Where it comes from
Made for Holi and Gudi Padwa across Maharashtra and Karnataka, where it is called holige. The sweet lentil puran is old enough to appear in twelfth-century Sanskrit cookery texts.
Method
- 1
Cook the dal
25:00Boil chana dal until soft but not mushy and drain it completely, keeping the liquid for katachi amti.
- 2
Make the puran
20:00Cook the dal with jaggery, stirring, until it thickens and leaves the pan, then grind smooth with cardamom and nutmeg.
- 3
Rest an oiled dough
10:00Knead flour, semolina, turmeric, oil and water into a very soft dough and rest it under oil for an hour.
- 4
Stuff and roll thin
15:00Enclose a ball of puran in dough and roll out gently, dusting with rice flour, until almost translucent.
- 5
Griddle in ghee
12:00Cook on a medium tawa until pale gold spots appear on both sides, brushing with ghee.
Cook's notes
- A stiff puran tears the poli; if it is loose, dry it a few minutes longer.
- Serve warm with a spoon of ghee and, if you are Maharashtrian, hot milk.
