the Pukhlein as I said.
    The video and an article on net article show the Pukhlein nestled within cane baskets wrapped in banana-leaf packets. This honey-brown cake of ground rice, mixed with jaggery and deep-fried in lard. Best eaten warm, when the slightly tough exterior gives way to a sweet crumbly middle. Well, it sounded very much like how we make and I ventured to make just that. To get more courage, I called in Amma to help me. She had recently made Neyyappam in the same texture as seen in the video. I showed her and we ventured into the kitchen. Imagine, my small kitchen was filled up with all. Konda was clicking pictures, Amma, Athamma, and I were busy trying to understand how exactly we might end up getting the same texture.
    We did it two times. The first time, we did the jaggery syrup and went to 1 thread. When we started adding the rice flour, it got caked up. Only then Amma said, we should have used homemade rice flour. We kept it aside and proceeded again. This time we just about cooked the jaggary and started mixing it. This time it wouldn't hold up. We added the rice flour very carefully and finally were able to get a batter that held its shape.
    We tried with both the batches, I personally felt the one with syrup was much better. Though in the end boys simply loved it and I had a risk of it getting disappeared very quickly. I had to quickly click pictures before I can afford for these to disappear.
    Some of the links that I also read and might interest you are this, this, and this!

    Pukhlein | Rice flour Jaggary Bread

    Ingredients Needed:

    Rice flour - 1 cup
    Jaggery - 1/2 cup
    Water for melting jaggary
    Oil for deep drying

    How to make the bread

    Dissolve the jaggery in water, strain this water.

    Cook this to a thick syrup. Slowly add the rice flour and make a thick batter.

    Heat a kadai with oil, make balls and pat them flat. Deep fry on both sides.

    Drain them on kitchen towel.

    Notes:

    You can use homemade rice flour for better result.

    If you want to use store bought flour, lightly roast it.

    An InLinkz Link-up

    Recipe

    Print Pin

    Pukhlein ~ Rice Jaggary Bread from Meghalaya

    Course Sweets
    Cuisine Meghalaya
    Author Srivalli

    Ingredients

    • 1 cup Rice Flour
    • 1/2 cup Jaggery
    • Water for melting jaggary
    • Cooking Oil for deep drying

    Instructions

    How to make Rice Jaggary Bread

    • Dissolve the jaggery in water, strain this water.
    • Cook this to a thick syrup. Slowly add the rice flour and make a thick batter.
    • Heat a kadai with cooking oil, make balls and pat them flat. Deep fry on both sides.
    • Drain them on kitchen towel.

    Notes

    You can use homemade rice flour for better result.
    If you want to use store bought flour, lightly roast it.
    Tried this recipe?Mention @spicingyourlife_ or tag #spicingyourlife_!
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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Priya Suresh says

      April 17, 2014 at 6:41 pm

      Am sure today is going to be puklein day, coz i did the same too..But seriously loved munching these deepfried rice cake.

      Reply
    2. vaishali sabnani says

      April 17, 2014 at 10:39 pm

      This is so cool..now people who are going to search for Meghalaya will be happy to see step by step pics ..I made my own recipe after reading about it.

      Reply
    3. Suma Gandlur says

      April 18, 2014 at 3:01 am

      Valli, I saw a youtube video of a man mentioning that it is breakfast bread and trust me I searched so intensively but couldn't come up with a recipe link. 🙂
      One more sweet dish I was interested turned out to be ASsamese tekeli pitha that i laready tried.
      Now Have to try out your version. It sounds like simple version of athirasam.

      Reply
    4. Amrita Roy says

      April 18, 2014 at 6:35 am

      something different that I would love to have

      Reply
    5. Usha says

      April 18, 2014 at 12:40 pm

      This does look like arisi. Glad you finally found a vegetarian recipe to do for this state.

      I can imagine how it felt once you finished all the cooking! I am almost there and can't await to reach the finish line! I need to cook one more and I will be done! there 2 more I wanted to redo but might just forget about the redoing.

      Reply
    6. Harini-Jaya R says

      April 18, 2014 at 3:33 pm

      I saw those videas about pukhlein too , Valli. In fact I tried to make them but after 2 attempts where the flour wasnt holding shape, I just gave up and looked for other options!
      You have made them very well, Valli. Shall try these out.

      Reply
    7. Varadas Kitchen says

      April 19, 2014 at 2:11 am

      When I cooked for Meghalaya I was in the no deep fried foods mode so I passed on this one. You got nice texture and color. But I think the most important thing was the memories you made of 4 generations in the kitchen and the boys enjoying it.

      Reply
    8. The Pumpkin Farm says

      April 19, 2014 at 7:13 am

      easier version of of anrase ai feel, this is nice and worth trying

      Reply
    9. Nivedhanams Sowmya says

      April 21, 2014 at 10:19 am

      Making all 6 NE states in one weekend - hats off valli!!! and this pukhlein is looking awesome!!

      Reply
    10. Jayanthi Padmanabhan says

      April 22, 2014 at 2:14 pm

      team effort has paid off. these rice jaggery deep fried balls look great.. i am wary of these one string, 2-string details.. they can make or break the dish

      Reply
    11. Gayathri Kumar says

      April 25, 2014 at 10:36 am

      This is so much like the appam we get in tea stalls. Looks so nice...

      Reply
    12. Pavani N says

      April 29, 2014 at 2:00 am

      Sometimes it means a lot to have mom or MIL in the kitchen for moral support. right?? You are so lucky to have them around. I wish I get that chance more often.
      Pukhlein sound delicious.

      Reply
    13. Archana Potdar says

      May 03, 2014 at 3:12 pm

      I love this teamwork you have done. I envy you Valli how I wish I had both my MIL and M. These pukhlein look delicious.

      Reply
    14. Chef Mireille says

      May 03, 2014 at 7:55 pm

      these look so good. thanks for all the links to read up on. your step by step pics also make it seem so easy to follow

      Reply
    15. Nalini's Kitchen says

      May 05, 2014 at 1:16 pm

      Such a nice team work,phuklein looks awesome and perfectly made...

      Reply
    16. Padmajha PJ says

      May 06, 2014 at 1:45 pm

      Once again similarities in cuisine across the country! The color looks nice Srivalli and it has come out so well..

      Reply
    17. Sandhya Ramakrishnan says

      May 11, 2014 at 2:34 am

      Such a lovely recipe! It is wonderful to have an experienced person in the kitchen not only to point out the problems, but also give an alternate.

      Reply
    18. Priya Srinivasan says

      May 13, 2014 at 4:20 am

      My favourite state!! I made these too, was not happy with the pictures so made putharo! Would definitely do this again for the yumm taste! !!

      Reply
    19. Manjula Bharath says

      May 27, 2014 at 7:06 pm

      wow your pukhlein is just killing me now , wud love to grab them right away 🙂 Happy to see lots of infos about other foods in this state 🙂 Kudos on your researching valli 🙂

      Reply
    20. Sapana Behl says

      May 29, 2014 at 8:26 am

      Rice Jaggery bread looks so tatsy !

      Reply
    21. Manasvi says

      November 01, 2018 at 7:30 pm

      I tried this recepie word by word and sadly while frying the rice cake dissolved. Not sure what did I goof up in the process. 🙁

      Reply
    22. Srivalli says

      November 01, 2018 at 10:14 pm

      This is a tough recipe and I have tried my best to capture with step by step. However the cake can dissolve if the flour is too dry. I mostly make the flour at home and the rice is wet. The store bought flour tends to be very dry and it can result in it. Hope you can try it again with homemade flour.

      Reply

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