Trust me, making puran poli at home is really easy. Follow the steps and tips, I am sure you will not fail. Festivals and feasts go hand in hand. So make this easy to make delicious vedmi on any festival or special occasion.
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What is Puran Poli?
Puran poli is traditional Indian stuffed bread with sweet lentil filling. It is a Maharashtrian term and if you literally translate it then Puran = stuffing, poli=roti or outer covering. In short, whole wheat roti is stuffed with sweet lentil stuffing.
It is made on festivals like Diwali, Holi, Gudi padwa, Ganesh Chaturthi, Raksha bandhan, etc.
FYI, In Gujarat, it is called ‘Vedmi’ or ‘Sweet Roti’.
🧾Ingredients
Here is the pic of ingredients used in making vedmi recipe. You’ll need only 8 ingredients (4 for stuffing + 4 for outer cover). Such a simple list of ingredients and you can make a traditional sweet out of it.
Every region of India has its name and version of making this sweet bread. The method is similar but the ingredients are slightly different.
| Region | Name | Stuffing made from | Outer cover made from |
| Maharashtra | Puran poli or Puran puri | Chana dal, Jaggery or sugar | Wheat flour (Atta) |
| Gujarat | Vedmi or Sweet roti | Toor dal, Jaggery | Wheat flour (Atta) |
| Kerala | Boli | Chana dal, Sugar | All purpose flour (maida) |
| Andhra Pradesh | Bobbatlu | Chana dal, Coconut, Jaggery | All purpose flour (maida), Semolina |
| Karnataka | Holige or Obbatu | Chana dal, Jaggery | All purpose flour (maida) |
🍳Step By Step Photo Instructions
Making Stuffing:
1) Wash the dal well under running cold water till water runs clear. Soak in enough warm water for 30 minutes (for toor dal) or 1 hour (for chana dal).
Drain the soaking water and discard, add dal to pressure cooker with fresh 2 ½ cups of water. Close the lid, put the weight on and turn the heat to medium. Cook the dal for 4 whistles or till dal is cooked but not mushy.
2) Drain the dal water in a separate bowl (we will be using this water in another recipe katachi amti ). Very lightly press the dal, so all the water will drain out through sieve and dal will get mashed a bit. By pressing, very few soft and mashed dal will drain with water this will help to thicken the 'amti'.
3) Take mashed dal with jaggery in a pan. Turn the heat on medium and start cooking.
4) It starts to melt and becomes runny, keep stirring and cooking.
5) It will start to thicken up. Along with stirring, do scrap the pan from sides and bottom to prevent sticking and burning.
6) After it thickens, add cardamom powder and saffron and mix. Turn off the stove and let it cool down. Keep in mind that as it cools, it thickens a little more.
7) How to check puran is right consistency: Once it cools down, take spatula or spoon, insert in the center vertically, if it stands like shown it is ready. If the spoon falls down then turn on the stove and cook a few mins more.
8) Divide the mixture into 6 equal portions and make smooth balls.
Making Dough:
1) Mix atta and salt in a bowl. Drizzle oil and rub into the flour using fingertips.
2) Then start kneading the dough by adding little water at a time. The dough should be smooth and soft, just like paratha dough. Cover and let it rest for 15 minutes.
3) Divide the dough into 6 equal portions and make smooth balls. Flatten it out between your palms.
Rolling & Stuffing:
1) Work with one flattened dish at a time. Roll into a 3-inch diameter circle.
2) Put the stuffing ball in the center and start gathering the edges, pinch in the center to seal.
3) Flatten it with the help of your hand.
4) Dust little into flour and roll gently into 6-7 inch diameter roti.
Cooking Puran Poli:
1) Heat the tawa or skillet on medium heat. Once hot place one poli and let it cook on the bottom side, you will see small bubbles on top.
2) As you see bubbles, flip it.
3) Smear some ghee on top.
4) Flip and cook by pressing gently with the spatula
5) Smear some ghee, by this time the bottom part has few brown spots and it is cooked.
6) Flip and cook by pressing again the other side. If rolled properly then it will puff up. Remove it to a plate, again apply ghee on the surface and serve.
💭Expert Tips
- If you are making it for the first time, it may break and filling might come out a little, don’t worry, sprinkle some dry flour to that part and it will be fine. Perfect puran poli requires some practice. So the first one gets broken, that’ ok. Second, third gets broken, don’t panic. I am sure the forth one will be much better. Please remember, practice makes it perfect.
- The consistency of puran should be right. So it doesn’t come out while rolling.
- The puran ball and atta ball both should be the same size. So every puran poli will have the right amount of stuffing vs outer layer.
- A generous amount of ghee is smeared on top is a must. Otherwise, you will feel it’s very dry while eating.
🍽 Serving Ideas
- This can be served as a dessert (mainly in Southern part of India) or can be served as a part of a savory meal. But a generous drizzle of ghee (clarified butter) at the time of serving is very common for all regions.
- In Maharashtra, It is served with katachi amti, batata bhaji, and rice. Sometimes it is served with a bowl of saffron flavored milk.
- In Gujarat, it is served with gujarati kadhi, rice, and sukhi bhaji.
FAQs
Turn the heat back on and cook for few more minutes and let it become thick and moisture will evaporate.
Start adding 1 tablespoon of warm milk (or water) at a time and mix. Continue this till you get the right consistency.
Puran consistency has to be right. If it is too soft then it might ooze out. Plus, roll it very gently without giving too much pressure to avoid breaking.
PS Tried this recipe? Please leave a star rating in the recipe card below and/or a review in the comment section. I always appreciate your feedback! Plus, Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook for all the latest updates.
📋 Recipe Card
Puran Poli (Vedmi)
Ingredients
For Stuffing (Puran):
- ¾ cup Arhar dal (toor dal or split pigeon peas) or chana dal
- 2 ½ cups Water
- ¾ cup Jaggery (Gur) or Sugar
- 1 pinch Green cardamom seeds powder
- few strands Saffron
For Outer Covering (Poli):
- 1 cup Whole wheat flour (chapati atta)
- a pinch Salt
- 1 tablespoon Oil
- ⅓ cup Water or little more
- Ghee (Clarified butter) for frying and to drizzle on top after cooked
Instructions
Making Stuffing (Puran):
- Wash the dal well under running cold water till water runs clear. Soak in enough warm water for 30 minutes (for toor dal) or 1 hour (for chana dal).
- Drain the soaking water and discard, add dal to pressure cooker with fresh 2 ½ cups of water. Close the lid, put the weight on and turn the heat to medium. Cook the dal for 4 whistles or till dal is cooked but not mushy.
- Drain the cooked dal water in a separate bowl (we will be using this water in another recipe katachi amti ).
- Take mashed dal with jaggery in a pan. Turn the heat on medium and start cooking.
- It starts to melt and becomes runny, keep stirring and cooking and it will start to thicken up. Along with stirring, do scrap the pan from sides and bottom to prevent sticking and burning.
- After it thickens, add cardamom powder and saffron and mix. Turn off the stove and let it cool down. Keep in mind that as it cools, it thickens a little more.
- How to check puran is right consistency: Once it cools down, take spatula or spoon, insert in the center vertically, if it stands vertically without falling then it is ready. If the spoon falls down then turn on the stove and cook a few mins more.
- Divide the mixture into 6 equal portions and make smooth balls.
Kneading The Dough:
- Mix atta and salt in a bowl. Drizzle oil and rub into the flour using fingertips.
- Then start kneading the dough by adding little water at a time. The dough should be smooth and soft, just like paratha dough. Cover and let it rest for 15 minutes.
- Divide the dough into 6 equal portions and make smooth balls. Flatten it out between your palms.
Rolling, Stuffing & Cooking:
- Work with one flattened dish at a time. Roll into a 3-inch diameter circle.
- Put the stuffing ball in the center and start gathering the edges, pinch in the center to seal. Flatten it with the help of your hand.
- Dust little into flour and roll gently into 6-7 inch diameter roti.
- Heat the tawa or skillet on medium heat. Once hot place one poli and let it cook on the bottom side, you will see small bubbles on top. As you see bubbles, flip it.
- Smear some ghee on top. Flip and cook by pressing gently with the spatula.
- Smear some ghee, by this time the bottom part has few brown spots and it is cooked. Flip and cook by pressing again the other side. If rolled properly then it will puff up.
- Remove it to a plate, again apply ghee on the surface and serve.
Notes
- The consistency of puran should be right. So it doesn’t come out while rolling.
- The puran ball and atta ball both should be the same size. So every puran poli will have the right amount of stuffing vs outer layer.
- A generous amount of ghee is smeared on top is a must. Otherwise, you will feel it’s very dry while eating.
- Puran is runny: Turn the heat back on and cook for few more minutes and let it become thick and moisture will evaporate.
- Puran is dry: Start adding 1 tablespoon of warm milk (or water) at a time and mix. Continue this till you get the right consistency.
Shruti Patel
Hello Ms. Patel,
My dad is a big-time fan of Vedmi and so he keeps asking my mom to make it often. But, she will always give a look and says eh, there is too much effort to put in and like all other good husbands, even my poor paa can't utter a word after that. This is twist, my mum is out of town and I accidentally soaked tuvar daal instead of chana daal for lauki ki sabji ( which i was referring from ur site only) I thought of using tuvar daal for the evening for the first time ever - Puran poli.
Believe me, I am still thinking what was so difficult about it that my mom kept denying my dad.
It's just your style which gives me the confidence to try anything and everything.
Lots of love and blessings !!
Kanan
Very happy to hear that recipes and site give you the confidence. This is the reason I love sharing and writing the recipes. 🙂
Happy Cooking !!!
Rika
Awesome recipe, easy to make
Katachi amti too is very good.
Thank you for sharing
Kanan Patel
Glad to know that you liked.
Sandhya
Very nice recipe
Please post karnataka style puran pili(holige)
Kanan
Sure I will. Added in my list