Friday, March 2, 2018

Dry Fruits Kayi~Holige / Coconut Puran Poli.


"Dry Fruits Kayi~Holige / Coconut Puran Poli / Soye Churna Ubbati" ... Tried something special for Holi ... added some coarsely powdered dry fruits to the coconut churan, You can see the small ball of the churan / puran placed near the ghee ... the puran poli / holige is crisp from outside and soft within ... Yummy .... 

** Ubbati / Puran Poli / Kayi~Holige / Nariyal Poli / Sweet Coconut Stuffed Poli are all a sweet flat roti / bread which has a sweet lentil or churan filling / stuffing within. There are numerous variations in making of ubbati in India from North to South and East to West … But one thing remains unchanged and that is its popularity not only across the country but around the world at large ... This is one traditional sweet dish that is prepared during “Holi ~ The festival of Colours” and “Diwali ~ The festival of Lights” . A very popular sweet dish savored by both young and old alike … Kayi~Holige is a sweet roti with coconut filling within either prepared using jaggery (goda) or sugar. Today I used sugar and in addition I added some coarsely ground dry fruits to the same. Yummy Yumz … Happy Holi to all my Friends across the world. Do enjoy the festival of colors and water but please do not go overboard specially people in India, do consider the fact that there is scarcity of water in the country and also please use water pistols and avoid plastics. 

** I have posted a few Ubbati recipes before, one traditional and the other with dates / khajoor. I know this is a loved dish by almost everybody and I should include more combos of the same. But somehow, I do not prepare it much as it’s a sweet dish and that is something that is eaten only during festivals in my home. But I will surely try to add in more lovely combinations that are already making way into my brains and I am waiting to try them out too. So keep a keen watch on my Blog for the same. Do like my page for timely updates too and join my food group Konkani Delicacies where many friends post yummy dishes that you will love to prepare at home. Though in preparation of kayi-holige or ubbati a little bit of tedious work is involved specially if you need to do them in bulk, once you get the feel, you will be comfortable with it. But if you are a small family I suggest you do in small quantities so that you can keep preparing in many verities and also it is healthier to consume less of sweet dishes. 

** Do not loose heart if you have never prepared this poli, I have given step by step pictures for better understanding of the procedure in my previous post of ubbati / puran poli of which I will be sharing the link. The procedure of rolling/filling and outer cover remains the same while only the inner filling is different. So you may check up on those pictures as reference to prepare these kayi-holige’s. You can also try out that recipe which is the traditional and most famous one. I know now it’s the season of Video presentation of recipes and many of you have asked me to add on video films of the cooking methods. However, I am sorry to say neither have I the facility nor have I any extended help regarding the same. All my recipes are cooked, prepared, clicked, edited, and posted solely by me and all I can manage is to give you step by step procedures. But, I assure you if you read carefully and observe the pictures, you will not need a video film at all. Trial by error makes one perfect in whichever field they are. Once you do it regularly you will get the knack and then its simply breeze work. Do prepare these and enjoy with your family and friends. 

** Ingredients : 
** For the outer cover / dough : 
Maida / APF : One heaped cup. 
Haldi / Turmeric Powder : 1 tsp 
Sugar Powder : 1 tsp 
Fine Rava : 1 tsp 
Mustard Seeds / Rai : 1 tsp. 
Oil : About ¾ to 1 cup 

** For the Puran / Stuffing : 
Sugar : 1 cup 
Coconut : 1 cup finely grated (white upper part of the coconut to be used only) 
Coarsely powdered dry fruits : ½ cup (pista, almonds, cashews) 
Rice Powder : 2 tsp 
Ghee : 1 tblsp 
Cardamom Powder : ½ tsp 
Color : pinch of red color (Optionl) 


** For the outer cover / dough : Grind the haldi, rava, mustard seeds and sugar powder with a little bit of water to a smooth paste. Add half cup of water and mix well. Strain this through a fine sieve. Collect the water and keep aside. 

** In a wide bowl add in the Maida and 1-2 tblsp of oil out of the 1 cup of oil. Keep the rest aside. Mix the maida and oil into a crumble mixture. Now add in the haldi water and mix well with the maida / APF and knead into a soft dough. Do not add in all the haldi water at once. Just keep adding only that much that is necessary for binding the same into a soft dough. 

** Now add in the remaining oil (almost a cup) over the soft dough and keep kneading it so that the oil gets absorbed into the dough and makes it elastic. The dough should be kneaded very well until there is no trace of oil left in the bowl. The dough should stretch like and elastic and be very smooth in texture. Do check in the pictures in the link to the original ubbati given at the bottom of the recipe. I will not repeat the same again here. 

** Keep the dough covered aside for some about an hour or so. You can also prepare the dough well in advance and keep it for a few hours. Though I would not advice it but if you feel it’s too much of work at one go you can prepare the dough and put it in a food grade tight lid fitting box and keep it in the fridge overnight. I have done this a few times when I had guest coming over and I needed time for other preparation. Just remove and keep it outside for some time and then knead well for few minutes. It’s ready to be rolled. 


** For the Churan / Stuffing : This churan / stuffing is easier to prepare than the chana dal stuffing called puran as it takes less time and can be prepared in less than 10 minutes if you have the ingredients ready. Put the sugar in a thick bottomed kadai / pan with half a cup of water and bring to a boil, stirring to well so that the sugar dissolves faster, when the sugar comes to boil, keep a keen watch, it should not be done over but to one thread consistency only. This may take somewhere about 3-4 minutes maximum depending upon the heat level. 

** Once you get the one thread consistency, lower the heat to minimum and add in the pinch of color and then the coconut gratings, 1 tblsp of ghee and mix well. Keep stirring till it thicken slightly. But should not be dry. Add in the rice powder and mix well for a few minutes. Finally add in the coarsely powdered dry fruits mixture and mix well. Do not cook. Remove from heat, add in the cardamom powder and mix well. Allow to cool to room temperature. 

** Note : Always add in the cardamom powder to the churan / puran / stuffing at the end for the flavor to remain intact. Adding cardamom powder initially and mixing or cooking will not give you that unique flavor of cardamom as when you do it later on. Some people add in a pinch of nutmeg powder for flavor too. You may add if you wish. However, we Konkani Saraswat's do not usually add in nutmeg powder, as we are more partial towards cardamom and saffron. Most of our dishes have the flavour of these two items. But, it is entirely upto you and you may do so if desired. 


** Now that the puran / coconut filling and outer cover are both ready it’s time to go further on preparation of Kayi-Holige. Now prepare balls with both Churan and the outer cover in equal parts and keep them ready. The churan balls should be slightly bigger than the outer cover balls. If you cannot roll, just divide them into portions and keep them on plate. See to it that you divide them equally, Once you have mastered, there is actually no need to carry out this step too. With experience you will do so as you proceed.  The ubbati / poli rolled size was about 8 inches in diameter, though mine were about 6-7 inches in size. If you want larger or smaller then the quantity differs. So it is entirely upto you. But just remember that the puran / churan / stuffing balls / quantity should be larger in size than the dough one’s. 

** Now comes the major rolling part of the dough along with the stuffed coconut churan. Dust / Roll the dough ball in some maida / APF and roll it with the help of rolling pin to a round shaped poori say about 3 inches in diameter. Do not dust too much. The dough should be rolled evenly. Now keep the churan / coconut churan stuffing in the center and fold over the dough from all sides to cover the churan / stuffing ball evenly from all sides. Now roll on the stuffed prepared balls on your palms to make it into a full covering to the churan within. Flatten a little bit and dust it / roll it in Maida. Roll the churan stuffed dough evenly and gently into a round disc of say about 6-8 inch in diameter. 

** The rolling of the kayi-holige should be done with a light and even pressure. This is the main necessity in rolling of stuffed items. If you apply too much pressure the churan ie. the stuffing will come out through the outer cover dough or even from top / bottom. This is so the case for any stuffed roti's. So apply pressure lightly and keep rolling and turning the ubbati / puran poli / kayi holige. If need be sprinkle some maida as dusting to enable free rolling. As you get used to it, the rolling becomes easier. Do not despair if things go wrong. These things always need practice. But, I assure you once you learn You will simply feel top of the world when you serve these delicacies to family and see them enjoy the same. I would say it is really worth the trouble. 

** Now for frying of the Kayi~Holige : Heat a non stick tava till smoking point. Now lower the heat to medium and wait for 2 minutes, before you place the rolled Kayi~Holige on the tava. Once you place the stuffed poli in the center of the tava let it cook till you see bubble appearing on the top side of the Kayi-Holige. Now after a few seconds with the help of a flat spatula flip over the poli / holige to let cook the other side that is the upper side too. You should see brown specks on the cooked side of the ubbati / puran poli / kayi holige. This will take about 2-3 minutes in all. Once cooked on both sides remove and keep it on a wired gauge to cool a bit before you keep it on a plate. The aeration of the gauge helps the poli to cool evenly. If not put it on an plain brown paper and the purpose is solved. That is what mom used to do. Repeat the procedure with the remaining churan and dough balls in the same method. 

** Note: Do not keep flipping the ubbati / puran poli / kayi-Holige while cooking on tava often, as the it is soft and may tend to break and also flipping them too many times makes the kayi-holige a little bit stiffer. For the Kayi-Holige to turn soft and fluffy, you should cook one side fully and only then flip it over to cook the other side. Then again, flip over once for just few seconds and remove the ubbati and place it on the wire gauge to cool off. You can also place them on paper for cooling. Initially they used to be spread on newspaper to be cooled. But, the awareness that the ink on the paper may get absorbed into the hot ubbati has made the new generation avoid such mishaps. Ordinary plane brown paper if available will serve the purpose. I use wire gauge to cool and then put them on a brown paper. Follow any method convenient to you. Once cooled, keep stacked in an airtight container. Remains good for a few days. 

** Note : The ubbati prepared with chana dal filling, that are evenly and well rolled often blow up like a balloon while cooking on tava. This indicates that the rolling has been done evenly and well. But the one’s prepared out of coconut filling do not puff out that much but only a little as the inner stuffing is stickier and sticks to the outer cover. So, If the kayi-holige does not rise into a ball do not worry. Just cook on medium heat and prepare the same, they will remain soft within, even if a little bit crisp outside. You will slowly learn the technique of rolling evenly as you keep preparing them. Remember Rome was not built in one day. Cooking is an art that get’s perfected by practice over time. Do not be in a hurry to finish off things fast. Roll and cook with patience and above all with loads of Love. Disaster sometimes do happen, but that should not dampen your spirit. We have all crossed the bridge, so will you. 


** "Dry Fruits Kayi~Holige / Coconut Puran Poli / Soye Churna Ubbati" is done and ready to be served. Serve Kayi~Holige fresh topped with a large teaspoon of melted homemade ghee. It tastes yummy. Some people fry ubbati / puran poli with ghee. I do not, there is absolutely no need to unnecessarily add on calories by frying the same with ghee. You can always apply it while serving., specially when serving to guests or children. Also, in my home we enjoy this without the addition of ghee applied to the same. The application of ghee is to cut down the heat level in the food as puran poli / ubbati / kayi holige are all considered to create heat in the body. Serving it with ghee or milk curtails this to a great level.Though kayi-holige is not served with milk, at least in my home. 

** Do prepare and enjoy this Kayi-Holige with family and friends. You can prepare them during any festive season or just like that when you desire to have them. Children will love them and you can serve them when they come back from school hungry. My Mom always used to prepare these during noon time and keep them ready when we come back from school. We used to be disappointed that we could not help out but then the aroma of fresh ubbati would make us forget everything and gives us immense satisfaction in enjoying the same. Actually the desire to eat the puran / stuffing was more I guess than actually helping and trust Mom to know our desires, she always kept a few balls of puran in the fridge for me. We should thank God for creating Mothers who taught us all these things in life and made us self sufficient. 

** You can use the search option for "Ubbati / Puran Poli" where you will get many more dishes prepared using it. Do try out various types of dishes and Enjoy them with your family and friends and do give me a feedback if possible. 

** For the Traditional Ubbati / Holige Recipe and also the step by step procedure, Please click on the link given below …. 

** An Earnest Request : There are many more recipes of similar type in the blog. For all my Recipes, use the search option or the label section in the Blog. If you are still not able to find it please leave a message in comment section or mail me the same. You can also go to my page (add on the left side of blog) and leave a message and I will try my best to get back to you as soon as possible … Thank you. I have also started a food group for "Konkani Saraswats" by the name "KONKANI DELICACIES" the link of which is posted on the left side of the blog page. Do join us in our culinary journey. I strongly believe in Sharing and always endorse that "Sharing Is Caring". 

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