Puran Po(r)li

( purNa paooLI )

Ingredients:

• Puran:

• 2 cups channa dal
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 tablespoon freshly ground cardamom
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon saffron
• 4 cups water
• 3 drops milk

• Po(r)li:

• 1 cup wheat (chapatti) flour
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 dash of salt
• 4 tablespoons oil
• 1 ½ - 1 ¾ cups of water
• Kutachi Aamti:
• 2 tablespoons Tamarind paste
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons garam or kala masala
• 1 or 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper powder (chili powder)
• Phodani
• 4 tablespoons oil
• heeng
• ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
• 4-5 half inch cinnamon sticks
• 4-5 bay leaves
• 6-7 cloves
• ½ teaspoon turmeric

1) Warm up 4 cups of water.

2) Add water to dal in a deep pot.

3) Bring to a boil, constantly stirring, don’t let boil over.

4) Cook until the dal is a soft as can be.

5) If water boils away, add just enough warm water that it covers dal.

6) Drain water (kut) into separate pot (using a colander/sieve), save for later.

7) Add 2 cups sugar to cooked dal.

8) Continue to cook on low heat, stirring completely.

9) Put saffron in small bowl, warm for 30 seconds in microwave.

10) Add three drops of milk, and stir to see that the liquid turns to saffron yellow.

11) Once dal stop sticking to sides of pot, then it is close to being done.

12) Add cardamom and nutmeg, saffron.

13) Keep stirring for no more that 10 more minutes.

14) Turn heat off, let cool.

15) After emptying out puran into separate container, don’t clean out pot.

16) While mixing with a fork, add in flours, salt, and oil.

17) Slowly keep adding water until it gets a thick consistency.

18) Kneed the dough.

19) Let stand for half an hour.

20) Take a ball of dough the size of a ping pong ball

21) Drop in a bowl of rice flour, and retrieve (use throughout process to keep from sticking).

22) Roll into a circle with a rolling pin.

23) Put a heaped table spoon of puran in the middle of the pur(r)li, fold into a dumpling, sealing top tightly (maybe use water).

24) Roll and flatten in hand.

25) Roll into a circle with the rolling pin, take special care to spread puran evenly.

26) Place on griddle, wait until it browns, flip.

27) Add ghee, and the ‘pan fry’. Keep flipping.

28) Serve with ghee, or cream/half and half.

29) With saved separated water, put back into puran pot.

30) ‘Clean off’ the sides with a spatula and left over sticking puran.

31) You can add a little cooked puran if you want to make it sweeter.

32) Add tamarind paste, brown sugar, garam masala, salt, and chili powder.

33) Bring to boil, and simmer for five or ten minutes.

34) Carefully, add phodani.

35) Serve with plain rice.