Holi Special- Maharashtrian Thali - Puran Poli, Katachi Amti

Puran Poli, Katachi Amti is a typical Marathi menu. Its usually accompanied by warm Milk, Batata Bhajji , Papdya-Kurdaya etc.

Puran Poli :

Ingredients :

• Chana Daal - 1 cup
• Jaggery - 1 - 1 n half cups
• Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp
• Ata - 2 cups
• Ghee- 4 Tblsp

Procedure :

• Pressure cook  1 cup Chana Daal adding about 4 cups water upto 5 whistles.
• Strain the cooked daal and do not discard the water. We will use this water for "Katachi Amti".
• In a blender, blend the strained chana daal until smooth. 
• Take a deep wok, add 1 tsp ghee.
• Add the pureed chana daal and 1 cup jaggery. Cook on medium flame until the jaggery dissolves and then the contents in the wok start thickening. 
• Check taste, add some more jaggery if required. Add cardamom powder and cook until the "puran"  i.e chana daal and jaggery mixture is thick enough to use as a stuffing in a paratha.
• Let he "puran" cool down completely. Store in refrigerator and use as required.
• For making puranpoli, knead dough using ata, oil, pinch of salt and water as normal chapati dough.
• Roll out a small circle, place the "puran" stuffing on it, close from all sides and then roll out a poli/chapati.
• Cook the chapati on medium heat applying generous amount of ghee. Flip, cook from both sides.
• Serve hot with warm milk, ghee and katachi amti.

Katachi Amti:

The water over the cooked chana daal is called "Kat". We strain the chana daal for  "puran" and use the water /"kat" for making Amti. This goes well with Puran Poli and White rice.

Ingredients:

• Kat - 2 cups.
• Puran - 1 Tblsp
• Water - 2 cups
• Goda masala - 2 tsps
• Red chilli powder - 2 tsps
• Tamarind pulp - 2 tsps
• Salt - as required
• Lime juice - 1 tsp
• Coriander leaves chopped - 2 tsps
• For tempering : oil, mustard seeds, cumin, asafoetida, turmeric, curry leaves and  dry red chilli.

Procedure:

• Heat oil, add mustard seeds, cumin. When they crackle , add asafoetida, turmeric, dry red chilli and curry leaves.
• Add  2 cups of "kat" that we have stored after straining the cooked chana daal.
• Add 1 tblsp "Puran" to it.
• In goes Goda masala (1 tsp), red chilli powder (1 tsp), tamarind pulp(1 tsp), salt.
• Add 1/2 cup water, mix the contents and let them boil for a couple of minutes.
• Check taste and add "puran"/ water/ tamarind pulp/goda masala/red chilli powder/ salt as required.
• This amti is "sweet" , so add puran to get the sweet taste.
• Finally, add coriander leaves, lime juice.
• Serve hot with Puran poli,white rice.