Puran Poli: The Festival Flatbread of Maharashtra

There is an old Marathi saying, "Holi re holi, puranachi poli." It tells you everything about where puran poli sits in a Maharashtrian home: it is the food that means a festival has arrived.

What puran poli is

Puran poli is a soft, sweet flatbread. The filling, called puran, is chana dal cooked until tender and then cooked down again with jaggery until it is thick enough to roll into a ball. That ball is wrapped in a thin layer of dough, rolled out gently so the filling spreads right to the edge, and cooked on a tawa until both sides have golden spots. It is finished with ghee while still hot.

The skill is in the rolling. The outer layer has to be thin enough that you taste filling in every bite, but strong enough not to tear.

When it is made

Puran poli is festival food. It is made for Holi more than any other day, and for Gudi Padwa, the Marathi new year. Many families also make it for Ganesh Chaturthi, for Bail Pola, and during Diwali. It is the dish that comes out when there is something to celebrate and people to feed.

How it is eaten

Always with ghee, and plenty of it. Some families serve it with warm milk, some with katachi amti, a thin, spiced dal made from the water the chana dal was cooked in. The amti is sharp and savoury, and it cuts through the sweetness of the poli. Many people have a firm view on which is the right way, usually the way their mother served it.

Why people order it

Puran poli is slow work. The dal has to be cooked, the puran cooked down and ground smooth, the dough rested, and each poli rolled by hand. For a family meal that is a full morning. Many households that grew up eating it no longer have the time, or the practised hand, to make it for every festival.

Ours

Our puran poli is made in our family kitchen in Borivali East, with chana dal, jaggery, maida and ghee. It is sweetened only with jaggery, has no preservatives, and is made fresh after you order.

We deliver in Borivali, Dahisar, Kandivali and Mira Road; the delivery areas page lists every locality. For a festival, order a day or two ahead so we can plan the batch, and message us on WhatsApp if you need more than the website allows in one order.