Soft, golden flatbreads stuffed with a fragrant filling of cooked chana dal and jaggery, seasoned with cardamom and nutmeg, then cooked on a tawa with ghee.
Calories
320kcal
Protein
8g
Carbs
52g
Fat
9g
Rinse the chana dal well and add it to a pot with the water. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 25 to 30 minutes until fully soft and mashable. Drain any excess water and reserve it for later use in kadhi or gravies.
Transfer the cooked dal to a heavy pan with the grated jaggery. Cook over low-medium heat, stirring constantly, until the jaggery melts and the mixture thickens into a soft, sticky paste. Stir in cardamom and nutmeg and let cool.
Once cooled slightly, mash the puran with a potato masher or run it through a puran yantra (or food processor) until completely smooth. Divide into equal balls the size of a small lime.
In a bowl, mix the flours, turmeric, and salt. Drizzle in the oil and rub it through with your fingers. Add water little by little and knead into a very soft, smooth, slightly sticky dough. Cover and rest for 20 minutes.
Divide the rested dough into equal balls slightly smaller than the puran balls. Flatten one dough ball in your palm, place a puran ball in the center, and pull the edges up around it to fully seal. Pinch off any excess dough.
Dust the sealed ball lightly with rice flour and roll it gently into a thin round disc, rotating as you go. Work carefully so the filling doesn't burst through the dough.
Heat a tawa or flat pan over medium heat. Place the rolled poli on the tawa and cook for about a minute until bubbles form. Flip, drizzle with ghee, and cook until golden brown spots appear. Flip once more and repeat on the other side.
Stack the finished polis in a covered plate to keep them soft. Serve warm with an extra dollop of ghee, a drizzle of warm milk, or alongside spiced kadhi.
Ask anyone who grew up in a Maharashtrian or South Indian home about the smell of Puran Poli Recipe in the kitchen and watch their whole face change. It's the smell of Holi, of Ganesh Chaturthi, of grandmothers rolling dough by hand while gossiping with aunts. It's soft golden flatbread with a molten sweet middle of lentils and jaggery, and it tastes like memory.
The magic is the puran — a rich, spiced paste of cooked chana dal and jaggery that gets stuffed inside a soft wheat dough and rolled thin. When you bite in, the outside is buttery from the ghee, and the inside is almost fudgy. It's dessert, breakfast, and hug all in one round package.
Yes, it looks fancy. Yes, grandmas make it look effortless. But once you get the rhythm of rolling, it's genuinely fun. The trick is a soft dough (not stiff), a well-cooked puran (not runny), and a light hand with the rolling pin. Your first one might look a little wonky. Your fifth one will look like it came from a sweet shop.
Straight off the tawa, still warm, with a big spoon of ghee melting on top. That's the classic. Some people pour warm milk over it. Others eat it with kadhi for a sweet-and-savory situation that sounds weird but absolutely works. However you serve it, a Puran Poli Recipe at your table means today counts as a good day.
Yes. The puran filling keeps in the fridge for up to 3 days and actually gets better as the flavors settle. The dough can also rest covered for a few hours. Assemble and cook them fresh for the best texture.
Palm sugar or coconut sugar are the closest swaps and give a similar depth. Regular brown sugar works too but the flavor will be lighter and less caramel-like.
The cooked mixture needed more time on the heat to dry out. Cook it until a spoon dragged through the pan leaves a clear line for a second — that's the right consistency for easy stuffing.
Yes. Swap the wheat flour for a mix of rice flour and jowar or bajra flour. The rolling is a bit trickier, so use parchment paper on both sides to help.
Cool them completely, then stack with parchment between and store in an airtight container. They keep at room temperature for 2 days or in the fridge for a week. Reheat on a hot tawa with a smear of ghee to bring them back to life.
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