Sakkarai Poli recipe for Pongal

Poli is a sweet flatbread made with all purpose flour and various stuffings. Jaggery, lentils and coconut are the main fillings in a traditional recipe and mainly made during the Pongal festival on Bhogi. This sakkarai poli recipe uses sugar as a sweetener instead of jaggery.

In this series of Pongal recipes, todays post is one of the traditional dishes that is made on the first day of the Pongal. Pongal is a four day celebration in Tamil Nadu. It is considered the Harvest festival. The first day of the Pongal is called Bhogi. A day celebrated to honour the Rain God, Indra, one of the essential elements for a prosperous land and yield. Also, people clean the house, whitewash and pain if needed, discard old clothes and unwanted things at home. Basically, a major spring cleaning happens! In the North, people light logs in the evening, throw away things they don't want into the bonfire and sing and dance praising the almighty!

Regarding the food, every house has its own speciality. This Sakkarai poli (made with lentils and sugar) and its variation Paruppu puranam poli (a flatbread made with lentils and jaggery and coconut) are a must in my family. Then there will be all the festive must have's like vadai, payasam etc...

You can check other pongal recipes below:

1. Aama Vadai | Paruppu vadai - Fritters made with Lentils
2. Rava Pongal, a variation of the Ven pongal
3. Kalkandu Sadam - A rice pudding made with palm candies
4. Thengai Poli - Poli made of coconut and jaggery filling. The twist is it has sesame seeds as well!

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Sakkarai Poli

Prep Time

2 hrs

Cook Time

15 mins

Total Time

2 hrs 15 mins

 

Poli is a sweet flatbread made with all purpose flour and various stuffings. Jaggery, lentils and coconut are the main fillings in a traditional recipe and mainly made during the Pongal festival on Bhogi. This sakkarai poli recipe uses sugar as a sweetener instead of  jaggery.

Course: Dessert, Festive

Cuisine: Indian, Tamil Nadu

Servings: 10 pieces

Author: Nisha

Ingredients

For the outer dough

• 1 cup maida
• 5 tablespoon sesame oil, divided
• Pinch of salt
• ⅛ teaspoon turmeric powder (for the colour)
• 1 tablespoon sugar (optional)

For the filling

• ⅔ cup channa dhal
• ⅔ cup sugar
• ¼ teaspoon cardamom powder

Instructions

1. Soak Channa dhal in water for 1-2 hours.

For the outer dough

1. In a mixing bowl, combine all the dry ingredients under outer dough. Sprinkle water little by little and make a sticky dough. Add 2 tablespoon sesame oil  and knead the dough well. The dough should be loose and slightly sticky.  Cover the dough with the remaining sesame oil and keep it covered. Rest for 2-3 hours.

For the filling

1. Drain the water from the dhal and grind it in a mixer. Spread it on a clean towel for about 10 minutes. When it is half ground, add the sugar. Make it into a very smooth paste. Make sure the paste is not watery.

2. The consistency of the concoction should be such that you can make then into balls. So after grinding, if it is sticky, pour them into a pan and stir until they become thick on low flame. 

3. Once it cools, roll them into balls and keep it aside.

For making poli

1. Roll the outer dough into balls (acc to your preferred size) and gently pat them in your hand and flatten it. Then take one sweet filling ball and keep it inside the dough and cover it and make them into balls. Make sure all sides are covered properly otherwise when you roll them it becomes a mess.
2. Dust these sweet filled dough in the flour (Maida and rice flour) and keep it aside. Make sure the balls are well coated with the flour otherwise it might stick to the surface.
3. Now roll these balls with the rolling pin. Be very careful while rolling these. It might get stuck to the rolling pin. Be patient and roll it gently.
4. Heat the Tawa and cook on both sides and apply ghee on each side while turning it.
5. Spread little more ghee on top and serve it hot. A very delicious sweet is ready to relish.

Recipe Notes

1. This requires a lot of patience. Do not make this in a hurry. Allow sufficient time for the outer dough to set. Pour sesame oil as and when the dough becomes dry.
2. The channa dhal and sugar paste should be very smooth. If the channa dhal is not cooked properly or you have lumps after grinding, it will be difficult for you to roll it.
3. Dust the balls with the flour sufficiently. This will ease the rolling of the dough.

This post is a part of the Blogging marathon and this week's theme is Sweet Flatbreads.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this BM#84