Puran Poli/Boli

The festival season has begun, with Aavaniavittam, being the first one in the list. Followed by Krishna Jayanthi, Pillayar Chathurthi so on and so forth. Festivals spell sweets. Not that you really need a reason or festival to satisfy cravings. 

Today, I am sharing the recipe of Puran Poli. This is known by various names across the country and there are many different versions too. The Traditional Palakkadan Version is called Upputu. The outer covering is made completely out of All purpose flour/ maida and oodles of oil goes into the dough. The filling is usually made of lentils and coconut. It is usually flattened on banana leaves and transferred to the hot griddle.

The recipe I am sharing today is not the traditional Palakkad recipe, but a more evolved one. It tastes equally delicious with lesser of fat. Also you can make this version on your kitchen counter top with the help of a rolling pin. So do try this version and let me know how you liked it.

What you'll need

For the outer covering

1. Wheat Flour – 1 cup
2. All Purpose Flour – 1 cup
3. Salt – a pinch
4. Oil – 3 tbsp
5. Turmeric Powder – a pinch
6. Water as required

For the filling (poornam)

1. Channa Dal/ Bengal Gram Dal- 1 cup
2. Powdered Jaggery – 1 heaped cup
3. Cardamom – 4 to 5
4. Ghee/Clarified Butter – 1 tbsp

Method

1. In a wide bowl, add the wheat flour and all purpose flour, add salt, turmeric powder, and about 2 tbsp of oil. Mix well and then start kneading by adding water little at a time.
2. Knead for 3 to 4 minutes. The dough should be soft, pliable non sticky. Add the remaining oil and knead again for another 4 to 5 minutes.
3. Cover and rest the dough for at least 30 minutes.
4. For the filling, heat a kadai and dry roast the channa dal for 3 to 4 minutes.
5. Add enough water and pressure cook the dal until soft and mushy.
6. After the cooker cools, drain the water from the dal if any, mash the dal very well.
7. Heat a kadai, add the jaggery and ¼ cup of water. Let the jaggery dissolve completely, then strain for impurities.
8. Pour the jaggery water back into the kadai and heat on medium flame for 3 to 4 minutes or till the syrup reaches one string consistency.
9. Now add the mashed dal into the sryrup and mix well.
10. Add the ghee and mix until the mixture starts leaving the sides of the kadai.
11. Add the cardamom powder and mix.
12. Let this mixture cool.
13. Make small balls out of this mixture and keep ready.
14. To make the poli, make balls, the same size as the filling (poornam).
15. Roll out into a small disk. Place the poornam in the middle and bring the edges together to completely cover the filling. Remove any excess dough.
16. Gently flatten the filled ball. Dust with flour and roll out to a flat disk.
17. Place the poli on a medium hot tava.
18. Flip over after about a minute, drizzle with ghee.
19. Flip over again and drizzle with little more ghee. Cook till brown spots appear.
20. Remove and repeat the process with the remaining dough.

Note:

1. I have used wheat flour and APF in equal ratio. You can make the outer covering completely with APF or with Wheat flour also.
2. Kneading the dough into a soft, non sticky dough is important to get soft polis.
3. Resting the dough for minimum 30 minutes is also important.