Poli | Paruppu Poli | sweet Poli | obbattu is a traditional south Indian sweet prepared during festivals and special occasions. Channa dal, jaggery and coconut puranam gives nice flavor to the Puran boli.
Ever since childhood days Poli is one of my favorite Indian flat breads. Boli is bit time consuming to prepare, compared to other sweets but it is worth the taste. Usually Poli is prepared on special occasiona but growing up in west mambalam. Venkatramana and venkatrahwara boli stalls made my desire for Poli stronger. Once in 2 or 3 weeks our favorite sunday evening snack is Paruppu Poli and boonda/bhajji. After marriage mother- in-law used to make Paruppu Poli recipe. I have always enjoyed eating but never learnt the recipe from her. When we moved to the US, I asked over the phone but initial Paruppu Poli attempts failed miserably. Either it become crispy like appalam or puranam will come out of the Poli, or I can’t even role. Finally at one stage I decided to happily settle with paal poli and stop wasting ingredients. In 2018 when I was pregnant with my daughter around Bhogi time my close friend came home. I was telling her about my strong desire for Paruppu Poli. She offered to make for me, and I happily sat in the recliner when she made Paruppu Poli. I don’t even know how many Paruppu Polis I had that day but I forgot to learn the recipe from her. Her version was dry Paruppu purunam soon I will ask and post her version.
During my MIL’s recent visit I was telling her about my Paruppu Poli attempts and she taught me her tricks, and after few attempts - yes finally I mastered Paruppu poli😊 I realized a few important steps I have been missing all these years, 🌱Generous oil 🌱Extra kneading 🌱Resting time and cooling time for puran and maida dough 🌱Cook with ghee Paruppu Poli is popular in many parts of India. It is widely known as bobbatlu in Telugu, obbattu, holige in Kannada, puran poli in Marathi, and boli in Tamil and Malayalam. I took video around bhogi time but lost the natural night before I could take some pictures. It was tasty and I didn’t have leftovers. Every time I prepared Poli somehow I couldn’t take a pic. Yesterday I made it again and shared my Tamil new year lunch on Instagram and got messages from many asking for the Paruppu Poli recipe. That urged me to draft the recipe for poli😊 Coconut based recipes in TMF CHANA DAL RECIPES Other Poli recipes in TMF Ingredients: For outer layer: Maida | All-purpose flour - 1 cup Sesame oil - 4 tbsp Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp Salt - pinch For the stuffing Bengal gram | channa dal | kadalai paruppu - 1/2 cup Jaggery – 1 cup Coconut (grated) - 1/2 cup Ghee/clarified butter – 1/2 tbsp Cardamom powder- 1/2 tsp For Poli Ghee- for Poli Sesame oil - to grease hands
How to make Paruppu poli with step by step pictures:
Wash and soak kadalai Paruppu for at least half an hour in hot water (room temperature water is also fine)
For the outer cover
In a wide bowl add maida, salt, and turmeric powder, mix well
Add 1 tablespoon of sesame oil and 1/4 cup of water and mix well and start kneading
Add 1 tablespoon of oil and water little by little and knead Add 1 tablespoon of oil and continue kneading. If required drizzle drops of water
Knead well and make a pliable dough Add 1 tablespoon of oil around the dough; spread well and cover the bowl with a plate and rest it for 3-4 hours. At least one hour
For poornam
Pressure cook the dal with enough water to cover the dal and cook for 2-3 whistles or until soft After pressure release naturally, strain the Channa dal. Save the Channa dal cooked water for grinding
Add coconut, powdered jaggery, and cardamom powder to the cooked Channa dal Grind them with little Channa dal cooked water Add ghee and cook the ground mixture
Keep mixing and cook till the purnam comes as a mass; leaving the sides of the pan
Let the puranam cool for at least an hour After the dough is rested for a few hours. Take the dough and knead again once. The dough with being pliable but still it will be tacky Pinch an almost equal amount of small dough balls and keep aside
Take an almost equal size of small puranam dough balls and keep them aside
Take a parchment paper/banana leaf and apply oil to grease the paper Grease your hands with sesame oil and take one dough and place it on the parchment paper Gently pat (press) the dough with your fingers and make a circle to keep puranam
Keep the puranam and fold the dough to cover the puranam. Take out the excess dough and save it for another poli
Roll it gently with your palms and keep it again on the greased parchment paper Gently pat the Poli with your hand evenly to spread and form a circle
Heat the griddle in medium flame. Once the pan is hot add little ghee Gently release the flattened Poli and cook for a minute or so Once Poli starts puffing up flip and cook another side. If required add little ghee
Transfer into a plate and stack them enjoy poli with ghee. After the Poli is cool transfer them to an airtight container
