Soft and flaky whole wheat flatbreads filled with a sweet lentil filling and laced with fragrant ghee is easy to make, delicious and oh-so-good for you.
You will need:
For the puran filling,
Chana dal (spilt bengal gram) or moong dal (split green gram) - 1 cup
Ghee - 1 tbsp
Jaggery - 1 cup, grated
Cardamom powder - 1 tsp
Salt - a pinch
For the flatbreads,
Atta (fine milled whole wheat flour) - 2 cups (or use part whole wheat and part all-purpose flours)
Salt - ½ tsp
Ghee - 2 tsp plus extra for cooking the puran poli
Water - 1 cup or as needed to make a smooth dough
How to:
To make the filling or puran: Wash the dal (lentils) under running water a couple of times. If you have time, soak them in water for an hour or two. Cook dal in 2-3 cups of water till soft and can be easily mashed between your fingers. They must not be too mushy though. Drain and set aside. Reserve the stock to make curries or to mix the dough.
Heat ghee in a large pan. Add the cooked dal, grated jaggery, cardamom powder and salt. Stir and cook till well combined and the mixture is fairly dry. Mash this with a thick ladle or a potato masher (traditionally, a puran yantra or puran masher is used for this). Cool completely before using to make the flatbreads.
To make dough: Take the flour in a large mixing bowl. Add salt and 2 tsp ghee. Mix with your fingers to make a crumbly mixture.
Add water, a little at a time, to make a dough. Knead this dough well for a few minutes to make it smooth and elastic. Cover and rest dough for 15-30 minutes before using.
To make flatbreads: Divide dough into 8-10 equal portions and roll into smooth balls.
Roll each dough ball into a small circle 3"-4" in diameter. Place 2 heaped tablespoons of cooled filling in the middle and gather the ends to make a dough pouch. Pinch the ends sealed and flatten it slightly.
Roll this out carefully on a well-floured surface to 8" or 10" round circles.
Heat a griddle on medium-high heat and brush some ghee all over the griddle. Cook the flatbreads on both sides till lightly browned. If you have kneaded and rolled the dough properly, you will find that the flatbread puffs up beautifully. Repeat till all the dough is used up.
Smear some more ghee on the cooked puran poli and store in a bread basket. Serve warm as is or with extra filling on the side or even a light dal curry.
Notes:
1. As I mentioned earlier, you can use either chana dal or moong dal in this recipe. 2. You can add some more spices in the filling like powdered ginger or nutmeg as well. I usually use just cardamom. 3. You can use all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour or a combination to make the dough. Make sure the dough is soft and smooth. The stock reserved from cooking dal is usually used to make something called katachi amti, a thin dal curry. Both puran poli and katachi amti are traditional Maharashtrian recipes.
Recipe by At The Corner of Happy And Harried at https://www.happyandharried.com/2015/12/11/puran-poli-sweet-lentil-stuffed-flatbreads/