The taste of Bihar’s traditional food is truly unmatched. While litti–chokha rules the savory side, winters belong to a soft, milky dessert called Doodh Pitha. Rich with milk and mawa, lightly sweet, and filled with dry fruits, this dessert melts in your mouth. Once you taste it, even halwai-style rasmalai will feel ordinary.

The best part? You can make this authentic Bihari sweet in about 40 minutes with simple ingredients.

Ingredients for Doodh Pitha

For Pitha

• Rice flour – 1 cup

• Mawa/khoya – ½ cup (about 150 g)

• Powdered sugar (bura) – ¼ cup

• Dry coconut (grated) – ½ cup

• Green cardamom – 4 (powdered)

• Chironji – 1 tbsp

• Raisins – 1 tbsp

• Almonds – 10–12 (chopped)

• Cashews – 8–10 (chopped)

• Pistachios – optional

• Desi ghee – 2 tbsp

For Milk Base

• Milk – 1 litre

• Sugar – ⅓ cup (adjust to taste)

• Saffron strands – 4–5 (optional)

• Cardamom powder – a pinch

Step-by-step Doodh Pitha Recipe

1. Prepare the dough
   Heat some water and knead the rice flour with it to make a soft but non-sticky dough. Cover and keep aside.

2. Make the filling
   In a bowl, mix mawa, powdered sugar, chopped dry fruits, chironji, raisins, and cardamom powder. Keep a little dry fruit mix aside for garnishing the milk later.

3. Shape the pitha
   Grease your hands with desi ghee. Make small balls from the rice flour dough. Press slightly to create a cavity, fill with mawa mixture, and seal gently to form smooth round pithas.

4. Prepare the milk
   Boil milk in a heavy pan. Add saffron strands (or a pinch of food colour), sugar, grated coconut, reserved dry fruits, and cardamom powder. Let it come to a gentle boil.

5. Cook the pitha in milk
   Slowly add the prepared pithas to the boiling milk. Cook on low flame until the pithas are soft and well-coated with thickened milk.

6. Final touch
   Switch off the flame once the milk thickens slightly and the pithas are fully cooked.

Serving tips

• Serve warm in winters for best taste

• You can add ½ tsp custard powder to thicken the milk further

• Adjust sugar and dry fruits as per preference