Puran Poli - Sweet Flatbread
Puran Poli is a sweet flat bread with a sweet dal lentil filling. This is a popular bread in the states of Gujarat and Maharashtra. Puran poli is a wonderful breakfast dish, and can also be served as a snack.
Ingredients
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour (atta)
- ¼ cup all-purpose/plain flour (Maida)
- 2 tablespoons oil
- Approximately 1/3 cup water
Filling
- ¾ cup Toor dal (Ahrar dal) (available in Indian grocery stores)
- 1 cup sugar
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon cardamom powder (elaichi)
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg (jaiphal)
Also Needed
- Approximately 3 tablespoons oil
- Approximately ½ cup of dry whole wheat to roll the bread
Instructions
Filling
- Wash and soak the toor dal in two cups of water for at least four hours. Dal will double in volume after soaking. Discard any remaining water.
- Add toor dal and turmeric to two cups of water and cook in a heavy pan over medium-high heat. When dal boils, remove the yellow foam from the top. Reduce the heat to medium and cover the pan.
- Let it cook for 25 minutes, adding more water if needed. Dal should be very soft and mushy.
- Add sugar and cook until the dal looks like paste and starts to hold together. Add cardamom and nutmeg powder and mix well. The dal filling will be very soft and sticky.
Dough
- In a bowl, mix whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, and oil; add water slowly to make a very soft dough. The dough should not stick to your fingers. Cover the dough and set it aside. Let it rest for at least ten minutes.
Making Puran Poli
- Divide both the dough and the dal filling into ten equal parts. The parts of the dal filling should be about 2½ times that of the dough balls.
- Roll the dough balls into 2½”-diameter circles. Place one part of the filling in the center of each. Seal by pulling the edges of the rolled dough together to make a ball. Proceed to make all ten balls. Let the filled balls settle for three to four minutes.
- Heat the skillet on medium-high heat. To test, sprinkle a couple of drops of water on the skillet. The water should sizzle right away.
- Press the filled ball lightly on both sides on a surface covered with dry whole wheat flour.
- Lay the balls on the sealed side up and lightly press them into circles about 2” in diameter. Roll the balls gently into 5” circles. If the dough sticks to the rolling pin or rolling surface, lightly sprinkle dry whole wheat flour on both sides of the semi-rolled puran poli.
- Place the Puran poli in the skillet. When it starts to change color, flip it over. You will notice some golden-brown spots.
- After a few seconds, spread one teaspoon of oil on the puran poli. Flip them again and lightly press the puffed areas with a spatula. Flip again, and press with the spatula making sure the puran poli are golden-brown on both sides.
- Repeat the same process for the remaining.
- Puran poli is ready to be served and it tastes best when eaten hot.
Notes
Tips
1. When cooking the dal, use a large pot to prevent it from boiling over, as this can happen very easily. 2. Cooked Puran Poli can be stored for a week in the refrigerator. Re-heat over a skillet or in the toaster oven. Variation Puran Poli can be prepared using Chana dal, however, it has to be cooked for a slightly longer time. Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
Yolanda Monteiro
April 19, 2016 at 10:11 amI think I jumped the gun a bit when posting my previous comment…. I posted it before I actually rolled them out and fried them. I was not able to roll them out to 5″ as suggested in your recipe as the filling started to ooze out from the sides. I managed to roll them out to about 3″. Please tell what did I do wrong!!! I used the chana dal filling.
Manjula Jain
April 19, 2016 at 2:29 pmYolanda, the only thing I can think dough was hard or filling was too moist. next time make sure dough is soft.
Yolanda Monteiro
April 19, 2016 at 9:49 amThank you for sharing this recipe. I made it today and it turned out great!
sujith
February 29, 2016 at 6:26 amDear Madam,
You have been helping community by publishing traditional recipes, appreciate it.
Please let me know if Puran poli can be cooked without using maida
Dimple
January 16, 2014 at 8:07 amHi Aunty,
I made Puran poli’s for the first time and they turned out . All thanks to you. But I wanted to ask is it possible to store the mixture and then use it later. Coz I dont have time to use the whole mixture .
Thanks
Manjula Jain
January 16, 2014 at 11:39 amDimple,
You can refrigerate the filling for about 2 weeks.
Rajamani
December 14, 2013 at 3:12 amAunty, This is really awesome. I tried that too and blogged. You rock !
http://expressovegan.com/breakfastpuran-poli/
Vidisha Singh
August 22, 2012 at 2:36 amHello Mam,
Just wanted to know which puran is better, one made of chana dal or one made of arhar dal. I have tried Chana puran and found that to be good… Don’t know about Arhaar one..
Regards,
Vidisha
Ami
November 19, 2015 at 5:33 pmHi. The chana daal puran is a maharashtrian recipe and is bit dry and thin.
The toor daal recipe is gujarati recipe which has a bit wet stuffing and is made thicker than the chana daal one. And yes actually we male it with jaggery also. It also tastes good
Ruchira Chowdhary
August 11, 2012 at 9:01 pmHello mam. I love ur recipes, I wanted to know if there are reciepe books available I would love to buy them, as I’m gettin married into a family where no onion and garlic is allowed. So please do let me know. Thank you
Ranjana
May 8, 2012 at 12:02 pmI checked few recepies and looks great….!!
I showed the videos to my house help and he enjoyed learning them. It made the recepies simple and you get to know few basic techniques of good cooking.
The best part is ..it is pure vegeterian. I am also from a Jain family who don’t eat Onion and Garlic.
Neha Modi
May 4, 2012 at 12:56 pmHi…I tried Puran Poli…and my husband loved it…the only difference was I used pressure cooker. Also my puran was not very dry to make balls so I kept it in freezer for 10 mins…and everythg went perfect….Thanks Aunty..Love your recipes!!!
saranya
March 8, 2012 at 6:45 amHi aunty,
I am in Netherlands mam and tried ur reciepes like Puranpoli, chana masala ,carrot halwa and gulgula.Really superb mam and my husband liked those.
Regards
Saranya
Kamala
November 22, 2011 at 4:31 amI have a party at my house coming up in a fortnight. I am wondering if I can make a large quantities of puran polis in advance and keep it in the fridge. My question is: Will the polis stick together and break if I take it out on the day of the party? Please let me know. If yes, how can I prevent from polis sticking together. Thanks
Manjula Jain
November 22, 2011 at 9:05 amKamala
Place a wax paper in between Puran Poli.
rajirajesh
September 28, 2011 at 12:29 amhi mam,
i am a big fan of ur receipes.. The way u prepare itself i liked.. i tried most of ur receipes.. i tried poli also.. In my places v used to make that puran with beswan dhal.. but this is the first time i tried with toor dhal.. its nice and very yummy… thank u mam
rajirajesh
Archana
September 8, 2011 at 11:10 amsuch a wonderful recipe. We all loved it . For the first time I could make perfect pooran poli. Thanks so much.
Veni
August 27, 2011 at 8:16 amHello Aunty,
thanks for all wonderful recipes. i tried puran poli, it was awesome. i also tried ras malai. thank you so much.
Chitra
June 18, 2011 at 9:17 pmAunty – When you cook the Puran Poli on the skillet, do you recommend using Ghee?
nosheen fahim
June 3, 2011 at 5:36 amlove indian food and this methi thepla is awesome i love to cook and i am interested in indian food alot….i am from pakistan, abbottabad
PARUL
June 3, 2011 at 12:06 amAunty can you please tell me the size of your measurement cup..my 1cup says 240ml..please confirm..
sumiya
May 28, 2011 at 10:18 amhai, its really good,,,,, almost all ur recipies are good,,,,,,,thank you
but in puran polis instead of sugar can i use brown sugar(ghud)? if yes how can it b used ? kindly reply
Manjula Jain
May 29, 2011 at 9:17 amSumiya,
You can use Brown sugar first try it same quantity if needed add more.
sumiya
May 30, 2011 at 12:53 amok maam,,,,,,
thank you
Gargi
May 27, 2011 at 3:42 pmVery Nice but this is not a snack . It’s for lunch or dinner .Puranpoli is the main in lunch or dinner as a roti.
Chitra
June 18, 2011 at 9:19 pmIn North India Roti/Parntha is taken as breakfast also, this is a sweet parantha!
Manek
May 18, 2011 at 3:28 pmI thoroughly enjoyed watching the puran poli video, I will definitely try your recipe this weekend.
On another note, I tried methi theplas , and they turned out so good. I love your cooking website..
Madhu
May 10, 2011 at 11:55 amHello Aunty,
I like all of your recipes… Just want to know what type and brand of Tawa are you using? Thanks
parshottam mathur
May 10, 2011 at 6:00 amHi, thank you for this recipes. this is mummy food.
rugmani
May 9, 2011 at 11:09 pmReally it is very nice. Even I was thinking it is very difficult to make puran poli. thank you for the tips also.
Shivani
May 6, 2011 at 10:53 amCan we make pooranpoli and keep it in refregerator or freezer for some days?
shaheela
May 5, 2011 at 7:50 amaunty what is toor dal coz i’m from sri lanka
Jesse
May 5, 2011 at 4:37 pmTuvaram paruppu in Tamil. They are sometimes called Pigeon Peas, and come dry or oily.
shaheela
May 6, 2011 at 2:26 amthanx
Mary
May 4, 2011 at 9:05 pmVery good recipe and so well explained. I always thought puran poli was very difficult to make. You make it seem so simple. In Maharashtra, chana dal and jaggery are used for the filling. I like the filling of tur dal and sugar too.
krithiga
May 4, 2011 at 8:33 amhi aunty,
recipe looks so yummy..can we use the pressure cooker to cook the dhal? it will safe time..
Manjula Jain
May 4, 2011 at 10:18 amKrithiga,
Yes you can use pressure cooker.
Dennis
May 4, 2011 at 7:31 amThank you Manjula for this bread recipe. This looks very good and I know it must taste great. Is it okay to put raisins, crushed nuts, dates, and cinnamon in the filling or will these items alter the your recipe too much? My wife and I enjoy your recipes so much. Thanks
Manjula Jain
May 4, 2011 at 7:46 amDennis,
In this recipe any thing you add has to be powdery or mushy blend in with filling well otherwise will not be able to role the Puran Poli.
Jayashree
May 3, 2011 at 12:15 pmHi Aunty
I thought the filling for Puran Poli’s were made with chana dal & Jaggrey. Never heard of Toor Dal & sugar for filling. Kindly clarify?
Will try your method too.
Thank you for your time and response,
Jayashree
Jaya
May 5, 2011 at 4:08 amPuran poli is normally made with jaggary. I think she has done her version with sugar to make it easier for people who can’t buy jaggary where they live.
Sanyukta
May 3, 2011 at 7:03 amAnd this looks so yummy n filling..My fav fav dessert til date…craving for one poli now manjula aunty…and congrats to the April winners…