TilGul Poli / Gul Poli / Sweet Jaggery Flat Bread

 

Mission Gul Poli Accomplished!!! 

Traditional recipes can be intimidating. I had never tried making Gul Poli. The trips to India in December would always treat us with mom-made delicious Gul Poli as well as some packed for the journey back ...and so we never made it after coming back here in January. But this year is different. No travel to India and no mom-made Gul poli :(

So to statisfy the cravings and to take us back home to enjoy the super delicious Gul poli, decided to give it a try! Phone calls with mom and few friends provided some great tips and tricks to accomplish this mission succesfully 😊 To make things tad bit simpler, I used the Udipi Jaggery Powder instead of grating the Gul (Jaggery) to make the Poli. The Poli's came out great in terms of taste, texture and color. I could have rolled them out a bit thinner, but that was just me being novice. 

Recipe (This makes about 12 Gul Polis)

Dough:

3 Cups Whole wheat flour

1/4 cup Besan roasted till brown in 1 tsp ghee

3 tsp hot oil

Warm water

Sweet Filling:

2 Cups Udipi Jaggery Powder

1/2 cup Sesame seeds (white Til ) roasted till golden brown

1/2 cup Besan roasted till brown in 2 tsp ghee

2 tsp Cardamom powder

1/2 tsp Nutmeg powder

Method

Dough:

1) Roast the besan in ghee till golden brown. Let it cool. Mix the whole wheat flour, roasted besan and massage with hands till all besans crumbs are broken. Add hot oil. Mix. Add little warm water at a time and knead into a dough. Dough should be stiffer than chapati dough. Keep the dough covered with wet cloth for 1hr. After 1 hr, knead the dough again with oiled hands and make large marble sized 24 balls. Keep the dough balls covered with wet cloth till ready to use.

Sweet Filling:

1) Roast the besan in ghee till golden brown. Let it cool.

2) Powder the roasted sesame seeds. Add the roasted besan and Jaggery powder to the mixer and blend till well combined and the mixture starts to come together. Add the cardamom and nutmeg powder and mix.

3) With oiled hands divide and press the mixture into 12 equal sized balls. The oil in the sesame seeds and roasted besan should help with the binding.

4) Roll out 2 of the dough balls into small pooris. Sprinkle some flour on the roling board to avoid sticking. Place the sweet filling mixture ball in the center and gently press to break it and spread it to cover almost the entire poori, leaving little space on the sides.

5) Place the second poori on top to make a sandwich and gently press the poori with palm of your hands to make the jaggery mixture and dough stick together. Do not seal the sides.

6) Gently roll out the two pooris stuffed with the sweet filling into a poli with a rolling pin. Sprinkle some flour as necessary to avoid sticking. Remove the excess dough on the sides with a dough cutter. (Like the one used for Shankarpalis)

7) Warm a non-stick pan on low flame ( On  Scale of 1-10, 10 being the hottest, I kept the flame on 3 to roast the Gul Polis. Roast with little oil/ghee on both sides till golden brown. The Polis will be soft when you roast them due to the jaggery melting, but will become the correct texture on cooling.

8) Serve the Gul Polis warm/ room temperature with Ghee and Saffron milk.

TilGul Ghya Goad Bola!

"Tamarind Quinoa" and "Cranberry Panchamrut"

"Puliogare"(Tamarind Rice) ..the quick version with MTR Puliogare powder..has become my 'to-go' favorite recipe! The rice comes out so flavorful and is ready in minutes! I almost sound like a MTR spokesperson don't I ;)
 In the quest to find more ways to use Quinoa in 'acceptable' ways in an Indian household...I came up with the 'swap' version...where the boiled rice is replaced with boiled Quinoa...and you have a nutritious,wholesome and 'Tangy-Spicy' meal ready!
Spicy-Tangy-Sweet Panchamrut:
Panchamrut is a maharashtrian favorite...sort of  a 'Chutney" made with roasted peanuts, coconut, tamarind, jaggery, green chilies etc. To add to the 'Sweet-tangy' theme..I added dried cranberries to give a boost of color and flavor!

Ingredients:
For Tamarind Quinoa:
3/4th cup quinoa boiled as per package directions with some salt
1tbsp roasted peanuts
1-2tbsp MTR Puliogare powder
1tsp each Urad dal, chana dal
1/2tsp Red chili powder
1/2tsp mustard seeds
few curry leaves
2tsp oil
Cilantro for garnish

Method:
1) Boil quinoa till fluffy.Fluff with a fork and let it cool.

2) Heat oil, add mustard,the dals and fry till light brown. Add the peanuts, puliogare powder,chili powder curry leaves and the boiled quinoa, toss.
Done!

Cranberry Panchamrut

Ingredients:
1/2 cup roasted peanuts
1/4 cup dry roasted coconut
1/4cup dried cranberries
1tsp maharashtrian goda masala
1tsp jaggery
1tsp oil
2 green chilies
1/2 tsp each mustard, cumin, methi seeds
1/2tsp Tamicon tamarind concentrate
1/2tsp red chili powder
1/2tsp turmeric
1 pinch asafetida(hing)
few curry leaves
salt

Method:
1)  In a blender, turn the coconut,peanuts, tamarind, jaggery into coarse paste
2) Heat oil, add mustard, cumin, methi seeds, curry leaves, turmeric.Add the coconut-peanut paste and the rest of the spices and some water
3) Add the cranberries and cook for 1 min.
Serve like 'Chutney" with Chapati/ rice/ Ghavan etc

Maharashtrian "Masale Bhat"

It was a friend’s traditional baby shower and the menu was ‘typical’ Maharashtrian….with Alu (Colocassia) bhaji, Batata bhaji, Shrikhand, Poli, Koshimbir,Papad, Loncha, Varan-Bhat and ofcourse…..Masale Bhat!

Masale bhat is a must have in a traditional Maharashtrian thali. The Rice is flavored with Cloves, bay leaves, coconut, and a bunch of other spices which make up the “Goda masala” ( you can find this in the Indian stores under the brand name KPra or Bedekar). Adding vegetables like green peas, tondala (tindora) etc is optional. This way or the other….it’s super tasty and is complimented perfectly with papad/ pickle and Spiced buttermilk (mattha)!

 

Ingredients:

1 Cup Rice (washed and drained for 20-30 mins)

½ cup green peas/ cut up tindora

2tbsp Peanuts

2tsp Goda masala

1tsp Jaggery

1/2tsp each Turmeric, red chili powder, cumin and mustard seeds

7-8 Curry leaves

4-5 cloves

1-2 small pieces of cinnamon

2-3 green chilies

1 bay leaf

Salt

1tbsp Oil

2tsp Ghee

2 cups Water (Double of the Rice )

Garnish- fresh/ dry shredded coconut, chopped cilantro, cashews, raisins, dried cranberries etc

Method:

11)      Heat up water in microwave/pan.

22)      Heat up oil in a pan. Add the mustard and let it crackle. Add cumin, green chilies, cloves, bay leaf, curry leaves, Veggies, peanuts etc. Fry for few seconds. Add the rice and sauté for 1-2 mins.

33)      Add the rest of the spices and turn the flame to medium.

44)      Add the heated water, jaggery, salt and let it cook till all water evaporates and rice is well cooked. Add ghee and cover with lid, turn off the flame and let it rest.

55)      Serve hot  with a extra teaspoon of ghee!!Garnish with coconut, cilantro, cashews, raisins etc