I had made poli on bhogi, the first day of pongal. A good friend read out the recipe from her Samaithu paar (cook and see) part I by Meenakshi ammal. I have made poli before, but I always had problems working with the maida. Hoping to get a better result this time, I heeded the book’s advice of adding all that oil that it recommended to make it more workable. The dough worked well but the filling was not upto the expectations. Why? because, the recipe suggested that the chana dal be cooked well and then the excess water removed. Smart that I thought I was, I cooked the dal in minimum water and didnt realize that some portions of the dal though cooked, remained hard until it was too late to go back and correct it.
For the filling:
Uncooked chana dal – 1 cup
Jaggery – 1 cup (I used less since we prefer it that way)
Cardamom – 1 tsp
Ghee – 2 tsp (The recipe did not list ghee. Just my choice)
For the dough:
Maida – 2 cups
Salt – 1/2 tsp
Turmeric – a pinch
Sesame oil – almost 1/3 cup
Water enough to make a soft dough
The method is same as what you would find here or here.
Filling cooked to the right consistency (Click to expand)
The verdict: The poli was actually pretty good since the grinder did a good job of hiding my stupidity. The next time, I will try adding some atta alongwith the maida.
