Puran poli is a popular maharashtrian recipe made during ganesh chaturthi or diwali or any other festive occasion. During ganesh chaturthi festival, ukadiche modak, puran poli and coconut ladoos are usually prepared in maharashtra.

Puran poli is a flat bread stuffed with a sweet lentil filling made from skinned spilt bengal gram/chana dal and jaggery. In marathi language the sweet filling is called as puran and the bread is called as poli.

Preparation Time :4 Hours 30 minutes

Cooking time : 26-30 minutes

Servings : Depends

Ingredients for the puran mixture - sweet filling:

• 1 cup powdered jaggery/gur
• 1 cup chana dal/skinned spilt bengal gram
• 3 cups water for pressure cooking the chana dal
• 2 tsp ghee
• 1 tsp fennel powder/saunf
• ¾ to 1 tsp dry ginger powder/saunth
• ½ tsp cardamom powder or 4-5 cardamoms crushed finely
• ¼ tsp nutmeg powder/jaiphal powder

Ingredients for the poli - outer covering:

• 1.5 cups whole wheat flour/atta + ½ cup all purpose flour/maida (or you can also use 2 cups whole wheat flour instead)
• 1 tsp oil or ghee
• ½ tsp salt or as required
• ¼ tsp turmeric powder/haldi (optional, to give a faint yellow color to the poli)
• Water as required to knead the dough
• Oil or ghee as required for frying the puran poli

Procedure (preparing the puran):

1. Rinse the chana dal first very well in water. i didn't soaked the chana dal but you can also soak the chana dal for 30 minutes to one hour and then drain the water.
2. In a pressure cooker, cook the chana dal for 6 to 7 whistles. if you soak the chana dal, the cooking time will be reduced. once the pressure settles down on its own, strain the cooked dal. the dal has to be strained well.
3. Keep the stock aside. this stock can be used for making katachi amti (thin tempered dal) or you can just add it to your veggie dishes or rotis.
4. Heat ghee in a pan and add the dry ginger powder, nutmeg powder, cardamom powder and fennel powder. saute for a few seconds.
5. Add the chana dal and jaggery. stir and let this puran mixture cook on a low flame till the mixture becomes dry.
6. Keep on stirring the puran mixture at intervals.
7. Once the puran stuffing become dry and thick, switch off the flame.
8. Let it cool and then mash the puran mixture with a potato masher. you can also use your mixer to mash the puran mixture very well. keep aside.

Procedure (preparing the poli dough):

1. Meanwhile take whole wheat flour/atta, all purpose flour/maida and salt in a bowl mix well.
2. Add a little bit of water and ghee and mix. begin to knead the dough adding water as required.
3. The dough should be smooth and soft. cover and keep aside the dough for 15-20 minutes.

Procedure (preparing the puran poli):

1. Take a medium or large size ball from the dough. roll it 2-3 inches in circumference on a dusted rolling board.
2. Place a portion of puran mixture in the center of the rolled dough.
3. Bring the edges together towards the center. join all the edges and pinch them.
4. Sprinkle some flour and start rolling the dough.
5. Make a medium or large circle (poli) as depending upon the size of the dough and puran filling you took.
6. On a heated tawa or griddle, spread some ghee. place the rolled poli/dough circle on the tawa.
7. When one side gets browned, turn over and cook the other side till you see some brown spots.
8. Once the second side gets browned, then turn over and apply ghee. if everything is done properly then puran poli will puff up. the poli should be cooked well with brown spots and golden.
9. Make all puran polis this way and stack them in a casserole or in a kitchen napkin.
10. You can serve puran poli warm or at room temperature with milk, ghee or yogurt/curd.

NOTES:

1. While rolling the poli, be careful... if it breaks a little, then no issues... just add some dry flour to that part...when making for the first time, the puran polis may break... but that should not stop you from making puran polis... with practice one gets better.
2. Instead of whole wheat flour, you can also make the dough with all purpose flour/maida or half-half of both the flours.

Enjoy!