In India and particularly in the states of Gujrat and Maharashtra, puran poli is synonymous with the festival of Holi. As a child, I always remember the Holi day routine of playing with friends, coming home drenched in water and colors, taking a long bath to get rid of the "gulaal" and then having a sumptuous lunch of puran poli with family. Though we are quite far from Holi at this time, we had a craving for puran poli this weekend, which hubby dearest happens to be a great fan of.
Some people make puran poli with toor dal, but in Maharastra it has traditionally been made with chana dal. I personally like more with the flavor and aroma of chana dal. During older times, making puran poli wasn't such an easy affair. People meticulously used "puran yantra" to crush and make a smooth mixture with the dal. But of course, with growing number of kitchen gadgets and lesser time on hand, there are quicker and less time consuming methods available now.
Puran poli is served with katachi amti, which is a delicious sweet-tangy-spicy accompaniment to puran poli and compliments it perfectly. Katachi amti is made with water that's leftover after you boil the chana dal. So to have enough amti, make sure to boil the dal in lots of water.
In this post, I will show you step by step method of making puran polis. Give it a try, you will love them!
This recipe makes about 10-11 puran polis.
Ingredients
For the roti dough
Whole Wheat Flour or Atta : 2 cups
Salt : 1/2 teaspoon
For the puran
Chana Dal : 1 cup
Sugar : 1 cup (adjust according to your taste)
Nutmeg : 1/4 teaspoon
Cardamom : 1/4 teaspoon
For katachi amti
Water left over from cooking chana dal : 3 cups (or whatever remains after boiling)
Oil : 1 tablespoon
Mustard seeds : 1/2 teaspoon
Jeera/Cumin seeds : 1/2 teaspoon
Turmeric : 1/4 teaspoon
Red Chilly Powder : 1/2 teaspoon
Salt : 1/2 teaspoon
Hing : 1/2 teaspoon
Curry leaves : 4-5
Tamarind paste : 1 tablespoon
Sugar : 1 teaspoon
Procedure
1) Boil chana dal in about 4 cups water with a pinch of salt until it is very soft and tender to touch. I usually pressure cook it for 5-6 whistles.
2) While the dal is boiling, prepare the roti dough. Mix 1/2 teaspoon salt with atta and knead with adequate amount of water to make s soft and pliable dough. Cover it with a cotton cloth and set aside.
3) Drain the boiled dal and reserve the water.
4) In a non stick pan, pour the drained dal and add the sugar. Start with 3/4 cup and increase until you get to the sweetness level you like. For us, usually 1:1 ratio of dal and sugar works well.
5) Add ground nutmeg powder and keep mixing and mashing until you get a smooth paste without any traces of whole dal. The consistency of the mixture is really important - if you make it too dry, the puran poli will be crumbly and if you leave it too moist, the filling will come out while rolling.
6) When the mixture starts leaving the sides of the pan, sprinkle ground cardamom powder and transfer to another plate to cool.
7) You will know you got the right consistency of the paste when you can form soft balls of the mixture. Make small balls of the roti dough as well as the filling. The filling ball should be approximately 1.5 times the roti dough.
8) Heat the tava/griddle. Roll out the roti dough into a small circle, and as much as possible try to roll out the sides instead of the center.
9) Add the filling and pull the edges of the dough together and twist it on the top. Remove the excess.
10) Press the dough ball lightly and set aside. Do the same for all the dough balls.
11) Roll out the dough you set aside the first (which has been sitting around the longest). Apply very gently pressure while rolling it out or the mixture will come out of all sides!
12) Place the poli on the griddle/tava and flip it when you see bubbles appear. Smear some ghee (optional) and after a few seconds, flip it again. Smear ghee on this side as well.
13) When both sides are nicely done, remove from tava and continue the process for the next one.
14) For making katachi amti, heat oil in a pan. When the oil is hot enough, add mustard seeds. When they crackle, add jeera, hing, curry leaves.
15) Add the turmeric and red chilly powder and immediately add the water from chana dal.
16) When the water comes to a boil, add tamarind paste, salt, and sugar.
17) Let it boil for 3-4 minutes. Check the taste and add ingredients as required.
Serve piping hot with Puran Poli!
Some people make puran poli with toor dal, but in Maharastra it has traditionally been made with chana dal. I personally like more with the flavor and aroma of chana dal. During older times, making puran poli wasn't such an easy affair. People meticulously used "puran yantra" to crush and make a smooth mixture with the dal. But of course, with growing number of kitchen gadgets and lesser time on hand, there are quicker and less time consuming methods available now.
Puran poli is served with katachi amti, which is a delicious sweet-tangy-spicy accompaniment to puran poli and compliments it perfectly. Katachi amti is made with water that's leftover after you boil the chana dal. So to have enough amti, make sure to boil the dal in lots of water.
In this post, I will show you step by step method of making puran polis. Give it a try, you will love them!
This recipe makes about 10-11 puran polis.
Ingredients
For the roti dough
Whole Wheat Flour or Atta : 2 cups
Salt : 1/2 teaspoon
For the puran
Chana Dal : 1 cup
Sugar : 1 cup (adjust according to your taste)
Nutmeg : 1/4 teaspoon
Cardamom : 1/4 teaspoon
For katachi amti
Water left over from cooking chana dal : 3 cups (or whatever remains after boiling)
Oil : 1 tablespoon
Mustard seeds : 1/2 teaspoon
Jeera/Cumin seeds : 1/2 teaspoon
Turmeric : 1/4 teaspoon
Red Chilly Powder : 1/2 teaspoon
Salt : 1/2 teaspoon
Hing : 1/2 teaspoon
Curry leaves : 4-5
Tamarind paste : 1 tablespoon
Sugar : 1 teaspoon
Procedure
1) Boil chana dal in about 4 cups water with a pinch of salt until it is very soft and tender to touch. I usually pressure cook it for 5-6 whistles.
2) While the dal is boiling, prepare the roti dough. Mix 1/2 teaspoon salt with atta and knead with adequate amount of water to make s soft and pliable dough. Cover it with a cotton cloth and set aside.
3) Drain the boiled dal and reserve the water.
4) In a non stick pan, pour the drained dal and add the sugar. Start with 3/4 cup and increase until you get to the sweetness level you like. For us, usually 1:1 ratio of dal and sugar works well.
5) Add ground nutmeg powder and keep mixing and mashing until you get a smooth paste without any traces of whole dal. The consistency of the mixture is really important - if you make it too dry, the puran poli will be crumbly and if you leave it too moist, the filling will come out while rolling.
6) When the mixture starts leaving the sides of the pan, sprinkle ground cardamom powder and transfer to another plate to cool.
7) You will know you got the right consistency of the paste when you can form soft balls of the mixture. Make small balls of the roti dough as well as the filling. The filling ball should be approximately 1.5 times the roti dough.
8) Heat the tava/griddle. Roll out the roti dough into a small circle, and as much as possible try to roll out the sides instead of the center.
9) Add the filling and pull the edges of the dough together and twist it on the top. Remove the excess.
10) Press the dough ball lightly and set aside. Do the same for all the dough balls.
11) Roll out the dough you set aside the first (which has been sitting around the longest). Apply very gently pressure while rolling it out or the mixture will come out of all sides!
12) Place the poli on the griddle/tava and flip it when you see bubbles appear. Smear some ghee (optional) and after a few seconds, flip it again. Smear ghee on this side as well.
13) When both sides are nicely done, remove from tava and continue the process for the next one.
14) For making katachi amti, heat oil in a pan. When the oil is hot enough, add mustard seeds. When they crackle, add jeera, hing, curry leaves.
15) Add the turmeric and red chilly powder and immediately add the water from chana dal.
16) When the water comes to a boil, add tamarind paste, salt, and sugar.
17) Let it boil for 3-4 minutes. Check the taste and add ingredients as required.
Serve piping hot with Puran Poli!
