Tuesday, 26 March 2013

Holi Specials:Pooran Poli

"Holi Re Holi , Pooranachi Poli!" that was the slogan we used to shout as children , when our mothers made this delicious Pooran Poli , on Holi festival day!
Pooran Poli is a sweet stuffed flat bread, stuffed with a delicious filling of boiled chick peas and jaggery and cardamom.Pooran means, stuffing , and Poli means Chapati or Roti in Marathi. So its a stuffed sweet roti!
Holi was the only occassion when we got to enjoy this delicious indulgence!
Here , at my inlaws place, this delicacy is made on a lot many occassions throught the year.
It is ofcourse eaten in different combinations though.
In a typical Maratha household, on Holi festival , Pooran Poli is made along with "Katachi Amti"- a curry made with boiled chick peas and ground masala of caramelized onions,garlic ginger,dry coconut. and served along with fried ragi papads, Onion Pakodas and piping hot rice!
And when its Akshaya Tritiya, Pooran Poli pairs up with Sweet Aam Ras-(Mango Pulp). For others , it might be an unusual combo , but believe me, when I first tasted this combo , I instantly fell in love with it!
Most find making this a very tedious process, but believe me, its all worth the effort! Afterall theres nothing like , enjoying a traditional meal on a Festival Day with friends and family!




Ingredients:

For the Puran or the Filling:

250 gms Chick Peas/ Chana Dal
250 gms Jaggery / Gur
1 tsp Cardomom Powder/Elaichi Powder
( the proportion of chana dal and jaggery has to be equal, however, if you feel you need more sweetness , you can increase the amount of jaggery)

3/4 Cup All purpose Flour or Maida
1/2 Cup Whole Wheat Flour ( sifted through a fine sieve)
Water to knead the flour
1 tbsp Ghee + for roasting


Sift together the flours in a bowl. Heat 1 tbsp ghee and pour over the flour.
Let it cool for some time. Now add sufficient water and knead a soft dough.
Cover and keep aside.

Add 2-3 Cups water to washed chana dal and pressure cook for about 3-5 whistles, or until completely cooked.
The chana dal should be partially mashed and partially whole , but soft and cooked.

Now drain the cooked dal and retain the water , along with some cooked dal for making the curry if desired.
Once the dal is drained, place it in a wide mouthed pan along with chopped jaggery and cardamom powder.
On a medium flame, continue stirring and cooking the stuffing, till the jaggery melts and mixes with the dal , and finally the mixture dries up and starts leaving the sides of the pan , and makes a lump around the spoon. Switch off the heat and let it cool.

Now pass the mixture through a medium mesh , or grind it in a mixie , till fine and smooth.
The above process is to make the stuffing smooth and remove any lumps or any hard uncooked chana dal from the stuffing.

Pinch small portions of dough and the stuffing and keep aside. Reserve some dry flour for dusting.

 Roll the dough into small round rotis about 2-3 inch diameter. Stuff the stuffing into the rolled dough and gather the edges and seal.
 Pat the stuffed dough lightly in between palms to get a Kachori like shape.

Now roll the dough with the stuffing like parathas , gently, taking care not to let the stuffing break out of the dough.Dust lightly with flour if needed. With a muslin cloth , whipe out the excess flour from the rolled poli gently.

Heat a flat pan or girdle / tawa and place the pooran poli and roast lightly till small bubbles appear.

Immediately flip and roast this side completely till nice and brown with little ghee.

Apply ghee on the half cooked remaining side and flip.The poli should nicely puff up at this stage. Roast till light browned.

Serve with Ghee or Milk.

Tips:
If you want nice light and puffed pooran poli's:
  • Ensure your stuffing is nice and smooth , without any lumps.
  • Your dough is inice and soft.
  • Ensure you gently roll out the dough , uniformly.
  • Flip gently , preferrably using a wooden flat spoon.
  • Apply ghee , when the poli is half roasted.
  • Follow the flipping instructions and timings carefully.
You can serve them hot with Ghee, or Milk , or Basundi. Also , try serving with AamRas or Mango Pulp!

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