The puran poli or pooran poli is a amazing dish that is relished in many states of india , each having their own twist of ingredients and also named differently in some cases. But the basic idea of the puran poli is a Indian bread stuffed with chana dal ( split gram) , jaggery and flour.
Making puran poli is considered a highly skilled task due to the delicate way the filling needs to stay intact in the bread or poli. The maharashtrian puran poli which uses chana dal, the gujarati version makes use of toovar dal.
Cooking Time: 10-15 minutes
Servings: 4 people
Preparation Time: 40-60 minutes
Category: Sweet dish / Dessert
This dish requires two things the bread and the filling in the bread that makes the roti or bread into pooran poli. Depending on the size of the puran poli you make with the bread , you can get between 8 to 10 puran polis
Ingredients:
- 1 cup Chana Daal/ Split Bengal Gram
- 1 cup jaggery grated
- 1 cup self-raising flour
- 5 tbsps vegetable/ canola/ sunflower cooking oil
- 1/2 tsp cardamom powder
- Ghee to rub on the cooked Puran Poli
For the filling
1) Wash the Chana Dal in water. Add approximately 2 and 1/2 cup water to the pressure cooker with the washed Chana Dal. Pressure cook for 3 to 4 whistles, then turn off heat and let it sit for 15 minutes. ( This can bee cooked in a normal dish if you don’t have a pressure cooker , it will take longer )
2) After 15 minutes ,remove the cooked chana dal form the pressure cooker, strain the cooked Chana dal to separate the water in a sieve . Then add this dal into a deep pan and add jaggery and let this mixture cook over medium heat.
The Jaggery will melt and this mixture becomes thin in consistency. keep stirring the mixture over medium heat until it becomes thick and pasty.
Add cardamom powder and mix. Do not let the mixture stick to the bottom of pan or burn as this paste will be used as the filling for the bread. Mash the dal lightly using the back of the spoon
The mixture or chana dal mixture for the filling should be a nice smooth paste like mixture
3) Once the chana dal mixture become thick, remove the pan from heat and let this mixture cool down. Grind it finely in a mixer or then a masher or then if you have puran Maker (puran yantra), you could us e this gadget.
For the dough
4) Sift the self raising flour. Add 5 to 6 tbsp Oil and mix well. Now add water little by little as needed to make a smooth consistent dough. Knead the dough until the it becomes very elasticy. Put this dough into a bowl and cover it with lid.
5) Make 1 and 1/2 inch balls of the prepared (chana dal) filling. Also make 1/2 inch balls of the dough ( flour).
Grease your fingertips with oil and flatten the flour ball into a small flat round (75 mm. (3") diameter circle.) , put one stuffing( filling chana dal mixture ) ball in it. spread the dough gently over the stuffing’s surface with fingers and cover the stuffing and flatten the bread gently (100 mm. (4") diameter circle) with a rolling pin or hands to make a larger flat bread with the filling inside . This is your puran poli ready to cook (pan fry)
Heat the tawa ( or pan), place the flattened roti or bread in the Centre and roast on both sides over medium heat. Make sure you dont make the roti ( or puran poli) too thick or too thin or they might not cook well or then get burnt.
Optional items to include in recipe to give a different flavor
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg (jaiphal) powder
- A few saffron (kesar) strands
These rotis (pooran poli) stay fresh for approximately 4 day at room temperature. Smear a little ghee on each puran poli and serve hot.
This dish is popular during the festival of holi in india in maharashtra , where it is the Marathi tradition to make it at home.This dish is also made in south India with jaggery and coconut as the main filling in the bread. In Maharashtra, Puranpoli, a sort of paratha with a sweet dal stuffing is made specially for Holi.
In Andhra Pradesh this dish is also popular under the name “bobbatlu”
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