Dudh Puli is a traditional Bangladeshi rice-flour dumpling dessert — crescent-shaped rice-flour purses filled with coconut and jaggery, simmered in sweetened thickened milk. It is a winter pitha (rice cake) specialty, made during the harvest season, the most beloved of all Bangladeshi sweet pithas.
Dudh Puli (literally 'milk dumplings') is a pitha (traditional rice cake) from Bangladesh, made during the winter months (November-February) when new rice is harvested and the cold weather is right for rice-flour work. The 'puli' are crescent-shaped dumplings made from rice flour dough, filled with grated coconut and jaggery (gur), then simmered in sweetened, thickened milk (dudh). The milk thickens as it reduces, coating the dumplings in a creamy, sweet sauce. Dudh Puli is the most beloved of all sweet pithas — it is made at home for family, shared with neighbors, and is the taste of a Bangladeshi winter.
A bowl of warm, thick, sweet milk with soft rice-flour dumplings floating in it. Bite into a puli — the rice dough is soft and chewy, the inside bursts with sweet, caramelized coconut-jaggery filling. The milk is creamy and cardamom-scented. It is the most comforting Bangladeshi winter dessert.
The rice flour dough must be made with hot water (this gelatinizes the starch, making the dough pliable enough to shape). The dumplings are shaped into crescents by hand — a small ball of dough is flattened, filled, and folded. The milk is simmered with cardamom and sugar until slightly thickened, then the raw dumplings are added and simmered for 15-20 minutes (they cook in the milk, thickening it further with their starch). The jaggery filling melts slightly, sweetening the milk from within.
Variations
Some use sugar instead of jaggery; some add condensed milk; some make the dumplings smaller; the milk thickness varies.
On the Palate
Where Dudh Puli sits in the Bangladeshi flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 6How it's made
8 steps · 1 hour active + 30 min waiting
- 110 min
Make dough: bring 200 ml water to a boil with 1 tsp salt; add 200 g rice flour; stir to a soft dough; knead smooth; cover.
Watch outMake the rice-flour dough with boiling water so the starch gelatinizes — dough mixed with cool water cracks and crumbles when you try to fold the crescents.
- 25 min
Make filling: mix 100 g grated coconut, 50 g jaggery (or brown sugar), and 1/2 tsp cardamom powder.
- 315 min
Shape the puli: take a small ball of dough; flatten to a disc; place 1 tsp filling; fold into a crescent; seal the edges.
- 410 min
In a wide pot, bring 1 liter milk to a simmer with 100 g sugar and 2 cardamom pods.
- 520 min
Gently add the puli; simmer 20 minutes, stirring gently.
Watch outKeep the milk at a bare simmer and stir gently — a hard boil scorches the milk on the bottom and can crack the tender dumplings.
- 63 min
The milk will thicken; the puli will soften and float.
- 72 min
Add 2 tbsp condensed milk; stir.
- 81 min
Serve warm in bowls.
Archive tool suggestions — not reviewed
These legacy suggestions have not been evidence-reviewed and are not presented as required tools.
