Poli is a sweet dish prepared during pongal (sankaranti) in Tam-bram homes. Poli is commonly know as puran poli in other parts of India. The traditional poli is more like a stuffed paratha where the outer layer is made of maida/all purpose flour and the inner layer is a filling made of gram dal,coconut and jaggery. There are also many other variations in the filling from state to state and home to home.In our home we make a very spicy variation of this traditional poli with mixed vegetables and few spices and masalas. This is a very tasty,filling and nutritious dish with lots of vegetables in it and very much suited of breakfast and lunch.I made this poli with a little tweaking here and there and it turned out absolutely great. In this recipe I used a combination of maida+atta and you can use only maida if you want.If only atta is used, the elasticity of the outer layer which differentiates the poli from a mere stuffed paratha cannot be achieved.
Ingredients:
For outer layer:
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour/maida
1/2 cup atta/wheat flour
2 Tbs oil
Salt to taste
Water to knead the dough
For filling:
1 large potato boiled and mashed
1 large carrot boiled and mashed
1/4 cup peas boild and mashed
3 green chillies
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp mustard seed
1 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp asafoetida
1/2 tsp chat masala powder
Small piece of ginger crushed
Salt
Method:
Outer layer:
Mix both the flours,salt,oil and combine till the flours turn into a crumble mixture,Now slowly add water and knead it to a smooth dough.Knead the dough very well so that it turns elastic.Kneading the dough very smooth and glossy is important to get soft layers in poli. Keep aside for at least an hour
Filling:
1.In a kadai add 1 tsp oil,splutter mustard and cumin seeds,add crushed ginger,green chillies,asafoetida and saute well for few minutes.
2. Add the boiled and mashed vegetables,turmeric powder,chat masala powder,salt to tastemix well and saute for 5 minutes.
Making poli:
1.Take a small ball size of outer dough,and spread it on back side of a large plate into a circle using palm,Spread it slowly so that it doesn't tear.
2.Now take a small ball of the filling,keep it in the center of the rolled dough and close from all edges.
3.Slowly spread the stuffed ball into poli(like we do for stuffed paratha) and cook on a hot tava using little oil for few minutes on both sides
4.Serve hot with any raita.
Time: 30 minutes
Yield: 8 polis
Notes:
1.Finely chopped onions can be used in the filling instead of asafoetida
2. Polis are comparitively smaller in size than a paratha and a rolling pin is not used to spread the dough
