It is time to bid a farewell to chilliest wintery weather! Although the cold season is going to be there for a while, we will have longer days now. The beginning of the year brings in the harvest festival for the people of India. Known by different names, Makar Sankranti in Assam is called Magh Bihu or Bhogali Bihu. The festival marks the celebration of harvest by the indigenous ethnic groups of Assam. Magh Bihu brings the community together, and they relish in the sweetness of traditional makings. Laru, pitha, doi-sira, Magh Bihu festival offers a varied range of desserts, that people love to enjoy as a breakfast, evening snacks and even post meals. On the auspicious occasion of Magh Bihu 2020, here we bring you some Assamese traditional special sweet recipes that you can savour on Bhogali Bihu celebrations. Magh Bihu 2020 Special Recipes: From Masor Tenga to Narikol Pitha, 5 Assamese Delicacies to Savour on Bhogali Bihu. 

1. Narikol Pitha:

Rice flour, baked on an open surface as rolled with a delicious stuffing of coconut in it. Sometimes, the coconut is mixed with jaggery, or sugar syrup. Instead of coconut, people even stuff sesame seeds, and the outcome is known as til pitha. This is a traditional sweet, that people love to make during the festival and you can also find pithas being sold in the market throughout the year, for its authentic classic taste.

2. Ghila Pitha:

It is mostly like a remade of malpuas in Assamese style. Deep-fried flattened rice flour, which is immersed in sugar syrup, ghila pitha, makes it another lip-smacking dessert for the festival.

3. Sunga Pitha:

Cooking inside bamboos is one of the unique specialities among Assamese. Sunga pitha is prepared inside the bamboo. But the process needs patience! This bamboo-prepared variant of pitha requires sticky rice flour, being baked on open fires after being stuffed into bamboos.

4. Narikol Laru:

The sweet balls are heaven. Made with coconut or sesame seeds or puffed rice, these are relished delicacy of the Bihu celebrations. Fried grated coconut mixed with sugar shaped into balls, and sometimes adding a touch of jaggery, narikol laru is too good to be stored.

5. Doi-Sira:

Doi-sira is the hallmark of khati okhomiyas. Perfect and healthy breakfast for everyone, the taste is enhanced, adding a chunk of jaggery in it. You do not really have to do anything, for this traditional Assamese sweet delight.

These are some of the most popular and delicious sweet recipes that one can treat the taste bud during the festival. There are many other desserts as well. Kolpat pitha, lau pitha, takeli pitha, the list can go on! Happy Magh Bihu, everyone!

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 14, 2020 01:45 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).