Puran Poli

Puran Poli is a typical Maharashtrian dish and made on every special occassion whether it is Holi, Gauri Pujan or any other Pooja at home. Puran Poli is a must. Well, for those who don't know let me tell you this is the favourite dish of all Maharastrians. You can say its a sweet chapati made by filling puran which is a sweet stuffing. You cannot enjoy Puran Poli without lots of ghee on it. So, keep your dietary plans aside and do not be calorie contious to enjoy this relish. I made this on the account of Holi yesterday.

The very first step in making Puran Poli is to make the Puran. You would need -
Ingredients -
1) 1 cup chana dal
2) 1 cup crushed jaggery/gur
3) 1/2 cup sugar
4) a pinch of cardamom powder
Method -
1) Wash the chana dal and pressure cook it with 4-5 cups of water. Make atleast 5-6 whistles. Chana dal takes a longer time to cook. To check whether the dal is cooked, press the dal with your finger and it should not be hard.
2) If the dal is not hard and cooked properly drain the extra water and keep aside. This water is later used to make Katachi Amati. If the dal is little hard and not cooked properly then, take the dal in a wide skillet and add about half cup of warm water and let it cook. Keep checking the dal in between. Once done drain the excess water.
3) Now add the jaggery and sugar to the dal. It will leave more water. Cook the day till it is dry and the water has evaporated completely. Keep stirring continuously. Once done, keep it aside and let the mixture cool. Once cooled add the cinnamon powder. You can also add very little nutmeg powder to this mixture. I did not have any.

Now lets see, how to make the dough in which this puran would be filled. You would need -
Ingredients -
1) 1 cup whole wheat flour
2) 3 tbspn All Purpose Flour or Maida
3) Oil and water to knead
Method -
1) Take all the flours in a mixing bowl. Add almost 2 tbspn of oil and knead it to a soft dough with as much water required. This dough should be more soft and thinner than the usual dough made for the chapatis. To make the dough soft keep on kneading it with water. At the end take some oil in the hands and knead once again to make a soft ball.
Our stuffing as well as the dough is ready. Now, its time to roll them.

1) Take a small portion of the dough and roll it to a small round with your hand itself. Place a small amount of puran and cover the ball. Pull up the egdes to cover the filling. Roll this stuffed ball with rice flour/wheat flour or maida if required in between.

2) Fry this on a hot griddle with few drops of oil from both the sides.



Puran Poli is ready. Store these in an air tight container. They lasts for around a week. Just heat it in the microwave before eating and enjoy this with lots of ghee on it.
Another way of eating Puran Poli is to break the poli in small pieces and soak them in cold milk. You can have it as a desert. It tastes just awesome!!!