Puran poli / Sweet stuffed Indian flatbread

Here's the recipe for the puran poli we had for Ugadi this year. This was my first successful attempt at making it. It turned out soft and the sweetness was just right. TH and my son, the ones with the sweet tooth at home, really enjoyed it.



I made this again for lunch at a friend's place. She called us over for a scrumptious Maharashtrian meal. I took this along to go with the Maharashtrian theme. Puran polis are popular in Gujarat too, but tur dal (pigeon peas) is used instead of chana dal.
This time around, I made the size of the stuffing the same as the size of the dough, which helped in getting the stuffing spread all through the dough and they were more tasty this way...

Puran poli
Adapted from Rasachandrika, the Saraswat cookery book

Makes about 20 puranpolis

What you need -

1.5 cups bengal gram dal / chana dal (soaked in water for 3-4 hours)
4 cardamoms
1.5 cups grated jaggery
1/2 cup water
5-6 tsp oil
1.5 cup maida / APF
1 tsp turmeric powder

What you do with it -

Wash the soaked dal, add enough water to cover the dal. Cook in a pressure till it turns very soft
Drain out all the water
Add the grated jaggery and the cooked dal in a thick bottom pan and stir continuously on a low flame
Cook until all the water is absorbed and it becomes soft
Ensure that you do this on a low flame - this should take about 10-12 mins
Allow it to cool and grind to a smooth paste, without using any water
(The dal was cooked really well and I didn't need to grind it - it was smooth enough)
Powder the cardamoms and add to the this mixture
It is better if you can allow this to cool completely, its much easier to handle it that way
I made this a day in advance and refrigerated it
When you are ready to use this, divide it into small balls
Make a dough with the maida, water and turmeric powder, adding oil to knead well till it is a pliable, smooth dough
Grease your palm with a little oil. Take a small ball of dough and flatten it on your palm
I made the ball of dough the same size as the ball of stuffing. Since the dough is really elastic, the filling gets spread almost all thru, and tastes way better
Place a small ball of the sweet mixture in the centre, and fold the sides of the dough to cover it completely
Dust it with a little flour and roll it into a round shape of about 6"
Heat a tava / griddle and then transfer it onto the tava
Don't use oil or ghee at this step
Allow it to roast till you see some brown specks on it
Flip it over and allow it to roast on that side too
Serve hot with a spoonful of ghee smeared on it