Soak the rice for 2-3 hours, drain, and grind it with clean water into a smooth, thin batter. While grinding, add water ½ cup at a time to ensure that the rice grinds smoothly, and then thin the batter until it’s easily pourable, almost watery. Use about 2 cups of water total.

Add salt, and set the batter aside.

Prepare the filling by heating the ghee in a small pan, adding the jaggery (and mashing with the back of a wooden spoon until it’s dissolved) and then the coconut. Mix well and let this cook for a minute or two. Switch off the flame, and add the cardamom powder.

Prepare the grass “brush” by tying the bunch together with some string and then trimming one end to form an even brush. Dip it into the rice batter to mix while you heat the tava.

You can use a cheesecloth or thin handkerchief as a substitute for the grass: fold it to a width that you want so that you can dip in the batter and lift out straight to place and run over the tava. Don’t crumple it.

Now heat a tava or other cast iron pan. Don’t grease it too much or the batter will slide and not stick as you spread it. If there’s too much grease, wipe it with a clean cloth.

When the pan is hot but not smoking, use the grass to paint a criss-cross on the hot surface. It may take you a few tries to get this right, and do try not to paint over areas repeatedly or the resulting pitha will become too thick. Return the grass to the batter bowl.

If you’re using a handkerchief, lift it straight out of the batter and slide it in the same criss-cross patten on the hot surface. Return the cloth to the batter bowl.

The pitha’s edges will curl upwards slightly. Now put a spoonful or more of the filling in the center of the pitha and use the ends to fold into a square.

Lift the pitha off the tava with a spatula and repeat with the remaining batter and filling.

Serve these pithas hot, when they’re still nice and crunchy and the filling is warm and soaking through!