Puli pitha
পুলি পিঠা
Filled rice-flour dumplings often cooked in sweetened milk or steamed, especially during winter and harvest celebrations.
About this dish
Filled rice-flour dumplings often cooked in sweetened milk or steamed, especially during winter and harvest celebrations. The recipe here chooses one named variation from that wider tradition; household fillings, shapes and serving styles may differ.
Recipe
Bengali dudh puli in cardamom milk
Dough
- 200 g plain rice flour
- 300 ml water
- pinch of salt
- 1 tsp ghee
Filling
- 140 g fresh grated coconut
- 100 g date palm jaggery
- 2 tbsp water
Milk
- 1 L whole milk
- 60 g sugar
- 3 cardamom pods, crushed
- 2 cm cinnamon stick
- 1
Filling: 140 g fresh grated coconut; 100 g date palm jaggery; 2 tbsp water. Cook coconut, jaggery and filling water over low heat to a moist, thick paste; cool. Scrape over low heat until coconut holds a moist mound without pooling syrup, then cool.
- 2
Dough: 200 g plain rice flour; 300 ml water; pinch of salt; plus the remaining ingredients listed for this component. Boil dough water with salt and ghee. Stir in rice flour, cover off heat 5 minutes and knead warm until smooth. Stir rice flour in briskly, knead once safe to touch and cover unused warm dough.
- 3
Divide into 16. Flatten into circles, enclose filling and pinch into sealed crescents. Thin evenly, keep filling clear of rim, pinch fully shut and smooth cracks.
- 4
Milk: 1 L whole milk; 60 g sugar; 3 cardamom pods, crushed; plus the remaining ingredients listed for this component. Simmer milk, sugar, cardamom and cinnamon 10 minutes. Add puli and gently simmer 15-20 minutes until dough is tender, moving them carefully to prevent sticking. Serve warm or chilled. Use a wide heavy pan, stir the milk base before adding pieces and then move gently. Cut a test shell for tenderness; for cold serving cool promptly and refrigerate.
Note
Do not boil milk hard or stir roughly. This version uses jaggery in the filling and sugar in the milk to reduce the risk of milk curdling.