Chunga Pitha facts for kids
Bamboo is burning to make sunga fita
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| Alternative names | Chungapura pitha, sunga fita |
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| Type | Desserts |
| Course | Breakfast and light refreshment |
| Place of origin |  India Bangladesh |
| Region or state | Sylhet region Assam |
| Main ingredients | Glutinous rice and bamboo |
| Similar dishes | Lemang, Daetong-bap, Sticky rice in bamboo |
Chunga pitha (also called chungapura pitha) is a special traditional rice cake from the Sylhet region in Bangladesh. It's mainly made with bamboo and sticky rice. Sometimes, people add binni rice, milk, sugar, coconut, and rice powder. This unique treat is made by stuffing sticky rice inside young bamboo. Then, it's slowly cooked over smoke. It's a well-known traditional food in Bengali cuisine.
This tasty dish is also popular with the Assamese people. They often make it during Magh Bihu, a harvest festival in Assam, India.
History of Chunga Pitha
For hundreds of years, fish markets have been common in Bengal. People in the Sylhet region would buy or catch large fish. They would then fry these fish to eat. It was considered polite to offer chunga pitha, fried fish, and coconut sweets to guests. This was especially true for a new son-in-law after a meal.
The hill tribes of Sylhet had a tradition. They would cut bamboo and put wet rice inside it. Over time, this bamboo-cooked food became popular. It spread from the hills to the Sylhetis living in the flat lands. Eventually, this dish, cooked in a chunga (bamboo tube), became known as chunga pitha.
Even though atap rice is a main food in Sylhet, people prefer glutinous rice for this special dish.
Ingredients for Chunga Pitha
- mulibash (a type of bamboo)
- glutinous rice (sticky rice)
- milk
- sugar
- coconut
- rice powder
How to Make Chunga Pitha
To make this rice cake, you need a small type of bamboo called mulibash. This bamboo has a special oily chemical. This oil helps prevent the bamboo from burning in the fire.
First, sticky rice is rolled in a banana leaf. This rice is then carefully put inside the bamboo tube. Next, the bamboo tube is slowly cooked using straw as fuel. The bamboo's natural juice helps to boil the rice inside.
This special bamboo is used for many different rice cakes. Sometimes, people bake it with sticky rice, milk, sugar, coconut, and rice powder. Once the chunga pitha is ready, it looks like a candle. It is then easily removed from the bamboo tube.
