Paal poli is a traditional South Indian dessert made during festivals. It is a deep fried semolina poori soaked in sweet saffron milk.
Poli is one of the many dishes that is made for several South Indian festivals. Sankranthi / Pongal and Avani Avittam are two main festivals that I make Poli / Boli every year.
There are a few different kinds of Poli and that is one of the hardest poll I have to take every year. Growing up my dad and me loved Paal Poli, whereas my mother loved Puranam Boli. So mom almost always made Milk Poli for us.
After marriage and having my own little family to take a poll on, we are again a majority on Paal Poli. Our 2 boys and myself can never say no to milk poli whereas my husband likes the Puran Poli.
So what is Paal Poli - It is a deep fried semolina flatbread / poori which is dipped and soaked in sweetened rich milk and then served. It is kind of a bread pudding except, we make a crispy poori and then make it soft by dipping it in warm flavorful milk.
FAQ's
- Can Paal Poli be made Vegan - I have not personally made it vegan, but I would think that we could use almond milk or any nut based milk instead of dairy milk for soaking the Pooris.
- What kind of nuts to use - I usually use almonds and cashews. A few pistachios when grinding would taste good as well. I would keep it to just a couple as we don't want to make the milk mixture too thick. The Pooris need to soak in the milk and if too thick, it would not be able to soak properly.
- What kind of rava to use - I use chiroti rava. In Indian, this is the finest kind of rava available in the market. In US, I use the fine rava / semolina that we get in the Indian stores. We could use the regular rava, but the texture of the poori might be a little different.
- Do we need to use evaporated milk - I love to add a can of evaporated milk to any kheer or milk based desserts. It adds a lovely flavor to the milk mixture and gives it a intense flavor in a shorter time, similar to when we simmer the milk for a while.
Ingredients Needed
- Chiroti Rava or fine Rava / semolina
- Milk - Use whole milk or 2% milk . I would not use low fat milk.
- Evaporated milk - optional, but highly recommended
- Cashew nuts - soaked in a little warm milk
- Almonds - soaked in hot water and peeled
- Sugar
- Saffron strands
- Cardamom Powder
- Oil - I use regular cooking oil for deep frying
- Salt
- Ghee
Step by Step Process
To make the Pooris
- Make stiff dough with the rawa adding a pinch of salt and enough water. Add a little bit of ghee when making the dough. Let the dough rest for 15 – 20 minutes. (step 1)
- Make small balls from the dough. (step 2)
- Roll the dough into puris and deep fry in oil. (step 3 & 4)
To make the Milk Mixture
- Soak the almonds in hot water and peel the skin. (step 1)
- Grind the almonds and soaked cashews into a smooth paste. (step 2)
- Boil the milk and add the ground paste and sugar and let it come to boil. (step 3)
- Add the cardamom powder and saffron strands and simmer the milk. (step 4)
Finishing the Paal Poli
- Soak the fried puris one by one in the milk and press it gently. Add the next poli and gently remove the previous one and keep it in a flat container. Repeat this with all the puris and drain them. Do not layer them more than 2 on top of each other. (step 1)
- If the puris are taking a while to soak, you can add 3-4 puris and then remove the older ones from the bottom. Do not let them soak too long in the milk, since they could break easily. (step 2)
- Once all the puris are done pour the remaining milk on the arranged puris. It is important not to have them too layered because then they will break when we try to take them out for serving. (step 3 & 4)
- Let the milk poori soak well for couple of hours and they are ready to serve. Tastes good at room temperature or when chilled.
Expert Tips
- When making the dough, make sure to make it a stiff dough.
- Make sure that the puris are crisp when deep frying. Keep the flame in medium when frying. The crispier the pooris are, the better they soak the milk.
- Soak the pooris when the milk is hot. That helps in soaking it better.
- The ground nuts make the milk very rich and flavorful. So don't skip them. But also don't overdo it as it will make the milk too thick.
- We can fry the pooris the day before the festival and store them in an air tight container. This way it is easier on the day of the festival.
Variations of Poli
Puranam Boli - The stuffing is made of lentils and jaggery and the outer dough is made of All Purpose flour. The poli is hand shaped and flattened by palm and pan fried.
Puran Poli (Maharashtrian style) - Similar to the above mentioned boli but the outer covering dough is made of heat flour and the poli is shaped using a rolling pin.
Dhal Puri - A Savory verion of the lentil stuffed poli. It is a Split Pea Stuffed Flatbread and a Caribbean special dish.
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Paal Poli | Sweetened Milk Poli
Equipment
- Blender
Ingredients
- 1 cup Chiroti Rava/Rava
- 4 cups Milk
- 15 oz Evaporated milk 1 can (optional)
- 10 Cashew nuts soaked in warm milk
- 10 Almonds peeled
- 1 ½ cups Sugar
- few Saffron strands
- ½ tsp Cardamom Powder
- Oil for deep frying
- Salt a pinch
- 2 tsp Ghee
Instructions
- Make stiff dough with the rawa adding a pinch of salt and enough water. Add a little bit of ghee when making the dough. Let it rest for 15 – 20 Mins.
- Roll the dough into puris and deep fry in oil. We can either fry the puri as is or fold the puri into half and pinch the ends and fry them. The puris should be crisp.
- Grind the soaked almonds and cashews into a smooth paste. Boil the milk and add the ground paste and sugar and let it come to boil. Add the elaichi powder and saffron strands and simmer the milk.
- Soak the puris one by one in the milk and press it gently. Add the next poli and gently remove the previous one and keep it in a flat container. Repeat this with all the puris and drain them. Do not layer them more than 2 on top of each other.
- If the puris are taking a while to soak, you can add 3-4 puris and then remove the older ones from the bottom. Do not let them soak too long in the milk, since they could break easily.
- Once all the puris are done pour the remaining milk on the arranged puris. It is important not to have them too layered because then they will break when we try to take them out for serving.
- Let them soak well for couple of hours and they are ready to serve. Tastes good at room temperature or when chilled.
Notes
- When making the dough, make sure to make a stiff dough.
- Make sure that the puris are crisp when deep frying. Keep the flame in medium when frying. The crispier the pooris are, the better they soak the milk.
- Soak the pooris when the milk is hot. That helps in soaking it better.
- The ground nuts make the milk very rich and flavorful. So don't skip them. But also don't overdo it as it will make the milk too thick.
- We can fry the pooris the day before the festival and store them in an air tight container. This way it is easier on the day of the festival.
Nutrition
Rekha D says
Love the recipe from this great cook.
Sandhya Ramakrishnan says
Thanks!
My Cooking Journey says
Thanks Chandana. I should learn few Bengali dishes from you. In between, the puris you are talking about, what are they made of?
My Cooking Journey says
Thanks pavithra 🙂
Munny says
Hey Sandhya,
I was raised in Vizag for 14 years..so have tasted quite a bit of these Pongal dishes....but this looks the yummiest :)We do have something similar in bengal...only thing is that the puris are dipped in very dense sugar syrup.
Anonymous says
Great recipe akka.. this is Ram's favorite dish. 🙂 Thanks for the post.