Puran Poli Recipe

Puran Poli is a flat bread made with a stuffing of cooked bengal gram/ chana dal and jaggery. The sweet stuffing is called Puran and Poli is the word for roti/ flat bread in Marathi language. Puran Poli is one of the most popular traditional recipes of Maharashtra. It is prepared on almost all major festivals like Holi, Gudi Padwa, Pola, Ganesh Chaturthi and Diwali. There are some other accompaniments which are prepared along with Puran Poli like Katachi Amti and Batata Bhaji. All these delicacies together make for a mouth watering festive meal!

If you are looking for more authentic Maharashtrian recipes then do check Jhunka-Bhakri & Thecha,  Koshimbir, Kankiche Ukdiche Modak, Til Gul Ladoo, Tomato Saar, Kande Pohe and Naralachi Vadi. You can also check out the Maharashtrian recipes playlist on our Youtube Channel Happily Veg for more recipes.

Ingredients:

For the Poli/ outer cover:

  1. 1.5 cups wheat flour (1 cup = 250 ml)
  2. 1/2 cup refined flour/ maida
  3. 1 cup water for kneading the dough (to be used as per requirement)
  4. 2 tbsp groundnut oil or any other cooking oil for kneading the dough
  5. A pinch of salt or as per taste

For Puran/ the sweet stuffing:

  1. 1 cup chana dal (skinned split bengal gram) thoroughly washed 3-4 times in water
  2. A little over 1/2 cup sliced jaggery
  3. A little over 1/2 cup sugar
  4. 3-4 cardamoms- peeled and pounded in a mortar pestle
  5. A small piece of nutmeg (approx. 1/4 inch) – pounded in a mortar pestle
  6. 1-2 pinch of turmeric powder
  7. 1/2 tbsp groundnut oil or any other cooking oil for adding while cooking the dal
  8. 3 1/2 cups water for cooking the chana dal
  9. A pinch of salt or as per taste

Apart from the above ingredients:

  1. 1/2 cup refined flour/ maida to be used as required while rolling the Puran Poli
  2. Ghee for applying on the Puran Poli

Steps for the recipe:

Preparing puran/ sweet stuffing:

  1. Cook chana dal in a pressure cooker for 7-8 minutes by adding 3 1/2 cups of water, turmeric powder, 1/2 tbsp cooking oil and a pinch of salt. Using oil while cooking the dal will make it softer after cooking. Tip: Let the steam start coming out from the cooker vent before placing the pressure regulator (whistle) on it. This will help the food cook faster as the air trapped inside the cooker will go out from the vent and the food will get cooked only in the steam. Thus you can save some cooking gas 🙂
  2. Switch off the gas flame after 7-8 minutes and let the cooker cool down.
  3. Take out the cooked chana dal from the cooker and strain it well. Keep the stock aside as it can be used for preparing Katachi Amti which is a spicy tempered dal with a thin consistency.
  4. Grind the cooked chana dal in a mixer grinder or in a traditional puran yantra. You may keep it a little course but not much otherwise the puran poli will burst open while rolling.
  5. Heat a pan and add ground chana dal, sugar and jaggery. Mix well. Tip: Here I have used jaggery and sugar in equal quantities because jaggery adds to the taste and sugar gives stickiness to the Puran and doesn’t let it dry. If only jaggery is used without sugar then the Puran becomes dry and comes out while eating the Puran Poli. If only sugar is used, Puran Poli won’t taste that good.
  6. Cook the mixture while stirring continuously till it begins to thicken. Here’s another tip from my mom to check if the Puran is ready. Tip: Place a spoon in the mixture upright. If the spoon stands on its own in the mixture that means the Puran is cooked and ready. It took around 12 minutes for the Puran to get ready.
  7. Add cardamom powder and nutmeg powder and mix well.
  8. Switch off the gas flame and let the Puran cool down. You can take it out in another container to help it cool down faster. If keeping in the same pan, stir it a couple of times in between or it might get burnt at the bottom.

Preparing the Poli dough:

You can prepare the dough for the Poli while the dal is getting cooked. This will help save your time.

  1. Sift the wheat flour and all purpose flour/ maida in a plate/ bowl.
  2. Add a pinch of salt or as per taste and some oil and mix well with the flour.
  3. Start keading the dough by adding water little by little till you get a consistency of the dough softer than chapati dough. Add some more oil and knead well again. The dough should be smooth and soft. Cover the dough and keep aside for 15-20 minutes.
  4. Knead the dough once again by adding the remaining oil just before starting to roll the Puran Poli.

Making the Puran Poli:

  1. Sprinkle some all purpose flour on the rolling board.
  2. Take a medium size dough ball and roll it to the size of a small puri (of around 3-4 inch diameter).
  3. Make a ball of a portion of Puran and place it in the middle of the rolled dough.
  4. Bring the edges together towards the centre and join them. Pinch them together to seal the Puran inside the dough. Note: The quantity of the Puran should be such that it can be easily accommodated in the rolled dough otherwise the Poli can burst open while rolling.
  5. Sprinkle a little all purpose flour on the rolling board and roll the dough with Puran into a medium sized Puran Poli without applying much pressure. Roll evenly on all sides. Do not use too much all purpose flour while rolling or else the Puran Polis might get burnt soon after placing on the tawa or griddle.  Puran Poli is little thicker than the normal chapati due to the stuffing. Don’t roll too thin or the Puran may start coming out of the Poli. If you notice that the Puran Poli is breaking while rolling, apply some all purpose flour on that area and keep rolling without applying much pressure.
  6. Heat a tawa or griddle and place the rolled Puran Poli on it. When one side gets cooked and has brown spots, flip over and cook the other side in the same manner. You might see the Puran Poli puff up if everything has been done correctly.
  7. Once the second side gets cooked, take out the Puran Poli from the tawa and apply ghee while it’s still hot.
  8. In the same manner make all the Puran Polis.
  9. You can serve the Puran Polis hot or at room temperature but they taste awesome if served hot. Serve them with warm or at room temperature milk. I love to eat them hot just with ghee 🙂

Do prepare Puran Polis and share your feedback in the comments section. If you liked this recipe, do share it with family and friends 🙂