Today’s recipe is a Holi special – Puran Poli!! It is a favourite at my place. Hot puran poli slathared with ghee! What more can one ask for?😊

It is a very popular dish in Maharashrta, Goa and the Konkan region and is prepared for festivals and on special days.  

For those of you who are not familiar with puran poli, it is a sweet paratha (flatbread) which is stuffed with a chana dal and jaggery filling.

The jaggery can be substituted with sugar or you can use half quantity of jaggery and half sugar depending on your taste. I prefer using jaggery as I feel the chana dal and jaggery complement each other very well.

You can substitute maida with whole wheat flour or aata. Just remember to knead a soft dough. I often make wheat flour puran polis too and they taste just as awesome.

Addition of cardamon powder gives it a very nice aroma. Some like to add nutmeg or a mix of nutmeg and cardamon also works. I am not a big fan of nutmeg in puran polis so have used only cardamon powder.

The process of making puran polis can be divided into 2 steps. one is making the puran or stuffing and second is making the dough and polis. I wouldn’t say that it’s an easy process. It is time consuming, but with a little bit of planning you can easily make it at home.

I make the puran on one day as it takes a good hour right from boiling the dal, to making puran out of it. After that there is no energy to go all the way to make the polis. So, polis I make the next day. And trust me its easily doable. 

If you are making it for the first time then I would suggest you make half the quantity the first time to get the hang if it. Basically it is equal quantities of dal and jaggery and maida. For the quantity of ingredients I have mentioned in the recipe I got 14 puranpolis.

So do try and make them for Holi.

Ingredients:

For the stuffing:

• Chana dal 250grms
• Jaggery 250 grms
• Cardamon powder 2 tsp

For the dough:

• Maida 250 grams
• Salt ½ tsp
• Oil 2-3 tbsp
• Water ½ – ¾ cup or as required to make a soft dough

Serve with ghee and /or milk.

Method:

Soak the chana dal overnight or for 6-8 hours. Boil the soaked dal till it is completely cooked, or pressure cook the dal. I cooked the dal in my pressure pan and it took around 4 whistles on full gas and 2-3 mins on sim for the dal to cook. Take care not to over cook it to a mushy consistency.

While the dal is cooking prepare the dough. In a bowl take the maida, add salt and make a dough by taking the required quantity of water. We need a very soft pliable dough. Add the oil to the dough and knead well for some time till you get a soft, slightly sticky dough.

In a colander drain out all the liquid and use only the dal. When still hot grind in small batches to a fine dry paste. Do not add water while grinding.

In a thick bottomed pan, add the jaggery and ground dal and cook on a low flame till the jaggery is melted and well blended with the ground dal. This step will take you around 30 mins.

When the mixture is well blended and dry take It out on a plate and cool for a few minutes. Add the elaichi/cardamon powder and mix well using your hands. Divide the mixture into equal portions. I got 14 parts for this quantity.

Take a small part of the dough (approx. half the size of the ball of filling) and flatten it with your fingers.

Place the filling on the dough and cover the filling with the dough like we do for making a stuffed paratha. Flatten it with your palms and then rollout the poli.

Heat a tava and cook it for 1-2 minutes on each side. Add a spoonful of ghee and cook for another minute.

Serve hot with a dollop of ghee..

Notes:

If you are not going to consume the polis immediately then you can dry roast them on the tava and cool on a plate and store in a dry container. They stay good for 5-6 days in the refrigerator. Heat them on a tava before eating and roast on both sides well by adding a spoonful of ghee.

You can also make the puran and refrigerate it and use it as and when required. It stays good for 4-5 days when refrigerated.