Puran poli, popular in states like Gujarat and Maharashtra, is as much a part of local cuisine as it is a universal dish loved by people everywhere. It's essentially a sweet flatbread made by stuffing a sweet lentil filling into the bread. The dal is mixed with jaggery that offers a unique sweetness and is complemented by ground spices, leading to a magical combination. Here’s how to make this simple and understated dish, that can be enjoyed as a meal in itself.
Ingredients
For the puran mixture (sweet filling):
- 125 g chana dal, skinned, split bengal gram
- 236 ml water – for pressure cooking the chana dal
- 2 teaspoons Ghee
- 1 teaspoon fennel powder (ground fennel)
- 1 teaspoon dry ginger powder (ground ginger)
- ½ teaspoon green cardamom powder or seeds from 4 to 5 green cardamoms crushed finely in mortar
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg powder (ground nutmeg)
- 125 g jaggery powder or 1 cup grated jaggery
For the poli – the outer covering:
- 175 g whole wheat flour
- 70 g all-purpose flour
- 4 tablespoons oil or ghee (clarified butter)
- ½ teaspoon salt or as required
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder (optional – to give a faint yellow color to the poli)
- water as required, to knead the dough
- oil or ghee, as required for roasting the puran poli
Directions:
- Thoroughly rinse the chana dal in water, washing and draining multiple times. Or if you have the time then soak the dal for 30 minutes and then drain the water out.
- Cook the dal in a pressure cooker with 3 cups of water. Let it take 6 whistles on medium heat. If you're soaking the dal, then 5 whistles are enough. Once cooked, drain out the water and instead of throwing it out, use it when cooking chapatis or vegetables. It's nutritious water so do not waste it.
- In a pan or kadhai, heat ghee and add the ginger powder, nutmeg powder, ground cardamom and fennel powder. Fry them for a few moments on low heat.
- Then add the chana dal and jaggery. Mix it well and let the mixture cook on low heat till it becomes dry. Let it cook but stir every once in a while. Once the mixture is thick and dry, turn off the heat. Set aside to cool.
- In the meantime, take the whole wheat flour, the all purpose flour and salt in a bowl. Mix well. Add some water and ghee and mix. Then start to knead the dough by adding water as needed, one spoon at a time. The dough should get shaped into a smooth and soft ball. Cover it and set aside to rest for 20 minutes.
- After 20 minutes, break out balls from the dough ball. Roll it about 3 inches. Remember to dust the work surface and rolling pin with flour. Place some of teh puran mixture on this round. Then bring the edges of the roti together and press down. Sprinkle some more flour and roll it out to the size of a roti, or however large you want the puran polis to be. Add ghee on a tawa and then place the rolled-out dough on it. Cook on both sides till you see brown spots. Add ghee on the other side too when you turn it. It should puff up a bit.
- Serve warm with milk, ghee or curd.
Notes, tips and tricks:
- For the dough, you can use whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour or a mixture of both. It won't make any difference to the taste. So it's up to you.
- Knead the dough thoroughly. The final dough should be soft and malleable. Add enough water so you achieve a soft dough.
- When you're rolling out the puran poli, be gentle. It can easily break and the mixture will fall out. If it does break from somewhere, simply press more dough onto that area. But if it breaks completely, you’ll have to remove all the mixture and re-roll the puran poli. If it does break, don't worry too much. You will get better with practice.
- The color of the puran poli will depend largely on the color of the jaggery you’re using, so don't worry if it looks different from other images online.