Sunday, September 25, 2011

Poornalu - Stuffed sweet dumplings

Poornalu are a traditional sweet lentil stuffing, dipped in batter and deep fried. They were a festival staple, and I have never seen them being made any other time. I am not a fan of the sweet stuff, but I love the savory outer coating. When I was younger, I would eat the crispy outer coating, and give the filling to my mom. The filling is similar to the one we use for poli.


For the filling: 
Channa Daal - 1 cup
Jaggery - 1 cup
Cardamom - 1 pinch
Grated Coconut - 1/2 cup

For the coating:
Raw rice - 2 cups
Urad daal - 1 cup
Salt - 1 tsp

Canola/Vegetable/Sun flower Oil - to deep fry

Soak the channa daal for 4 hrs. Drain and set aside. In a vessel that fits in a pressure cooker, add the daal and 1/2 cup water. Cook for 4 to 5 whistles. Remove and cool.
When the daal cools, mash it. Add the grated jaggery and coconut. In a pan, add this mixture and cook on medium flame. This will become runny as the jaggery melts, but will solidify after a while. When the mixture is thick, turn off and cool.
Soak the rice and daal for about 6 hrs. Grind with water. This should be thicker than the consistency of dosa batter. When a ball of filling is placed in the batter, it should not sink to the bottom.
Make rounds of the filling, golf ball sized. Dip these in the coating.
Heat a pan with oil and when it is hot, drop these balls and fry on medium high, until golden brown. Drain onto a paper towel and serve hot.



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