Hope you are enjoying cooking in these Covid time when we have no one to meet during free time. With Covid days festivals are to be celebrated at home with family staying safe taking care. I have been spending a lot of time observing my mom prepare different dishes trying out her own recipes. She loves experimental cooking most of the times and I enjoy Restaurant and Street Style Indian Food at home. On Festivals she thinks the food culture is greatly influenced by the festivals and the time they are celebrated. Holi marks the end of winter season when according to Ayurveda we have maximum capacity to digest heavy food. When the summer approaches this capacity lessens and Holi gives us a signal that we must avoid eating heavy food in the month of summer. Every part of India has different delicacy to enjoy on Holi. In Maharashtra, we prepare Puran Poli and Katachi Aamti. Ghee is the best accompaniment and shall be eaten without guilt or it’s not worth eating Puran Poli 🙂
Recipe:
1 cup of Chana Dal
1 cup of Jaggery
1/4 tsp Jaayphal
1/4 tsp Cardamom Powder
2 cups of Wheat Flour
Water to knead soft dough
A tbsp of oil
Puran(stuffing)
Soak Chana Dal at least for 4 hours in warm water. My mom doesn’t prefer whistles. Instead she soaks the chana dal for maximum time and cooks chana dal in pressure cooker on medium flame for 15 minutes. Let it cool down and release pressure naturally. Strain the dal. Make sure all the water is removed from the daal. Save the water remaining after straining the daal for Katachi Aamti. Mash the daal totally (U can use Mixie but we did it with a masher). Add this dal in a pan. To it add the grated Jaggery. Cook on medium flame. This process needs a good patience :). At first, the mixture will turn thinner as the Jaggery melts. To have the correct texture we need to keep stirring it on medium flame until the mixture turns thick and is good for stuffing. Do not allow mixture to stick at the bottom of the pan. Turn off the gas. Remove the mixture in a bowl. Add Cardamom powder and Jaayphal. Let it cool down.
Poli (Cover)
Take two cups of Wheat Flour, sieve it and knead it into a soft dough. Knead the dough smoothly adding water little by little. Add oil and keep it aside. Leave it covered at least for an hour. Remember more time this dough gets to set, softer are the Puran Polis.
Heat Tawa on Medium Flame.
To make the Puran poli, take approximately half a inch of dough ball, roll it round so much so that we can stuff puran (approx 1 inch ball) into it. Roll it lightly into thin Chapati as shown in the picture and put it on Tawa. Roast both sides well and serve with lots of Ghee.
Shra's 