Choshi pitha are tiny rice-flour dumplings that are prepared usually at the time of Sankranti, a festival to mark the winter harvest. Besides new rice, this recipe uses another winter delicacy—jaggery from the sap of the date palm. The making of choshi is a skill that requires practice. Watching experienced cooks deftly produce tiny rice-like dumplings from the serpentine rice-flour dough can be hypnotic. It really does feel like watching a magic trick where these dumplings keep appearing out of nowhere from under the palm of the cook.

We are, of course, nowhere nearly as skilled. Nevertheless, we have attempted to break down the steps in hope that it will be useful to those, like us, new to the art of choshi-making.