Sweet Poori with Nuts
Meethi Poori
Mamta Gupta
This is rather a rich dish and one poori each is usually more than enough. It goes well with other snacks and tea or coffee.
Makes 6-8
Ingredients
The Dough :
150 gm. plain flour or maida
1 tbsp. ghee
100 ml. water to make dough
Ghee or oil for deep frying
The Filling:
40-50 gm. nuts (almonds, cashew nuts, pistachio, chironji, walnuts etc.)
1/4 tsp. cardamom powder
1 tbsp. desiccated coconut
3 tbsp. milk powder (I use instant, dry skimmed milk powder)
50 gm. fine sugar
2 tbsp. water, to bind all ingredients
Coating for poories:
250 gm. sugar
75 ml. water
1 tsp. sesame seeds, dry fried in a wok or frying pan.
Instructions
Place flour in a bowl and rub in ghee until flour looks like a crumble.
Make dough by adding a little water at a time. The dough should be firm...ish. You can make the dough in a food processor too. Keep aside in an airtight box.
To make filling, chop the nuts very finely in a nut chopper. They should be of coarse granular consistency. Larger pieces will rupture the poories during frying, releasing all the filling out into the oil.
Mix all filling ingredients with water and make a thick paste. Keep aside.
To make syrup, heat water. Add sugar and mix until dissolved. Boil briskly, until a 2 thread consistency is reached. See Sugar Syrup. Keep warm (not boiling) on minimum heat.
Knead the dough again lightly and make 6-8 smooth balls. Keep covered with a moist cloth.
Heat ghee/oil in a wok or karahi. It should be medium heat. Oil should not be smoking hot. The poories should be cooked slowly, to make them crisp.
Make one poori at a time as follows; roll the ball into a round disc of approximately 6 cm. and place 1/8th portion of the filling in the centre of this disc.
Pull in the edges over the filling and make a ball again. Press gently.
Now grease and roll the ball out evenly into a 7-8 cm. disc. Roll very gently or they will burst.
Gently slide it into the hot oil. When it begins to rise, gently turn it over. You can encourage it to fluff up by gently pressing with the spatula. Wooden one is better.
Fry until nicely browned on both sides.
While one poori is frying, roll out the next one, or ask another person to do this for you.
Take poori out in a plate and sprinkle sesame seeds. Spoon over a little syrup. Turn over and repeat the process.
Leave on a plate to cool. This syrup solidifies into a thin coating of sugar, when cold.
Serve hot with tea or coffee. They are equally good eaten cold. If you make a large batch, keep them in an airtight container, once they are completely cold.
Notes
If a poori bursts during frying, make sure that you have 'lifted out' all stuffing from the oil, using a small tea strainer. Otherwise, bits of burnt, black stuffing will stick to all other poories and spoil them.
