Puli Pitha is a traditional Bangladeshi rice-flour dumpling — crescent-shaped purses of rice dough filled with sweetened coconut and jaggery, either steamed or boiled, and sometimes served in thickened milk. It is the most common winter pitha in Bangladesh, made during the rice harvest season, the food that marks the changing of seasons.
Puli Pitha is one of the most common and beloved pithas (traditional rice cakes) of Bangladesh. Made during the winter harvest season (November-February) when new rice is available, the puli are crescent-shaped dumplings made from rice flour dough, filled with a mixture of grated coconut and jaggery (gur — date palm sugar). They can be steamed, boiled in water, or simmered in milk (the Dudh Puli version, already in this database). The plain steamed/boiled version (without milk) is the everyday pitha, eaten as a snack or breakfast. Making pitha is a communal activity — women gather to shape them, and the first batch is shared with neighbors.
A soft, slightly chewy rice-flour crescent, the dough mild and slightly sweet, the inside bursting with warm, sticky, caramelized coconut-jaggery filling. The contrast of the mild dough and the intense sweet filling is perfect. Dip it in milk or eat it plain; either way, it is the taste of a Bangladeshi winter morning.
The rice flour dough must be made with boiling water (this gelatinizes the starch, making it pliable). The filling is simply grated coconut and jaggery, sometimes with a touch of cardamom. The dumplings are shaped by hand — a disc of dough is flattened, filled, and folded into a crescent (the shape gives it the name 'puli'). They are steamed for 15-20 minutes (or boiled in water for 10 minutes).
Variations
Some add sesame seeds to the filling; some deep-fry instead of steaming; some add cardamom; the size varies.
On the Palate
Where Puli Pitha sits in the Bangladeshi flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 8How it's made
6 steps · 1 hour active + 30 min waiting
- 110 min
Make dough: bring 250 ml water to a boil with 1/2 tsp salt; add 250 g rice flour; stir to a soft dough; knead smooth; cover.
Watch outMix the rice flour with boiling water — the heat gelatinizes the starch so the dough turns pliable instead of cracking.
- 25 min
Make filling: mix 150 g grated coconut, 80 g jaggery (or brown sugar), and 1/2 tsp cardamom powder.
- 315 min
Shape: take a small ball of dough; flatten to a 7-cm disc; place 1 tbsp filling; fold into a crescent; seal the edges tightly.
- 418 min
Steam over boiling water 15-20 minutes until the dough is cooked through and slightly translucent.
Watch outSeal the crescent edges tight — a loose seam lets the coconut-jaggery filling leak out into the steam.
- 51 min
Alternatively: boil in salted water 10 minutes until they float.
- 61 min
Serve warm, plain or with milk.
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