Kerala Boli / Obbattu / Holige / Puran Poli......And Diwali Wishes

Puran Poli / Boli

Diwali is almost here and I hope everyone is busy with the preparations..........


I thought of sharing a sweet recipe for today which was there in my 'TO DO' list from quite some time......Wanted to post it with the step wise pics and that's why it took so long to get published...



This is a festive sweet favorite to Indians and is known by different names in the various parts of India....I had grown up enjoying this sweet in the name of Boli and it is quite popular in my home town where it is served along with paal payasam or semiya payasam during hindu marriages......


During my stay in Bangalore I got to taste Obbattu / Holige and came to know that it is almost the same as Boli.....And then after coming here, my friends from Maharashtra shared with me Puran Poli with which I learnt yet another name for this lovely sweet recipe....


The slight variations in its preparation are in the choice of using either sugar or jaggery for the the sweetening and plain flour or wheat flour for the outer covering....


Boli is made with sugar as the sweetener and plain flour for the outer cover.....Since my personal choices are jaggery and wheat flour, I have used them here in my recipe....


It takes a bit of time and patience for making these, especially if you are making them for the first time....So make sure you are free for sometime and then start making them....But trust me, it is worth an effort...


Here is the recipe........


Ingredients

1. Chana Daal /Bengal gram - 1 1/2 cups
2. Water to cook daal - 2 cups
3. Jaggery powdered - 1 3/4 cups [ adjust as per taste ]
4. Nutmeg powder - 1/4 tsp
5. Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp
6. Whole Wheat flour - 1 1/2 cups
7. Oil - 4 Tbsp [ I used sesame oil ]
8. Salt - a pinch
9. Turmeric powder - a pinch [ optional , just for the color ]
10. Water to make the dough - 1/2 cup
11. Rice flour - enough for dusting while rolling out

Preparation

Filling preparation

Preparation of filling / puran

1. Wash and soak the channa daal for 2 to 3 hrs. This is optional but helps in cooking the daal faster.
2. Cook the daal in a pressure cooker with just the amount of water.
3. It takes about 3 to 4 whistles in the cooker. It should be just cooked and not over / under cooked.
4. Drain any water from the daal. Dont throw away the water. Instead use it in any your gravy dishes.
5. Allow the daal to cool down.
6. Once cooled, blend it to a smooth powder in a mixer. It may not be exactly powdery as it will be a little sticky. Make sure there are no whole grams left in it and that is what is required.
7. Take the daal paste in a non stick, heavy bottom pan and add jaggery to this.
8. Heat the pan on a medium low and keep stirring. The jaggery will start melting and together with the daal it forms a thick syrup.
9. Keep stirring till it starts getting separated from the sides of the pan. It may take about 15 to 20 mins of stirring on a medium low flame.
10. Once it is thickened, add nutmeg and cardamom powder and mix well. Now switch off the flame and allow this to cool.
11. When it is cooled down, take handful of the mix and make lemon size balls out of it. This is going to be the filling. I could get 16 of them. Keep them aside .

Poli making

Preparation of outer covering and poli making

1. Take the wheat flour in a bowl.
2. Add salt , turmeric powder and oil to this. Slowly add water and make a smooth and soft dough.
3. Let it rest for 1/2 hr before start making the polis.
4. Once ready to make the polis , make balls from the wheat dough, a little smaller than the filling balls which were already made.
5. Make sure you make the same number of covering balls [16] to match the filling ones.
6. Now roll it out using rice flour into a small circle.
7. Keep the filling ball inside this and cover completely with the rolled dough.
8. Close it without any hole and again roll out to a bigger circle using rice flour for dusting. Spread it on a tray.
9. Repeat the process until you finish rolling all of them.
10. Now heat a flat pan and toast the rolled out polis in it on a medium heat.
11. Be careful while flipping it to get the other side done as they are very delicate to handle.
12. Once both sides are slightly browned, they can be taken out.
13. Arrange them folded on a serving plate.

Puran Poli / Boli

We , from the capital city of Kerala are used to enjoying this delicacy in combination with Paal payasam.....

Other tasty choices are Poli along with warm milk and ghee....

Note: I could get 16 Polis from the above recipe of the size shown

Puran Poli / Boli

Advanced Diwali wishes to all my readers........

Have a wonderful and safe festive time with your loved ones

Enjoy........

Here it goes to be part of the following events

• Serve it Festival Potluck at Krithi's Kitchen initiated by Denny
  

• Diwali Special ..Sweets and Savories event at Tickling Palates

• Kerala Kitchen at A Girl's Diary

• Diwali festival of lights event at Anu's Healthy Kitchen