Theme: A-Z Dishes from Andhra Pradesh
Dish: Poli Boorelu
Here's Wishing everyone a Very Happy Ganesh Chathurthi!!
While I was planning for the A-Z series, I came across a ton of dishes from Andhra Pradesh that I've never tried before and in my excitement to cook for the event, I cooked more than I should. Since we are only posting 1 dish per alphabet, I had to edit myself and only post the ones I felt really represented AP. So to keep the momentum going, I decided to post the ones that didn't get picked up the regular Blogging Marathon on Sundays as Bonus recipes.
Today's bonus recipe is an easy to make boorelu. I still remember the first time I made boorelu years ago for Varalakshmi vratam. I invited few friends for dinner that day and my filling for boorelu was so liquidy that it completely dissolved in the cover batter. So when I fried them, they ended up looking like pakodi. We all ate them anyway.
But this recipe is almost fool-proof, since chana dal is first soaked, ground and then steamed (like when we make patoli/ paruppu usili), so there is no chance of the filling getting liquidy.For the outer cover, usually urad dal (minapappu) and rice are soaked and then ground to a smooth paste. Instead I used store-bought urad dal flour and rice flour. This makes life so much easier making the whole process quicker and leaving only 1 bowl to clean.
Ingredients:For the filling:
Chana dal - 1cup
Sugar - 1cup
Ground Cardamom - ½tsp
Dry grated coconut - ¼cup
For the Outer Cover:
Urad dal flour - ½cup
Rice Flour - 1¼cups
Salt - pinch
Method:
- For the Outer Cover: Combine urad flour, rice flour and salt. Add enough water to make a lump-less batter similar in thickness to pancake batter. Cover and set aside while you prepare the filling.
- For the filling: Soak chana dal for at least 2-3 hours. Drain all the water and then grind into an almost smooth paste without adding any water. Steam this mixture for 5-7 minutes (just as you would for idlis). Once the mixture has cooled, crumble it using your fingers and add sugar, grated coconut and ground cardamom. Mix well. Take a tablespoon of the mixture and form into round balls.
- Make Boorelu: Heat oil for deep frying in a pan. Dip the filling balls in the urad dal batter and gently place them in the hot oil. Fry until golden brown on all sides. Remove and drain on paper towel.
