Sesame-seed and jaggery poli (sweet stuffed chapatis, in other words)

I used to think that poli was a South Indian recipe, until I found out that Maharashtrians make it for Makar Sankranti (harvest festival) - which necessitated a change in my world view somewhat, because people from the four Southern Indian States consider Maharashtra and Mumbai-ites to be North Indians... whereas people from the North India consider Maharashtrians to be more South Indian than north.

It doesnt help that Marathi as a language and its script are so much closer to Hindi and its script and not in the least like Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada or Telugu. All very confusing.

But to get back to the delights of poli... I might have mentioned this before, but I like coconut in very, very few sweet dishes. Poli isnt one of them dishes. So when I came across a recipe for poli that seemed different from the norm because of the stuffing ingredients - it contained sesame seeds but very little gram/chickpea flour and not any chana dal at all (cooked chana dal stuffing is what I've had thus far) - I was pleased. I love the taste of sesame in savoury and sweet dishes, so that was another plus.

I have to say that the poli made this way didnt stay soft for long. The traditional ones I've had, with mashed cooked gram dal & jaggery filling, are meltingly soft and delicious, especially with a dollop of ghee on top. The sesame-seed poli I made were delicious too, but - have I said this before? - not soft. Still, that didnt stop me scarfing them down, so I guess it's worth putting up the recipe.

If anybody wants to know how to make them soft... they'll have to look elsewhere for the answer. And if anybody does find the answer, would they be kind enough to pass on the info to me too, pleeeeeeeeeeeeease?

Recipe for: Sesame seed and jaggery poli (slightly adapted from Cuisine Cuisine)



Ingredients:

For the stuffing:

1 cup jaggery, powdered
1 htbsp gram/chickpea flour
1 tsp cooking oil
1 tbsp poppy seeds
2 tbsp white sesame seeds
1/4 tsp cardamom seeds, powdered

For the poli:

2 cups plain flour
1 cup wholewheat flour
1 tbsp warmed oil
1/4 tsp salt
Warm water as required for making the dough

Plain flour for dusting
Ghee for shallow-frying

Method:

1. Make a soft but not sticky dough with the poli ingredients. Let it rest covered for about 30 minutes.

2. Heat 1 tsp oil in a little pan and roast the gram flour, stirring constantly, until the raw smell is gone (about a minute). Be careful not to burn the flour. Set aside to cool.

3. Roast the poppy seeds and sesame seeds on dry heat over medium flame till they start to turn golden. Grind these in a spice of coffee mill, together with the cardamom powder, into a fine powder. Mix with the roasted gram flour and reserve.

4. Put the powdered jaggery in a bowl, sprinkle a tsp of water, and melt in the microwave for a 45 seconds. Take it out and give it a stir. If it needs to melt a bit more - ie, if there are any dry bits - put it back in the microwave for 20 seconds. Dont overcook it by microwaving it for too long.

5. Quickly mix the sesame-poppy seed powder with the jaggery, making sure it's thoroughly mixed. Set aside to cool.

To make the poli:

6. Knead the dough well, then make small balls (slightly smaller than a golf ball).

7. Roll out two balls into palm-sized circles.

8. Sprinkle some of the filling all over one dough circle (break up any lumps with your fingers), then cover it with the other circle.

9. Dust the top with flour and gently roll out the dough circle into a slightly larger circle, so that the filling is sandwiched.

10. Then roll it out some more into a thin round.

11. Heat a tava or frying pan (keep it on medium heat) and transfer the poli to it. Cook for a few seconds on one side, turn it over and smear that side with ghee. Flip it over once again and smear the other side with ghee as well. Shallow fry until the poli begins to get golden brown spots on both sides. Serve warm.

Note: The jaggery will melt in the heat and might ooze out - in that case keep an eye on it so that it doesnt burn. A little extra direct heat gives a caramelly flavour that is very nice, but burnt jaggery is quite awful to smell and taste.

Diwali special sweet 2 - Kadalai urundai (Peanut balls)

I've never liked the ready-made kadalai urundai available in India... the home-made ones are so much nicer, especially the ones made by my mother. The ready-made ones were rock-hard - so hard that when you bit into them, you had to double-check to make sure it wasnt your teeth that had splintered. I had the private conviction that they were held together with superglue.

Making kadalai urundai at home - especially in a microwave - should be the simplest of procedures... and in theory, it is. I mean, all it requires is two ingredients - jaggery (raw unrefined sugar) and de-husked peanuts... three, at the most, if you include a dash of powdered cardamom. It's even easier if you can get pre-roasted unsalted peanuts. My mother makes them perfectly in the microwave but could I follow suit? Could I hell.

The first trial batch turned out okay - just about. The second batch was a flop because the jaggeried (new word here, folks) peanuts refused to stick together to form balls. I guess that was because the jaggery didnt melt evenly in the microwave.

I'm not sure, but I think the quality of the jaggery matters a lot here. I had a little bit of dark brown jaggery and a packet light jaggery, ready-powdered. The two unfortunately didnt mix well. The dark brown jaggery melted really quickly while the powdered stuff had only just started to. Any longer in the microwave and the dark brown jaggery would have burned.

Anyway... here's the basic recipe that I got from my mother. Good luck trying it (if anybody does try it) because the results will probably vary based on the quality of the jaggery and the wattage of the microwave oven.

TIP: Add a tsp or two of water to the jaggery before microwaving it.

Recipe for: Kadalai urundai (peanut balls)



Ingredients:

1 cup de-husked, unsalted peanuts (ready-roasted, if possible)
3-4 tbsp jaggery, smashed into small pieces
1/4 tsp powdered cardamom seeds - optional

Method:

1. Roast the peanuts (if unroasted) in the microwave for 2-3 minutes (depending on the wattage). Let the peanuts cool and check that they're crisp. If not, roast them for another minute. Check again for crispness.

2. Melt the jaggery in a shallow dish - this should take a minute or two. Again, this depends on the oven's wattage and the quality of the jaggery, so start with one minute's worth.

3. Drop a bit of the jaggery in water - if it forms a ball, it's ready.

4. Very quickly mix the peanuts and the powdered cardamom with the melted jaggery (it cools incredibly fast) and form little balls while still warm.

5. Store in an airtight box.