Puran Poli: Ganesh Chaturthi Special Mahashtrian Dish

By Niveditha Kalyanaraman

September 17th, 2023

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Puran poli is a popular maharashtrian sweet flatbread recipe made with wheat flour and sweetened chana dal stuffing. It is generally made during special occasions or during festival time like Ganesh Chaturthi. It is eaten or served warm with a generous amount of ghee. Here's the recipe for puran poli.

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Ingredients

For puran (dal stuffing): 1½ cup chana dal ¼ tsp turmeric ½ tsp ghee 3 cups water 1½ cup jaggery 1 tsp ghee ½ tsp cardamom powder

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Ingredients

For poli (outer covering): 2 cups wheat flour 1 cup maida ¼ tsp turmeric ¼ tsp salt 2 tbsp oil Water, for kneading Other ingredients: Maida, for dusting Ghee, for roasting

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Step 1

In a large bowl, soak 1 ½ cup of chana dal for 1 hour. Drain off the water and transfer it to the cooker. Add ¼ tsp turmeric, ½ tsp ghee, 3 cups water. Pressure cook for 3 whistles on medium flame. Now drain off the water.

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Step 2

Transfer the dal to a large kadai. Add 1 ½ cup jaggery and mix well. Once the jaggery melts, start to mash the dal. Mash until the dal turns smooth. You can alternatively, grind the dal and jaggery. Keep cooking until the mixture thickens and holds the shape.

Step 3

Add ghee and cardamom powder and cook for a minute, or until the mixture starts to separate from the pan. If the mixture is undercooked, then the stuffing will be sticky and it will be difficult to make a ball. Transfer to the plate and cool slightly. Make sure not to overcook, else the stuffing turns hard. Grease hands with ghee and make ball-sized stuffing.

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Step 1

In a large bowl, take wheat flour, maida, turmeric, salt and oil. Mix well making sure all the ingredients are well combined. Now add water as required and start to knead the dough. Knead to a smooth and soft dough adding water in batches. Grease the dough with oil, cover and rest for at least 1 hour. After 1 hour, punch and knead the dough again.

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Preparing Poli (Outer Covering)

Step 2

Pinch a ball sized dough and make a smooth ball. Form a cup by pressing the dough from the sides. Place a ball sized prepared puran (dal stuff). Start to stuff inside by pulling the dough without having any pleats. Now seal the dough without any cracks. Dust the ball with maida and flatten slightly.

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Step 3

Roll it gently, without putting much pressure and as thin as possible. Now cook the puran poli on hot tawa keeping the flame on medium. Flip over once the base is half cooked. Spread the ghee on both sides and cook well. Enjoy puran poli with ghee or milk.