Dudh Puli/ Rice dumplings cooked in milk

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Happy Makar Sankranti to all my friends!!!! Makar Sankranti or poush parbon at my “mamabari” maternal uncle’s place in Nandigram, Midnapore means Lakshmi Puja. They offer their harvest to goddess Lakshmi. Pithe and puli with nolen gur and gobindobhog rice is made all over West Bengal to celebrate poush parbon. We at our home do not have Lakshmi Puja though but surely pithe, puli and nolen gurer payes.

Few tips and tricks to prepare dudh puli

There are a few things which I would like to mention before we start preparing dudh puli. Traditionally, it is prepared from gobindobhog rice, however, if not available at your place, you can use basmati rice. The shell of dudh puli is usually prepared only from rice flour. But I prefer, mixing wheat flour or maida and semolina. This is because I have eaten dudh puli at many of my “kakima’s” (neighboring aunt) house and found that their puli was very hard. So, I asked my mother, “What do you add to the puli to make them softer?” because I found my mother’s always softer. She replied “maida and suji”. So, I always add them to my puli and the result is always wonderful. Every year before Sankranti when I call my mother and tell her my plan to make pithe or payes, she reminds me to check the gur before adding it to the entire dudh puli or while making payes. This is because nolen gur often has adulterations which cause curdling of the milk. Therefore, it is always suggested to check before adding. So, what I do is take out a cup of hot milk from the pan/kadai and add gur to it. Then I wait for a while to see if the milk has curdled. If not, you can add this milk to the milk in the pan/kadai and continue cooking. However, if the milk curdles you cannot use this gur for making pithe or payes. You can still use the gr for making the coconut stuffing. Ok, now we are ready to begin!!!!

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: (Bengali) Indian

Preparation time: 15 mins

Cook time: 30 mins

Servings: 16 pulis

Ingredients

1 cup shredded coconut
400g Nolen gur
2 litres milk
½ cup or 100g of rice flour
½ cup of wheat flour or maida
1 tablespoon of semolina
A pinch of salt

Directions

Making the coconut filling

Take the coconut in a kadai and stir it for 1 minute.
Now, add 1/3 of the nolen gur to the coconut. At this point I prefer adding ½ cup of milk. This prevents the coconut from scorching as well as dissolving the gur.
Now, continue stirring the mixture till all the gur melts and all the water evaporates.
Turn off the flame once you see the mixture leaving the sides of the pan.
Let it cool down till we prepare the shell.

Making the shell

In a bowl take the rice flour, wheat flour, semolina and salt.
Make a dough with hot water, adding little by little.
Now, divide the dough into 16 equal balls.
Take one ball of the dough and spread it into a disc with a rolling pin. Do not make the shell too thick, else it will not cook properly and taste doughy while eating, nor too thin or it will break open while cooking.
Take a spoon of the coconut filling. Put it in the disc and seal the edges properly. The puli now looks like a half moon. The decorations on the edges of the puli were made witrh fingers. You can skip it if you want.
Now, prepare all the pulis and keep it aside.

Making the dudh puli

Take the milk in a pan/kadai and bring it to boil.
Reduce the milk to 2/3 of its volume. Now, add the pulis one by one. If you are making in a small vessel, prepare in batches. Do not overcrowd the container.
Cook the dudh puli in the milk for 10-15 minutes on medium low flame.
Now, take the milk out in a bowl and add the gur to the milk.
If you see that the milk looks ok and did not curdle, add the milk to the remaining milk. Add all the gur.
Turn off the flame. However, you want to still concentrate the milk for a richer consistency, take the pulis out and continue reducing.
Let the dudh puli cool down for few hours and serve them cold.

Step by step instructions to prepare dudh puli

Take the coconut in a kadai and stir it for 1 minute.

Now, add 1/3 of the nolen gur to the coconut. At this point I prefer adding ½ cup of milk. This prevents the coconut from scorching as well as dissolving the gur.

Now, continue stirring the mixture till all the gur melts and all the water evaporates.

Turn off the flame once you see the mixture leaving the sides of the pan. Let it cool down till we prepare the shell.

In a bowl take the rice flour, wheat flour, semolina and salt.

Make a dough with hot water, adding little by little.

Now, divide the dough into 16 equal balls.

Take one ball of the dough and spread it into a disc with a rolling pin. Do not make the shell too thick, else it will not cook properly and taste doughy while eating, nor too thin or it will break open while cooking.

Take a spoon of the coconut filling. Put it in the disc and seal the edges properly. The puli now looks like a half moon. The decorations on the edges of the puli were made witrh fingers. You can skip it if you want.

Now, prepare all the pulis and keep it aside.

Take the milk in a pan/kadai and bring it to boil. Reduce the milk to 2/3 of its volume. Now, add the pulis one by one. If you are making in a small vessel, prepare in batches. Do not overcrowd the container.

Cook the dudh puli in the milk for 10-15 minutes on medium low flame. Now, take the milk out in a bowl and add the gur to the milk. If you see that the milk looks ok and did not curdle, add the milk to the remaining milk. Add all the gur.