West Indian · Dessert
Puran Poli
Puran poli is a Maharashtrian flatbread stuffed with a cooked paste of chana dal and jaggery, rolled thin and griddled with ghee. The filling has to be dry enough to roll around and the dough elastic enough to stretch, and getting both right is the entire dish.
- Prep
- 30 min
- Cook
- 30 min
- Total time
- 1 hr
- Servings
- 6
- Vegetarian
- Festive
- High-protein
Ingredients
- 1 cup chana dal, rinsed
- 1 cup jaggery, grated
- 1/2 teaspoon cardamom powder and a pinch of grated nutmeg
- 1 cup plain flour, or half plain and half wholemeal
- 2 tablespoons oil, plus ghee for cooking
- A pinch of turmeric and a pinch of salt
- Water, for cooking the dal and for kneading
NNWA health note
The filling is chana dal, which means this is a sweet with genuine pulse protein and fibre behind it, an unusual thing on a festival plate. The jaggery is sugar in a less refined form and behaves in the body much as sugar does. One poli griddled with two teaspoons of ghee is a substantial item, so it sits better as the meal itself than as something eaten after one.
Method
- 01
Boil the chana dal in three cups of water with the turmeric until a grain crushes between finger and thumb, about 30 minutes. Drain it thoroughly and keep the cooking liquid.
- 02
Put the drained dal back in the pan with the jaggery and cook over a medium flame, stirring, until the jaggery melts and the mixture thickens into a mass that leaves the sides.
- 03
Off the heat, mix in the cardamom and nutmeg, then pass it through a puran yantra or mash it very smooth while it is still warm. Cool it completely.
- 04
Knead the flour with the salt, the oil and enough water into a soft, tacky dough. Smear the surface with more oil, cover, and leave it for at least an hour.
- 05
Knead the rested dough again until smooth and stretchy. Divide dough and filling into equal numbers of balls, making the filling balls slightly the larger of the two.
- 06
Flatten a dough ball, sit the filling in the middle, draw the edges over it and pinch shut. Press flat with your fingers, dust with flour and roll out slowly, turning as you go.
- 07
Griddle on a medium-hot tawa, turning once, until pale brown spots appear on both faces. Brush with ghee and stack under a cloth.
Last reviewed on 10 September 2026.
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How dry does the puran need to be?
Dry enough that a spoonful rolled between the palms holds its shape, and not a degree drier. The old test is to stand a spoon upright in the hot mixture and see whether it stays up. Wet filling bursts through the covering as the pin goes over it. Filling taken past that point goes stiff and tears the poli from the inside, and once it has cooled it cannot be loosened again without stirring the reserved dal water back in.
Why does the dough need an hour of rest?
Gluten has to relax before it can stretch around a large ball of filling without splitting, and a freshly kneaded dough springs back and tears. This dough is also deliberately much softer and stickier than roti dough, which is why it rests under a film of oil rather than under a dusting of flour. Knead it again after the rest and it turns from sticky to smooth and elastic within a couple of minutes.
Why does my puran poli tear while rolling?
Usually the ratio is wrong. Filling should be equal to the dough by weight or a little more, but much more than that leaves a covering too thin to survive the pin. Uneven filling does it as well, so press the stuffed ball flat with your fingers first and let the puran spread to the edges before any rolling starts. Work from the centre outwards with a light hand and turn the poli often rather than pushing in one direction.
Should it be plain flour or wholemeal?
Plain flour stretches further and gives the thin, pale poli that is traditional. Wholemeal gives a sturdier one that tears less and tastes nuttier. Half and half is the practical compromise most households have settled on. Going entirely to wholemeal changes the dish: still good, but it will never roll as thin. Whether refined flour deserves the reputation it has is worked through in is maida bad for health.
What is the leftover dal water for?
It becomes katachi amti, a thin sour broth made from the cooking liquid with goda masala, tamarind and coconut, served alongside the poli rather than thrown out. The pairing is not decorative. The amti cuts the sweetness, and a plate of puran poli without something sharp beside it is cloying by the second one. It also puts the water-soluble part of the dal back on the table instead of down the sink.
How long do they keep?
Two days at room temperature and about a week refrigerated, wrapped so they do not dry out. Reheat on a tawa rather than in a microwave, which turns them leathery. They also freeze for a month with greaseproof paper between them. The other great Maharashtrian festival sweet, modak, keeps for no time at all by comparison. Adjusting traditional sweets without wrecking what makes them work is the sort of problem the culinary nutrition course spends time on.
Learn the science
Culinary Nutrition (Nutrition Chef)
This dish's nutrition reasoning is taught in full in this NNWA course.
What people ask about Puran Poli
Why does my puran poli tear when I roll it?
Either there is too much filling for the dough around it, or the filling is unevenly distributed, or the dough was not rested. Keep filling and dough roughly equal by weight, press the stuffed ball flat with your fingers before the pin touches it, and rest the dough under oil for at least an hour.
How do I know the puran is cooked enough?
It should thicken until it leaves the sides of the pan, and a spoon stood upright in the hot mixture should stay standing. A spoonful cooled slightly and rolled between the palms should hold a ball. Anything looser will burst the poli; anything stiffer will tear it from the inside.
Can puran poli be made with wholemeal flour?
Yes, though it behaves differently. Wholemeal gives a sturdier, nuttier poli that resists tearing but will not roll as thin as one made with plain flour. Half plain and half wholemeal is the usual compromise and keeps most of the traditional texture while adding some bran back.
What is katachi amti and why is it served with puran poli?
It is a thin, sour, spiced broth made from the water the chana dal was boiled in, with goda masala, tamarind and coconut. It is served alongside because the sharpness cuts the sweetness of the poli, and it uses the water-soluble part of the dal that would otherwise be discarded.
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