First guest post on this blog by Vardhini, and a yummy Poli recipe by her :-)

Happy to present the first edition of guestposts for my blog - Sizzling Tastebuds.. When I first thought of this, I was sceptical to be frank, for my blog was just 6 months old, and didnt have too many blogger friends to reach out at first. But thanks to many wonderful friends that I met through events, blog hops, blogging marathons, roundups, I eventually summed up courage to ask a newbie blogger - Vardhini of Zesty Palette. 

Although a new entrant to the blogosphere, Vardhini needs no introduction. Hercooking techniques intrigued me lot, and with both our families having similar palates and taste preferences (low fat/zero fry/veggie-loaded dishes etc), I took this opportunity to ask her out to do a guest post. When she agreed, I was thrilled to bits, and the following guestpost shows her committment to the same... 

Thanks Vardhini 🙂

So, without any more talking from my end, lets get on to her post today of a simply yummy festive delight - Polis. I am sure, like all her posts with step by step cooking, this too willl linger long in your minds and palates too 🙂

The following lines from here on would be Vardhini's --- reproduced verbatim from the guest post she sent me... Read on for a yummy delight 🙂

I have known Kalyani (MomChef) for a few months now and when she asked me to do a guest post for her, I was extremely happy that she thought about me in the first place. So there I was breaking my head for a week to find something traditional to post. Among the various ideas she gave for guest posting, I was particularly drawn to the one where she asks "how I perceive India from US especially on Indian food".

I have to admit that given the place I reside the only thing linking India with me is food. It gives me a sense of satisfaction and a feeling of "home" when I make things from scratch since that is what most of us grew up with. Even my 3 year old understands that I make yogurt at home and when she sees me heating up milk, she asks me if I am making yogurt. I am not expecting or hoping for her to do the same when she grows up given the fast-paced lifestyle, but at least she is exposed to a small bit of Indian lifestyle in my opinion.

So I finally decided on "Poli" which I feel takes us closer to home and is part of festival menus like Pongal. Now the surprising part is that I have tasted poli only once and my mom never made it at home. I followed the recipe from a cookbook which K brought to US when he first started cooking. Making poli is like making stuffed paratha with the addition of ghee. Yeah, please don't skimp on ghee as that adds a lot of taste. Poli is flaky, has the right amount of sweetness and is loved by most people. So let's get cooking.

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Ingredients

1 + ¼ cups all purpose flour

A pinch of salt

A pinch of turmeric

2 teaspoon oil

Ghee

Ingredients - For filling

1 cup channa dal soaked for 2 hours

1 cup jaggery grated

½ cup coconut

1 cardamom

Notes

1. Do not stack the polis when they are warm as they stick to each other and break apart.

Method

Take all purpose flour and turmeric in a bowl.

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Add salt.

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Add oil.

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Using water make a dough. Let it rest for an hour.

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Method - For filling

Bring water and the soaked channa dal to a boil and simmer until channa dal is cooked. Soaking reduces the cooking time a lot.

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Channa dal is cooked. If there is any water left, drain it.

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Add jaggery.

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Add cardamom.

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Add coconut.

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Mix until everything combines. Allow to cool.

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Take in a mixie / food processor.

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Grind without adding water.

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Filling is ready.

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Take a small ball of the dough and roll it into a circle. Place a small ball of filling in the middle.

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Bring the edges together and pinch on top to keep the filling inside.

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Flatten it.

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Now roll the flattened ball. You can roll it thick or thin. This one below was rolled very thin and you can see the filling.

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Heat a pan and add some ghee. Place the rolled dough. Smear some ghee over it.

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Flip over and smear some ghee.

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Flip over and cook until both sides are done. Can you see the brown patches?

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Tasty and flaky polis ready. You can smear more ghee for added flavor.

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Enjoy!