Puran Poli-Indian sweet

Ingredients

Poli stuffed with coconut and brown sugar.

300 gm - Channa dal (yellow gram) 300 gm - Jaggery 1 tsp - Cardamom powder 150 gm - Plain flour Ghee Warm water

Preparation

Poli is a dessert served during auspicious occasions and during important festivals such as Ugadi. Although it resembles a roti, a Poli is actually very different. The making of the Poli begins with preparing the stuffing, which may be one of three traditional options:

1. Tenkai poornam/Kaayi Holige This stuffing is made of grated coconut and jaggery. Fresh coconut is grated and the jaggery is broken into small pieces. In a heavy-base vessel, some ghee is heated and some finely chopped cashew-nuts are roasted. Into this ghee, the grated coconut and jaggery are added together, at the same time. On a medium flame, the vessel is stirred every so often, until the jaggery melts and melds the coconut into a rough mass. Powdered cardamom and some saffron (soaked for a few minutes in milk) are added to this mixture to impart further fragrance and flavour.
2. Variation of above: Sometimes, especially in Maharashtra, powdered white sugar is used instead of jaggery in making the puran. In this case,the suffing is made using boiled lentils instead of the coconut. Chickpea lentils are boiled to a soft consistency and the eventualpuran turns out to be stiffer and crunchier than otherwise; it also tends to break far more easily, since it is stiff.
3. Parappu poornam or Hoorna Holige This stuffing is made using boiled lentils instead of the coconut. Chickpea lentils are boiled to a soft consistency. It is blended with jaggery and aromatic spices(cardamom and nutmeg) in exactly the same method as described above.

The stuffing is cooled to room temperature. Meanwhile, the actual dough is prepared. A very soft, rubbery dough is prepared by kneading polished wheat-flour with a little water and a large amount of oil. This is left soaked in oil for a few hours.

Once both the dough and the stuffing is ready, the puran poli can be rolled out. A plantain leaf is greased thoroughly on one side with oil/ghee -- this is essential to turning out a fine poli. On the greased plantain leaf, a handful of the dough is patted by hand into a mid-sized circle. A small amount of stuffing is placed at the center of this dough, which is wrapped around the stuffing to make a ball. This ball is then rolled carefully using a rolling pin into a large, thin circular pancake shape.

Meanwhile, a griddle is heated over a medium flame and greased. The plantain-leaf bearing the poli is inverted over the griddle. The Poli tends to adhere to the griddle, since the latter is hot. Using a spatula, the edge of the poli is held down on to the griddle, while the plantain-leaf is peeled away by hand. This leaves the poli on the hot griddle, where it is turned over repeatedly, if required, until both faces of the poli are roasted to a golden burnish and a fragrant aroma is released. The poli is now ready to be eaten.

]Serving

The poli is in itself a delicious sweetmeat and is often eaten as such. It may be served with a spoonful of ghee. Poli is often served with milk, which may be sweetened or flavoured with almonds and pistachio. In certain areas, polis a tangy, tamarind-based sauce (similar to the base ofpulihora) is served with the poli, to enhance the experience by combining very disparate flavours. In Maharashtra, the tangy sauce is called katachi amti.

In the Vidarbha region of eastern Maharashtra, the puran polis are soft, since the stuffing is made with jaggery. In western Maharashtra, the powdered white-sugar version is preferred, resulting in a crunchy puran poli.