Puran Poli

Maharashtrian and broader Deccan, made for Holi (spring) and Ganesh Chaturthi (late summer) since at least the medieval period — an early reference appears in the 12th-century Sanskrit encyclopedia Manasollasa (c. 1130), compiled under the Western Chalukya king Someshvara III. The combination of wheat and chana dal is also indicative of the dish's Deccan plateau origin, where both grains were widely cultivated, unlike the rice belts of coastal India.

Maharashtrian and broader Deccan, made for Holi and Ganesh Chaturthi since at least the medieval period — referenced in the 12th-century Manasollasa. The puran has to cook down until a spoon stands in it; wet filling steams the dough from inside and bursts the round.

A flat round of wheat dough rolled thin around a dense yellow filling of cooked chana dal mashed with jaggery, cardamom, and nutmeg. Cooked on a tava with ghee until both sides are mottled brown. Eaten warm — torn open, the steam carries sweet cardamom. Maharashtrians eat it with a spoonful of warm ghee or a glass of milk; some pour katachi amti (a spiced dal broth) over it. Should roll without the filling tearing through; if it bursts, the dough was too thin or the puran too wet.

The puran (filling) has to be cooked down slow until a spoon stands in it — wet filling steams the dough from inside and breaks it. Old Marathi households test it by pressing the puran against a paddle; if it falls cleanly, it's done. The dough is enriched with a spoon of oil and rested, then rolled ultra-thin around a generous ball of filling — the ratio is closer to 1:1 by weight, dough to puran, far heavier on filling than a samosa or paratha.