Tamil New Year – Puran Poli / Obbattu

Iniya Tamizh Puthaandu Nalvaazhthukkal Happy Tamil New Year. Sorry I have no idea about the significance and rituals, but it is all about new beginning!  Next time I visit India shalll try to dig into in elders brain to get into the roots, as of now all I remember is dad doing long pooja (prayer) and mum cooking all good food! As kids my sis being responsible helped mum in cooking and I was forced to help dad for prayer preparation and dad is a perfectionist, I will be assigned to do all the annoying work (you know 2nd assistant work). While all going on in full swing I usually sneak out to play with doggie, my mum not being happy used to say “stop playing and concentrate on God so that you could study well” Dang! I will be left speechless do the necessary.
Special food that will be usually prepared are puran poli’s, pachadi (raw mango, jaggery, tamarind  and neem flowers not my fav coz of neem flowers, mum will force it into our throats!). We fast till pooja/offerings are done, contentment of food we get after long wait is supreme. Again I’m missing all these fun here! When mum was here with me, she made puran polies as it is in my top listed favourites, she makes the best according to me, neither did I want to miss a chance to note it down. So here is the recipe do enjoy. Mum jaan has stored in the freezer for me i’m going to enjoy my share 😀

Forgetting not, THANKS TONS all you lovely people for encouraging words regarding my PhD it DID rise my confidence level and motivated me. Love ya!

This dry the cooked dhal should be

This is how stuffing should be after dhal mixed and cooked with Jaggery

PS. Original recipe demands Jaggery, due to availabilities I used palm sugar, which is one reason why my polies are bit pale in colour!

Ingredients
For stuffing
150 gram dry Channa dhal
150 – 175 gram Jaggery / Palm sugar (you change sweetness accordingly, we like them just there, not real sweet so we opted for 150 gram)

Method
Cook Channa dhal till is soft and dry (not soggy). (Important point here add water just for it to cook, less amount than when making normal dhal)
Once it is cooked, still hot, smash it very well and let them to cool.
In a heavy bottom pan, add Jaggery and let them slowly melt (Just in case if they don’t melt evenly, add may be few table spoon of water which helps to melt faster)
Once jaggery is in running consistency, slowly add in cooked dhal and keep stirring.
Soon after both jaggery and dhal is mixed they will appear in liquid form, don’t worry, keep stirring on medium or low heat, till water evaporates and they become like soft soggy dough. Now let it cool in refrigerator for a while so it hardens.

For outer dough.
250 gram Mida
1 tbspn of Ghee (clarified butter)
Pinch of salt
Required water ( Dough should be smiliar to dough for roties/ chapatti )

Knead the dough for while, so it become more elastic and super soft.

Now make balls from channa dhal and jaggery mixture, desired size.
Similar make balls from mida dough, one size larger.
Next roll mida dough to small disc, to fit in the dhal stuffing.
Enclose the stuffing inside the mida dough and very carefully seal the outer surface.
Use some dry mida and the rolling pin to roll the puran polies to larger disc, not too thin, very carefully. Use enough amount of dry mida it to prevent sticking to the surface.
Cook the rolled puran polies on preheated skillet, use oil or ghee according to your taste till it cooked on the surface and they slowly starts to char.

Serve it hot with ghee/clarified butter!

Note, mida quantity depends on how think or thin you want the outer layer to be. So mida quantity may vary according to your choice.

62 comments

  1. An Open Book says:

    is it the same as malayali Vishu???
    I must tell you, your pics are superb love love love all of it..you should do a guest post for me some time:)
    I love poli, just that I dont get it anywhere here and I dont think il do a good job making it :(

  2. An Open Book says:

    is it the same as malayali vishu????
    I love love love all ur pics..esp the white background ones are superb. You should do a guest post for me some time :)
    I love poli and that stack in the first pic is making me droooool. Think of poor souls like us when you dig into those ok??? :)

  3. Tanvi@Sinfully Spicy says:

    Happy New Year Ananada.Wish you lots of success and happiness.That picture with incense sticks burning stole my heart.And u have a beautiful pooja thali.So so beautiful.I never made puran poli but ate a lot during my Pune days.It was served as sweet dish in our office lunch.After seeing your post, I suddenly want it :)

  4. Biny Anoop says:

    wow the polis are superb….cud i ever get it that thin…i usually add some nutmeg or cardamom powder.
    loved the use of inncence….pics are superb

  5. Suman Singh says:

    Wish you a very Happy and Prosperous New year, Ananda!
    Puran poli looks lovely, decadent and amazing! Love your version, it sounds so authentic and delicious..I want to try it soon..Thanks!

  6. Suparna says:

    hi,
    Thanks for visiting my blog :) hope to see u more often.
    Loved ur blogs and pics, keep up the good work. Hope you had a wonderful celebration, the puran polis look heavenly.
    TC

  7. veena krishnakumar says:

    Again and again i come back to your blog to see all those awesome clicks…….poli with its pale colour is too good. I think from now i will replace jaggery with palm sugar:-)

  8. Devaki says:

    Dear Ananada – I had such a smile on my face the minute I read PURAN POLI – Is there anything that makes usmoer nostalgic than these dal and jaggery filled polis…love love lvoe them and you have brought back so many childhood memories, I can’t even begin to tell you…especially those of Ma’s masala milk that we used to love with it!

    chow! Devaki @ weavethousandflavors

  9. MaryMoh says:

    Happy New Year, Ananda! I thought it quite amusing how you were asked to help around when you were young. I was in the same boat, too! Your flat bread looks very delicious. Would be very good with curry…mmmm

  10. Srivalli says:

    Pictures are stunning! You have captured them so beautifully..and I wonder how you managed not to eat them off right away clicking all those pictures..LOL..:)

  11. Indie.Tea says:

    Happy belated Tamil New Year. The pics are GORGEOUS, I love the way you chose to over-expose them a bit, that whiteness really works with these shots.

  12. Ushnish Ghosh says:

    Dear Ananda
    How are you? It is Bengali new year day too. I love Puran Poli , in fact I can make it now too after many failures ( like tunning fork experiments in physics lab , where the string never used to be in tune with the fork, ha ha ).
    I noted some finer aspect of this poli making. Thanks
    So with lot of Pep mails, you have increased your entropy level quite high..I can see ..so get going full blast!
    Have a nice day

  13. Soma says:

    beautiful photos,esp the one with the smoke of the incense stick. I am not too fond of puranpoli :-) You have made it look good enough for me to pick one roll it up and eat it!

  14. Neenu Praveen says:

    oh my fav fav sweet snack/dish ever….My mom kakes them..reminds me of the days f my childhood…while retrng bk frm school..these cardomom sweet smell all over our drawing room and i will be running into the kitchen to grab some…aah..I jst love them…

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