Soi Fita are traditional Bengali rice dumplings, eaten on special occasions such as Eid.

Soi Fita can be eaten as a sweet or savoury dish; fry in ghee till crunchy and drizzle with honey or maple syrup for a sweet treat or serve with lamb/chicken curry for a more substantial meal, try it with my Classic Lamb & Potato curry. These dumplings are very versatile and are eaten in many ways, one of the most popular ways Bengalis like to eat this dish is to cut it up and fry in ghee along with sliced onions, green chillies and plenty of coriander. In our family we love our Soi Fita with lamb shanks (Faya/Nihari), this is such a special dish for us and we love eating it as an occasional treat! Most Bengali households have a supply ready to serve on Eid morning, in fact one of my sister in laws makes an extra large batch because she knows my boys love it and will visit their house after Eid prayers so has this on standby for when they go round!

While many people are daunted by this recipe, it is in fact a very easy recipe to execute with no more than four ingredients. Ground rice and rice flour are combined in boiling salted water to create a dough that is rolled into balls and subsequently steamed to cook through. The hardest part of this recipe is actually kneading the dough; dough made from rice flour and ground rice is quite tough to handle and not easy to knead unlike dough made from plain flour. Once you’ve mastered the technique however you will love making this simple and tasty Bangladeshi treat. This recipe has been tried and tested by many of my facebook followers with excellent results, many of whom have never successfully managed to make Soi Fita before trying my recipe. In this instance I doubled up the recipe to make a large batch, follow the quantities just as shown in this recipe if you want to make a smaller batch. Soi Fita is a classic Bengali dish, one you MUST try for an authentic Bengali food experience!

Makes 25 – 30 Soi Fita

You will need: for Soi Fita (Rice Dumplings)

1 pint of water
1.5 tsp salt
1.5 cups ground rice
2 cups rice flour

Method:

In a large pan measure and bring to boil 1 pint of cold water….

….add 1.5 tsp of salt and stir with a wooden spoon to dissolve, cover and allow to boil.

Once the water is boiling, turn down the heat and add 1.5 cups of ground rice….

….followed by 2 cups of rice flour and stir in quickly ensuring all the dry ingredients become moistened. Leave covered to cook over a low flame for about 10 – 15 mins, till you can smell the aroma of cooked rice or you can see balls of steam rolling off of the inside of the lid; using a glass lid for this stage helps, as you can see when the steam starts to form on the top of the lid. I always place a clove in the vent to prevent steam from escaping.

Once 10 – 15 minutes have passed and you can smell the aroma of cooked rice check your mixture; take a small amount and roll back and forth between your fingers to see if it comes together to form a dough. If it does (top right photo), your mixture is ready to knead.

You will need to allow the mixture to cool before handling, the mixture will look very crumbly at this stage and this is quite normal, kneading is the process that helps the mixture bind together to form a dough. I usually take a wide large dish/tray and tip all of the mixture into it and allow it to cool a little. It is best to knead the dough before it cools completely as it is more pliable whilst still warm, however be careful as the mixture will be EXTREMELY HOT immediately after cooking. Alternatively allow the entire mixture to cool in the pot till warm.

Take two handfuls of the warm Soi Fita mixture and place on your worktop….

….and using the base of your palm, knead the mixture between the worktop and your hand. The mixture might be sticky/dry and crumbly, keep going until it starts to form a ball of dough. The more you knead the dough the smoother your finished Soi Fita will be.

As I doubled this recipe I had 6 medium sized balls of dough in total, if you are following the quantities in this recipe you will most likely have 3 balls of dough.

Break each dough ball into smaller pieces and begin to roll them back and forth between the worktop and the palm of your hand. Shape them into traditional shapes as shown in the bottom left and right photos….

….some other shapes you may want to try!

Once you’re happy with the shapes and you’ve completed rolling the Soi Fita you need to place them in a steamer and cook them through. Steam for approximately 20 – 25 mins. My mother in law tells me the longer these soi fita are steamed the better and firmer the texture is.

After steaming the Soi Fita, allow them to cool completely before storing. The best way to store them is to place them in an airtight container in the fridge if you are planning on using them within a couple of days. If you are planning on storing them for a longer period, freeze them on a flat tray in the freezer and once hard place in an airtight container or zip lock bag.

When you want to serve the fita, place them on a hot tawa/pan until crispy and brown if you’re cooking them straight from the fridge; if you’re using them from frozen be sure to defrost first and then heat them on a pan. Serve your Soi Fita with a curry of your choice, this is our favourite combination, Soi Fita and Lamb Shanks. Or you can try serving them using any of the techniques mentioned above.

Bon Appetit!!

If you like the recipe please share with friends and family, also follow me on Facebook and Instagram. Questions? Leave a comment below or message me on Facebook.