What food did Sujata offer Siddhartha before his enlightenment?

Sujata offered Siddhartha milk rice before his enlightenment.

The food is commonly identified as payasa or kheer, a rice pudding made with milk. Siddhartha had spent years practicing severe asceticism near Uruvela, close to present-day Bodh Gaya, and had become extremely emaciated. Sujata’s nourishing offering helped restore his strength before he resumed meditation.

Traditional stories say Sujata had prepared the dish as an offering to a tree spirit after a wish for a child was fulfilled. Seeing the ascetic Siddhartha beneath the tree, she mistook him for the spirit and presented him with a golden bowl of milk rice. He accepted it, abandoning the ideal of extreme self-mortification.

This meal is important because it marks Siddhartha’s turn toward the Middle Way: avoiding both indulgence and destructive austerity. In later tradition, that balanced approach enabled him to meditate effectively and attain enlightenment under the Bodhi Tree.