Starting the New Year and beginning the year full of festivals and celebrations. My theme for this week’s BM is Festival recipes and my first recipe under the theme is this Maharashtrian Style Puran Poli. Poli is an essential festival recipe for many festivals and especially for Pongal / Makar Sankranti. Pongal / Makar Sankranti is 3 days long celebration in almost all the states of India. In Tamil Nadu, the day before pongal is the Boghi festival. This is the day when we make Poli as a part of the festival platter. There are two different kinds of poli that I regularly make. Paal Poli is our most preferred one and the one that I make often. Puranam poli is the other one and is quite similar to this particular Maharashtrian Style Puran Poli. The difference is that this Maharashtrian Style Puran Poli is made with whole wheat flour and the other one is made with all-purpose flour/maida. Both the poli’s have their own unique flavor. I had bookmarked this recipe from Varada’s blog a long time back and also made it, but never got a chance to blog about it. Now with Pongal / Makar Sankranti festival next week, it is the perfect time to post the recipe. I loved how flaky and lite these Maharashtrian Style Puran Poli was. It was so simple to roll and had just the right amount of sweetness. My boys loved it with a good dollop of ghee on top. Preparation time - 15 minutesCooking time - 60 minutesDifficulty level - IntermediateRecipe adapted from - Varada’s Kitchen
Ingredients to make Maharashtrian Style Puran Poli - makes 8 to 10
For the filling
Chana dal / Kadalai paruppu - ¾ cup Jaggery - 1 cup Sugar - ¼ cup Cardamom powder - ½ tsp Nutmeg powder - a pinch
For the outer covering
Whole wheat flour - 1 ½ cups All Purpose flour / Maida - ¼ cup Oil - 2 tablespoon plus more to grease the poli Salt - 1 tsp
Procedure to make Maharashtrian Style Puran Poli
To make the filling
Wash the chana dal well under running water and cook it in a pressure cooker or stovetop until the lentils are well-cooked but not mushy. Chana dal is the easiest as it does not mush up as quickly as the other lentils. Once the lentils are cooked, drain them in a colander. Save this drained water to make the dough for the outer covering. The perfect texture is when we can easily crush the dal between our fingers.
Mash the cooked chana dal well and add it to a heavy bottom pan along with the jaggery and sugar. Keep it on low heat and mix well. The jaggery and sugar will melt and the whole mixture will liquefy. Keep stirring until the mixture thickens.
The perfect consistency is when the mixture is hard enough to hold a spoon standing. Add the cardamom powder and the nutmeg powder and mix well.
Let the filling / puran cool completely. You will notice that the puran solidifies further when cooling.
To make the dough
Combine the flour and salt in a wide bowl. Add the oil and mix it well with the flour. Slowly add water as needed to make a soft dough. Add a little more oil at the end and let the dough rest for 1 to 2 hours.
To shape and cook the Puran Poli
Divide the dough and the filling into 8 to 10 balls, depending on what size you want the poli to be.
Roll the dough to about 4-inch circle and place a ball of filling in the center. Form a pouch and seal the edges well.
Flatten and dust the dough with some flour and roll it into a thin circle. Keep dusting more flour as you go to prevent sticking.
Cook the poli in a hot pan. Drizzle some oil on both sides and cook until brown spots appear on both sides.
Remove it from a tray and keep it covered with a kitchen cloth until ready to serve.
Repeat with the rest of the dough.
Serve warm with a dollop of ghee.
More Festival Recipes
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