Puran Poli – An Indian delicacy made by stuffing soft whole wheat dough with soft cooked yellow lentils, jaggery/brown sugar, cardamom, nutmeg and saffron. It is then rolled thin and cooked on a griddle with lots of ghee to make it into a golden brown, flavorful and aromatic flat bread. When torn apart it has a ooey-gooey perfection.
A Traditional Maharastrian delicacy – Puran Poli is especially made on few auspicious festivals:
- Holi – the festival of color, the celebration of victory of good over evil, marks the arrival of spring. Holi, is a popular Hindu festival celebrated over 2-5 days in India. On the evening of the first day, public bonfires are made, called Holika Dahan. On the next day (or 5th day in some states) people play with colors. My memories of Holi are of the bonfires and my friends and family gathering around them to pray. The fifth day is the most colorful day where we shower our friends, family and even those we don’t know with vibrant colors both powder and liquid. Even after the holiday passes the streets of India look like a Monet covered in a sea of color.
- Diwali– which translates to a row of lights, is the main Hindu festival celebrated in autumn. In Maharashtra, where I grew up, it is celebrated with a lot of enthusiasm. Check out how my family celebrates Diwali in the USA!
- Bail Pola – celebrated in the monsoon season, on this day farmers pay respect to bullocks and cows as cattle is their main source of livelihood. Bail in Marathi means ‘Bull.’ On this day, cattle are bathed, adorned with various ornaments and clothes. Their horns are given a fresh coat of paint and then the animals are taken around the village in processions accompanied by music.
Growing up, I did not enjoy Puran Poli as much; which was a bit odd as the rest of my family devoured this dish for a few days. I would beg my Mom to make me a plain bread without the sweet stuffing, but she never entertained my request. Rule was to eat at least one before I would get to enjoy the rest of the delicacies that she prepared.
Years later, after I moved to the US, with my mom visiting me and me visiting home; I started liking this dish so much that I had to learn how to cook it. With my mom’s precise instructions, I then made it several times, each time to the perfection that I would have expected from my Mom. Thankfully, both my children and my husband LOVE it and so it makes all the effort worthwhile.
Even though the process sounds a bit long and tedious, it has now vecome a no fail recipe for me. I make the stuffing a day ahead and let it cool in the fridge overnight. Usually I use a pressure cooker for cooking lentils but for this dish I let the lentils cook slowly in a big pot on the stove top. This recipe requires split bengal gram/chana daal and jaggery, which is raw brown sugar. It also uses spices like cardamom, nutmeg, dry ginger and saffron.
What is Puran Poli?
- Puran – Sweet filling made with chana daal, jaggery, cardamom, saffron & nutmeg
- Poli – Flatbread usually made with whole wheat flour
- Puran Poli is a sweet flatbread where the puran is stuffed inside the whole wheat dough and rolled to form a thin flatbread. It is then cooked on a hot griddle with generous amount of ghee until both sides are cooked with golden brown spots.
What is Jaggery?
- Jaggery (pronounced jag-uh-reey) is a unrefined sugar that is used commonly in India. Jaggery is made from by boiling and reducing down sugar cane juice.
Types of Puran Poli made in across India
- Maharashtrian Puran Poli – Thin flatbread usually made with chana daal and jaggery
- Gujrati Puran Poli – Thick flatbread usually made with toovar/toor daal and jaggery
- Andhra Bobbattu – Thin flatbread usually made with chana daal and jaggery, the filling can also has nuts
- Kerala Boli – Thin flatbread made with chana daal and jaggery with the outer dough is made of rice flour and has hint of turmeric
- Kannada Holige – Thin flatbread usually made with chana daal and jaggery
- Tamil Poli – Hand patted flatbread with coarse filling of chana daal, jaggery and coconut
Pro tips to make perfect Puran Poli:
- Rinse the chana daal a couple of time and drain well.
- Use filtered water to cook the daal. Hard water can cause the lentils to not cook properly or to take longer time
- Old daal or organic daal can also take longer time to cook
- Add a pinch of saffron for beautiful golden color to the filling
- Adding dry ginger powder to the filling helps with digestion but can be optional
Troubleshooting Puran/Filling problems:
- How to fix runny puran/filling? – Place the filling in a non stick pan and cook on low-medium heat, stirring often for 5 to 10 mins. This will allow excess liquids to evaporate and the filing will become dryer.
- How to fix dry puran/filling? – Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of warm milk to the puran and mix it in. Add more milk as required until you get it to the desired consistency
Step by step recipe to make Puran Poli:
- Wash the chana daal 2-3 times. Drain all the water and then add 5 cups of filter water along with the daal in a heavy bottomed pot. Let the daal cook on medium-low heat for at least an hour, stirring few times. If you see white foam rise up from the lentils, gently discard the foam with a spatula. The daal should be cooked very soft, test them by pressing between thumb and index finger and it should be very soft and mushy. Cooking time may vary, I usually let mine cook for couple of hours on medium low heat. If you can stay near the stove while it is cooking you may want to cook it at medium high, stirring more frequently, in which case the daal will be fully cooked in 45 mins.
- Drain all the water using a strainer (save the water to make katachi aamti, see recipe below). Put the daal back in the pot. Add jaggery, sugar, nutmeg, cardamom powder, dry ginger and saffron to the lentils. Mix well, and cook stirring frequently for 20 mins on medium heat.
- Let the above mixture cool down for few mins and then blend it to a smooth consistency in a food processor. Tip – Make sure to blend while it is warm. This is our sweet stuffing and it should have a soft consistency like the picture below.
- To make the outside cover of the poli, make soft dough with the whole wheat flour, salt, saffron and oil. This dough should be softer than the normal roti/paratha dough to get soft and flaky puran poli’s.
- Let this dough rest for atleast half an hour at room temperature. Start making balls of the dough and the stuffing which should be of the same size. I usually make mine the size of a lemon.
- Put a heavy griddle on medium high heat. Roll the dough by using the dry wheat flour that is kept aside for rolling. Make a 4-5 inch diameter circle. Put the stuffing in the middle of the rolled dough and then gather all the sides of the dough on top of the stuffing to enclose it. Roll the poli softly using more dry flour. You can roll this thin or keep it a little thicker. I roll mine thin to about 8-10 inches in diameter. Gently put the rolled poli on the heated griddle. Cook evenly on both sides to a perfect golden brown color. Add a little ghee to both sides.
- Sprinkle a little more ghee on both sides and serve hot.
These puran polis are so flavorful that they can be eaten by themselves or traditionally they are served with hot milk that is flavored with cardamom and saffron.
Here is a picture of the full traditional meal, that includes Puran poli, saffron and cardamom flavored milk, crunchy millet papads, crispy onion fritters, potato fritters, steamed rice and a spicy curry made with onions, coconut and the reserved water from the cooked chana daal.. Yummy!
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Sweet lentil stuffed flatbreads.
- 1 cup whole wheat flour for dough
- 1/2 cup whole wheat flour for rolling
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 tbsp ghee
- 1 cup chana daal/split bengal gram
- 1/2 cup jaggery
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg powder
- 1/4 tsp cardamom powder
- 1/4 tsp saffron
- 1/4 tsp dry ginger powder
Wash the chana daal 2-3 times. Drain all the water and then add 5 cups of water along with the daal in a heavy bottomed pot. Let the daal cook on medium-low heat for an hour or 2, stirring few times. Remove any white foam that may rise up.
Drain all the water using a strainer (save the water to make katachi aamti, see recipe below). Put the daal back in the pot. Add jaggery, sugar, nutmeg powder, cardamom powder, dry ginger powder and saffron to the daal. Mix well, and cook stirring frequently for 10-15 minutes on medium heat.
Cool down the cooked mixture for 5 mins and then blend it to a smooth consistency in a food processor. Make to blend while the mixture is warm. This is our sweet stuffing.
- Knead soft pliable dough with 1 cup of whole wheat flour, salt, saffron and oil. This dough should be softer than the normal roti/paratha dough to get soft and flaky puran poli's. Let the dough rest for 30 mins.
- Start making balls of the dough and the stuffing which should be of the same size. I usually make mine the size of a lemon. With the Ingredients we have here I usually make 8-10 balls each of the dough and stuffing.
Put a heavy griddle on medium high heat. Roll the dough by using the dry wheat flour that is kept aside for rolling. Make a 4-5 inch diameter circle. Put the stuffing in the middle of the rolled dough and then gather all the sides of the dough on top of the stuffing to enclose it. Roll the poli softly using more dry flour. You can roll this thin or keep it a little thicker. I roll mine thin to about 8-10 inches in diameter.
Gently put the rolled poli on the heated griddle. Cook evenly on both sides to a perfect golden brown color. Add a little ghee to both sides. Serve with unsweetened milk flavored with cardamom and saffron.
Note - Using filter water or bottle water speeds up the cooking time for the lentils
Notes to make the Puran{sweet lentil filling} in the Instant Pot:
- Rinse and drain the lentils.
- Add lentils with 2.5 cups of filter water and Pressure Cook(Hi) for 8 minutes followed by natural pressure release.
- Strain the liquids from the lentils using a mesh strainer and reserve the liquids.
- Return the lentils to the Instant Pot. Add jaggery, sugar, nutmeg, cardamom powder, dry ginger and saffron. Mix well and cook stirring frequently until the puran starts to thicken up. If sautéing in the Instant Pot, cook on sauté(normal) mode to avoid splatters.
- Let the cooked lentils cool down for few mins and then blend it to a smooth consistency in a food processor. Make sure the lentils are not completely cold, they need to be blended while they are warm.
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Author: Archana
Hey there! I am a techie turned recipe developer, cooking instructor, and food blogger. I love food and enjoy developing easy and healthy recipes for busy lifestyles. I live New Jersey with my husband and two sons.
This looks incredible! What a great sounding festival!
Thank you Amy!
Holi is such a fun festival! All cultures would do well to adopt it!
Thank you! Couldn’t agree more with you.
Looks delicious. My hubby loves it. Will try it soon
Thank you!
Love that platter and the setup. Great clicks and of course yummy recipe.
Thank you Srividhya!
That looks outrageously delicious! Every day would be a celebration if this dish was on the table.
I agree with you!! Puran poli can make any day a celebration!
Wow this must be so yummy!
Thank you! It is delicious!
Wow, these look incredibly delicious! I’m a huge fan of lentils, so I’m sure I’d love these. In fact, my mouth is already watering!
Thank you!
Yum! Mouth watering. Bookmarked:))
Thank you Sangeeta!!
Love puran poli.. tried making it at home once, it was a disaster ?
Does take time to master this one. But try following my recipe. The key is that is puran must be of right consistency, more on the softer side than dry. Good Luck!
Hi Archana,
Do you have recipe to make puran in Instant pot?
Thanks!
Yes! I will post it soon. Stay tuned ?
Puran Poli looks amazing and yum..
Thank you Neetha!
The puranpoli looks very delicious! Happy Holi Archana!
Thank you!
I’ve never had these! I must make them! Hope I’m not too late to wish you a Happy Holi!
Thank you Annika! Happy Holi to you too! I think you will love the flavors.
Love puran polis! Have fond memories of eating them during holidays in Bhopal.
Kanika,
Kitchenpostcards.
Thank you Kanika!
Hello. I would love to see if you can make Puran podi recipe mix in IP? I feel like there has to be an easy way of making that in IP than stove or microwave. I would love your input.
Hi Riddhi. Yes, I will update this post with details on how to make puran in IP.
Looks delicious! I have tons of green lentils, would this work with green instead of yellow? Thank you
Hi Erica, Thank you. I am not sure if this would work with green lentils with taste or texture. You def want the yellow chana daal for this recipe.
Thanks for this recipe. Had been searching fir one with ginger powder since a long time & finally found it 🙂
You are welcome!
Looking forward to try the recipe. However, I am very smitten by the cutlery in the picture. Can you please share where you got them from. TIA.