Maharastrian Puran Poli
I Always follow my mom's recipe which I have posted on my blog .
we usually make a Puran poli on a festive day like Padwa -Hindu New Year , Nag Panchami or for lord Ganesha during Chaturthi !
Usually my lady cook makes them according to this recipe and I must say , she does a great job as usual but today , as she away , I tried my hand at it , after a real long time and was so glad I got to make them with the help of my kitchen assistant ofcourse with the Rolling & rest of the cooking ,though the entire preparation were done by me 🙂
Puran poli is usually served with plenty of ghee & an Amti - (a curry made with the water left behind ) or hot saffron infused milk !
Every Maharashtrian Household/Family has their own Puran poli & Amti recipe .
Ingredients:-
* Chana dal – 2 cups (450-500gm )
* Jaggery- 1.5 cups ( add 2 cups if you like it towards the sweeter side)
* 1/2 tsp dry ginger powder
* 1/4 nutmeg finely grated
* 4 Cardamom pods – finely crushed
Method :-
* Wash the chana dal well and cook in 5 cups /1 litre of water (double the quantity of dal ) for 5-6 whistles in a pressure cooker . (till soft but not mushy)
* Drain all the water in a colander (this is saved for the Amti usually ).
* Add to the cooked dal the grated jaggery & run it through a food processor/ mixer , Pulse it a few times ,mixing in between to get a smooth paste .
* Taste the puran and adjust the sweetness accordingly to personal taste
* if the mixture is very soft, transfer mixture to a pan and cook for few minutes stirring continuously taking care not to scorch it
* the puran is ready when it does not stick to your hands or is mushy
* Add the grated nutmeg , powdered dry ginger & crushed cardamom
* mix into a round ball keep covered till needed
* make round balls of the puran mixture , a size of a big lime & use as filling in the dough prepared as follows
for the Poli dough :-
* 2 cups whole wheat flour
* 2 cups All purpose flour
* 2 tablespoon Oil
* 1/4 tsp salt to taste
* 1/4 tsp saffron crushed / powder( optional )
* Water to mix the dough
Method :-
* In a large bowl add both the flours & salt , mix together
* slowly add the water & oil add the saffron powder (dissolved in little milk) for well distributing it into the flour
* knead well to make a dough which is slightly softer than the chapati dough in feel
* Knead the dough well & rest for 1/2 hour covered with a damp kitchen towel
* now the dough should be easy to stretch without breaking
* Now make tiny balls the size of a big lemon 2”
* the proportion of dough to puran ( filling ) should be almost equal .
* I take dough which is about 1/2 of the size of my purnam ball as I like my poli to be really stuffed ! The whole idea is that the dough should be less than the purnam. This makes a perfect thin puran polis.
* So with oiled palms, take the dough ball & make a round cone , fill in the stuffing , close from all round the stuffing & with a rolling pin roll out as for a stuffed bread / roti rolling it slowly.
* Cook the stuffed poli on a hot girdle as for pancakes / crepes or chapati, add some oil/ghee and cook on both sides till done !
Puran poli tastes lovely with ghee, saffron milk or just on its own with Amti !!