Puran Poli
Puran Poli is a Maharashtrian sweet flatbread stuffed with chana dal, jaggery, cardamom, and nutmeg for festival meals.
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1 hr 30 mintotal
Prep 1 hr · Cook 30 min
- Serves
- 2
- Difficulty
- Hard
- Spice
- None
Ingredients
Quantities are for 2 servings.
You'll need: Stovetop.
Cook and cool the chana dal filling about 1 hour ahead; active dough, stuffing, and roasting takes about 90 minutes.
Method
Pressure cook the soaked chana dal with just enough water until tender but still holding shape. Drain the extra cooking liquid.
In a heavy-bottomed pan, mix the boiled dal with grated jaggery. Cook over medium heat until the filling thickens and leaves the sides of the pan.
Add the cardamom and nutmeg. While still hot, pass the mixture through a Puran Yantra or fine sieve to make a smooth sweet puran, then cool it completely.
Make the outer dough: Mix whole wheat flour, maida, salt, and turmeric. Add oil and water, then knead into a soft, elastic dough. Rest covered for 30 minutes.
30 min
Pinch a modest, lime-sized dough section against a disproportionately larger, tennis-ball-sized sphere of cooled Puran.
Flatten the dough disc, nestle the Puran centrally, and expertly pull the dough upwards, stretching it to envelop and seal the sweet payload securely.
Apply a dusting of flour. Roll out with extraordinary delicacy into a broad, thin circle. The goal is to force the Puran to the absolute edges without piercing the delicate outer dough.
Transfer to a hot tawa on medium heat. Upon the emergence of surface bubbles, flip. Liberally baste both surfaces with pure ghee until it balloons up and assumes stunning golden-brown spots.
How to tell it's done
The outer layer should be thin and tender, with a smooth, aromatic lentil-jaggery filling spread close to the edges.
Getting it right
Tip
The hallmark of a master chef's Puran Poli is an extreme stuffing-to-dough ratio. The elasticity of the 'Katachi' dough must be absolute to stretch thinly around a massive Puran sphere without rupture.
What to serve it with
A festival sweet. Serve it hot with plenty of ghee, and a sharp katachi amti made from the reserved dal water alongside.
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