Puran Poli / Pooran Poli / My Perimma’s Perfect Puran Poli Recipe (WITH VIDEO)

Make sure you read the complete recipe as well as notes section before you start cooking
 
Puran poli is one of my favorite sweet. For me puran poli has to be soft, flaky and thin..When you try to make them at home they turn out to be like a thick stuffed paratha, but the store bought ones are super thin and soft..I was not sure how they do it. But my perimma knows, she is called “The Poli Expert” in our place. She makes the best poli during diwali time..I always wanted to post that recipe in my blog, and few days back i asked her about this. And immediately she got into actions. Within 1 hour she made a plate full of piping hot poli’s..

There are certain points which you have to remember when making poli’s. I have consolidated all those and mentioned in the notes section. Make sure you read the complete recipe as well as notes section before you start cooking. Now with no more delay off you go to the recipe..

Preparation Time: 20 mins
Resting Time : 1 hour
Cooking Time : 1 hour
Makes : 25 polis


Ingredients:


For Outer Dough:
Maida / All Purpose Flour – 1 cup
Yellow Food Coloring – a pinch
Gingelly Oil / Nala Ennai / Indian Sesame Oil – 4 tblspn
Water – 3/4 cup and adjust


For Sweet Filling:
Channa Dal / Kadalai Paruppu – 1 cup
Sugar – 1 1/4 cup
Cardamom Powder / Yelakai – 2 tsp or 6 pods
Cloves / Krambu -2


For Making Poli:
Rice Flour – 1 cup
Ghee as needed


Method:

Start by making the poli dough. Take water, food colouring in a mixing bowl and mix well. Now add in flour and make into a sticky dough. The dough should be not be stiff or soft, it should be sticky, check picture for more information. Now pour oil over it and mix once. Let the oil stay on the top. Leave the dough to rest for 1 hour.

While the dough is resting make the filling. Take channa dal in a sauce pan and add water to it. bring it to boil and cook for 30 to 35 mins till it is 3/4th cooked. It shouldn’t get over cooked. It should be cooked enough and still holds its shape. Refer picture. If it gets over cooked then when you grind this, it will leach out water and become mushy, like a paste. When it is cooked properly, when you grind, it will become like a powder.

When the dal is cooked, drain it in a colander and set aside till use. Now take sugar, cardamom and cloves in a blender and make it into a fine powder. Add this to the kadai which you use to make the filling.

Now take the little cooled cooked channa dal in the same blender and blend it into a very soft powder, there shouldn’t be any whole dal. Once it is powdered well, add it to the same kadai and mix well.

Put this kadai on a very low heat and mix well. Dont keep on stove for a long time, if you heat it for a long time then the sugar will dissolve and the filling will become runny. Once the mixture starts to clump together like a dough, switch off the flame. It will take only a minute or so.

Make small portions out of the filling and keep it on a plate.

Now lets make the poli. First make the work station ready. Spread a sheet of newspaper. Take the dough, filling, rice flour, ghee, rolling pin and board. Heat a heavy bottom tawa on medium heat. 

For making the poli,  First drain the excess oil in a small bowl. Keep that oil in use, because you can dip you fingers in that oil while shaping poli. Take a small portion of dough, put it directly on rice flour, this will make sure that it doesn’t stick. Now take the filling ball and place it over the dough. Quickly wet your fingers in oil and cover the filling with the dough. Once it is done, spread the dough ball into a thin poli. You can dip this in rice flour as you roll.

Once you have rolled, put the poli on hot tawa and cook for few seconds till it you see small bubbles forming. At this stage flip it over and sprinkle ghee over the poli. This side will take only few seconds to cook. Now flip again and sprinkle ghee over it. Now remove it using the back of the spatula carefully and place it on the side of newspaper. Repeat.

Once done, serve immediately hot or warm.


Notes:

1)Take dough should be very sticky, this will make the softest poli. You can see the picture, the dough should look like a sticky thick paste.
2)Resting of dough for a hour is important, this will make soft poli. So make the dough first and then start with the filling.
3)Cooking channa dal for the correct time is important. If it gets over cooked then when you grind this, it will leach out water
and become mushy, like a paste. When it is cooked properly, when you
grind, it will become like a powder.
4) Dont heat the sugar and channa dal mixture for a long time. This will make it runny. Once it is heated a little, remove it and shape into balls.  
5)If you want you can mix the powdered sugar and powdered dal and shape it immediately into balls. But heating it a little makes it more tasty.
6)The filling should be three times bigger than dough size. This way you will get a tasty poli.
7)Dip the ball in rice flour only for the first time and when you roll the poli.
8)When you keep the filling in and shape the ball, always use the reserved oil, this will make the poli soft. If you use too much rice flour for shaping the balls then the poli will turn hard.
9)Try to use best ghee, this will make the poli smell great.
10)Dont over cook the poli. Alway remove it from tawa when it is half cooked, because this poli keep on cooking as it cools. So if you cook for a longer time then it will turn hard.
11)Poli can be stored in a air tight container for 3 days. If you want to keep for a longer time, then store it in fridge or freezer and microwave it when needed.
12)Poli taste great the next day.

Check out the video for how to roll puran poli

 
Pictorial:

Take flour, food colour and oil

Take water and food colour in a bowl.. Sorry for the messy picture

Sprinkle flour over it

Mix mix mix

Beat like this..Look how sticky the dough it, it should be like that..

Pour oil over the dough and let it rest

Take the channa dal and wash it well

Take it in a pot and add water to it

Cook till it is tender

When you press the dal with your fingers, it should be slight firm but cooked

Drain it

Take sugar, cardamom and cloves in a blender

powder it

Add it to a kadai

Take channa dal in a blender

Powder it too..Look how the dal is powdered, this is why the dal should be cooked properly

Add the powdered dal to the kadai

First mix well with your hands

Keep it on a low heat and mix

Once it form a mixture like this, remove from heat

Take a small portion of mix

Shape into balls

Arrange it on plate

Get everything ready

Dough, filling, rice flour, ghee

First pour the excess oil

Take a small portion, see how little the portion is

Place it directly on rice flour

Place a filling ball over the dough

Cover it carefully

Once it is completely covered

Dip it in rice flour

roll it

Roll it thinly

Put it on hot tawa

Sprinkle over some ghee

Once you see small bubbles forming, flip over

Cook for few seconds..

Remove it carefully

Done

All done

For your referal..Check out the size of dough and filling

Enjoy