Ingredients for the outer covering:
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup fine semolina (sooji or rava)
a pinch of salt
1 cup water
a pinch of food color
4 tablespoon oil
Soak the semolina in 1/2 cup of water for half hour before making the dough for the outer covering.
To make the dough to the all purpose flour add salt, food color 1 tablespoon of oil, the soaked semolina and rest of the water and make the dough. Add 3 tablespoon of oil to the dough and incorporate it into it. Let the dough rest for one hour. While the dough is resting you can make the purnam or filling.
Ingredients for filling:
1 cup channa dal
2 to 1/2 cups water or enough to cook the channa dal
1 cup jaggery (gud or vellum)
1/2 teaspoon crushed cardamom seeds
To a pan on medium heat with water add the channa dal and cook until the dal is well cooked and is breaking down easily.
When the dal is cooked add the jaggery and cook some more until the jaggery has melted and absorbed into the dal add a pinch of salt, and the crushed cardamom seeds mix and let it cool. When it is cool grind it in the food processor. You need to make a smooth and dry filling.
Note: The filling can be made in advance. This will stay in the refrigerator for at least a week.
To Assemble: Next divide the dough and filling into equal numbers. I divided them into 12 parts each.
Shape one of the divided dough into a cup and place one of the divided filling inside and seal it and place it down with the sealed side down. Do the same with rest of the dough and filling.
Next flatten and roll the filled dough into round disks: I usually place a parchment paper on my work surface and flour it with whole wheat flour. Whole wheat flour gives a better grip. I place the filled dough on the parchment paper and cover it with another parchment paper.
I first flatten it using my hands, later I use the rolling pin gently to flatten it further into as thin a round as possible without breaking it.
Cooking: After rolling the filled dough into a thin disk, I place it on a griddle which is on medium heat and has been greased with some clarified butter. I cook it until I see bubbles form at that point I turn it over and cook it on the other side. I apply clarified butter to both sides. The poli is cooked when each side has become light brown remove it from heat and it is ready to serve. Makes 12 puran polis.
Other names for puran poli, holige, obbattu, poli, puranachi poli, god poli.
