Almost Gujarati Puran Puri

It’s a bit like a chapatti. It’s a bit like a stuffed paratha. But it’s also in a league of its own… because it’s sweet! This intriguing recipe was requested by a mysterious ‘Anonymous’ person in the ‘Ask Sanjana’ post where you are all welcome to request particular dishes or certain ingredients to be used in recipes. So ‘Anonymous’, this puran puri recipe is for you!

Puran puri is a very traditional sweet chapatti prepared in Gujarat as well as Maharashtra and South India. Although, each recipe varies according to the region in which it prepared for example; the type of daal chosen, whether sugar or jaggery is used and the choice of spices. I believe the difference in recipes is indeed subject to regional differences, yet it also varies according to personal differences. I prepared mine in the Midlands of England so it’s totally permissible that I made my puran puri recipe up using what I thought would taste good *wink wink*. Having ever eaten only Gujarati puran puri, I went by the model I am familiar with and prepared it on a tawa (lodhi), almost roasting the spicy-sweet, rich filling encased in soft, toasted coconut spiked dough . Coconut you say? Since when do Gujarati’s put coconut in their puran puri?

Since I made it last night!

I am aware that in South India the recipe includes coconut in the daal stuffing but because I know that anything with toasted coconut (e.g. ice cream) tastes wonderful I suppose I was desperate to taste toasted coconut in the delicate dough casing. And you know what…?

It tastes fabulous.

Coconut Spiked Gujarati Puran Puri
(Makes 12-14 puris)

Ingredients

For the stuffing

1 cup toor (tuver- dried split pigeon peas) daal used in the Gujarati Daal Dhokri recipe
1 cup channa daal (dried split chickpeas)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
¼ cup flaked almonds and pistachios (not traditional but I think it adds something wonderful to the recipe)
Pinch of saffron
Pinch of mace
1 teaspoon ghee

For the dough

3 ½ to 4 cups chapatti flour, plus extra for rolling
¼ cup coconut powder (again not traditional Gujarati)
½ cup sunflower oil
1 ½ cups boiling water to bind to a smooth, soft dough

Extra ghee or unsalted butter for spreading on the puran puri later

Method

1. Boil the two daals separately until tender but not so that they loose their shape. If you don’t have a pressure cooker to do this faster then add a pinch of baking powder when boiling the daals. Drain and set aside.

2. Heat 1 teaspoon of ghee in a wide non-stick pan and add the cooked daals and sugar. The mixture will become a little loose once you add the sugar but don’t worry as this is normal. The mixture will thicken as you cook it.

3. Cook this mixture on a medium flame until it becomes dry then add the cinnamon, cardamom, saffron, nuts and mace. Stir and set aside to cool.

4. Once the mixture has cooled, roll it into ping-pong sized (or a little larger) balls and set aside while you prepare the dough.

5. Mix the flour and coconut powder in a large bowl and make a well in the middle. Add the oil and water and mix with a spoon until you are able to handle it without burning yourself. Once it has cooled, bind it into a dough and roll it into balls (bigger than the filling balls but smaller than a tennis ball).

6. Use the same step-by step rolling procedure as I used in THIS Aloo Paneer Paratha recipe to roll your puran puri (making them smaller if your wish).

7. Cook them on a tawa or a dry non-stick frying pan (if you do not have a tawa) until toasted and aromatic.

8. Spread with plenty of ghee and enjoy!

I served mine with plain kadhi like this one without the peas and paneer. I made the kadhi thicker by adding less water and spicier by adding an extra chilli. The sweet, aromatic puri compliments the hot, thick, sour kadhi so beautifully…

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