Puran Poli

Puran Poli is a popular Maharashtrian dish. Poli is a dessert served during auspicious occasions and during important festivals such as Holi, Padwa,Shravan month. Although it resembles a roti/chapati, a Poli is actually very different. It is made with poli filled with stuffing.

The stuffing is known as puran and the outer cover is known as poli. The puran is made by boiling chana dal with a pinch of turmeric for color. When the chana dal is cooked and soft, the broth is removed and kept aside. Jaggery or gur is added to the chana dal and cooked till they are soft. Then the stuffing is removed and sieved through a utensil(Puran Yantra) made specifically for puran to achieve a smoother consistency alternatively fine normal sieve can be used. Cardamom, and nutmeg is added for additional flavor.

The outer cover is made by making a dough by mixing whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, milk/water and ghee. Equal number of balls are made of the dough as well as the stuffing. The puran is stuffed inside the dough and then rolled out flat using a rolling pin. The poli is then coked on a hot griddle and served with ghee and a soup made from the chana dal broth called as katachi amti.

Serve: 4 people
Time: 45 to 1 hr
Ingredients:

1 cup chana dal
1 cup jaggery (adjust for sweetness)
1 tsp sugar
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp all purpose flour
3 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp cardamom powder
1/2 tsp nutmeg powder
Lukewarm water to make dough

Method:

1. Pressure cook chana dal in a 2 Cup water for about 6-7 whistles or till it turns soft.

2. Drain out excess water in another pot from cooked dal.

3. In deep pan, boil some water and add cooked dal and stir for 1-2 minutes and again drain out excess water in same pot until the dal is absolutely becomes dry.( This broth is used in making Katachi amti )

4. Add jaggery, sugar in same pan. Cook dal and jaggery for about 5-8 minutes on low flame.

5. Remove from heat. Add cardamom powder, freshly grated nutmeg powder. Mix well.

6. Mash into a soft paste using puran yantra( traditional puran making machine) or blender without using water. Alternatively fine normal sieve can be used. This mixture is called puran in Maharashtra.

7. Form 8- 10 balls of equal size depending about how thick and big you want to make puran poli and put it aside.

8. Mix whole wheat flour, all purpose flour,oil , Knead into soft smooth dough using lukewarm water. Keep aside for 15- 20 minutes.

9. Tie muslin cloth to rolling board. This will make easy to roll puran poli.(optional)

10. Henceforth one should be careful and very gentle.

11. Divide into 8 -10 equal portions same in size with puran boll. Take one portion of dough, dip in whole wheat flour/all purpose flour and make a small bowl.

12. Place a ball of "chana jaggery"(Puran) paste in the bowl and slowly cover by one hand and gently pressing puran using other hand until dough boll cover the puran completely.

13. Again deep this puran filled ball in flour and pat gently to make like a patty, Apply some flour on rolling board, gently roll out each poli to a 6 inches disc without flipping.

14. This can get tricky as the paste does try to slide out. Use a little flour if that happens. Roll.

15. Roast one side of poli on a hot, dry girdle. Once this side gets roasted, gently flip to other side and roast again. Do not use oil or ghee. Avoid flipping frequently.

16. Smear with ghee on both sides when done.

17. Serve warm with plenty of clarified butter(ghee), once it cooled serve with a bowl of milk.

Note:
1. 1 tsp rice can be added while cooking chana dal, it will not make puran to slide out while rolling poli.
2. Use milk instead of water for making the dough to make pooran polis very soft.
3.If the chana dal mixture becomes too dry and cannot be made into balls, add 1 tsp rice flour to it.

4. To make yellowish color poli, add 1/4 tsp turmeric powder while making dough.

5. These Poli stay fresh approximately 4 days at room temperature.