Suruttai Poli

(These were originally posted as part of Indian Cooking Challenge during March 2011.)

If you landed here hoping to get a poli recipe, you are surely in for a disappointment. However, hang on, hang on. Don't move away. I promise you that you are going to get introduced to another South Indian delicacy, suruttai poli. Srivalli, the creator of Indian Cooking Challenge chose suruttai poli for this month's challenge. When she mentioned that they are the rolled polis, I wasn't sure why the polis need to be rolled. 

When I went through the recipe and tried it, what do I realize? They are not polis / bobbatlu in any angle, but are kajjikayalu in a different avatar. Instead of being crescent shaped shells, they are presented as rolls. One of the Indian sweets we do like and enjoy. A delicious deep fried crisp roll with a cardamom scented sweet filling - that is suruttai poli for you in a nutshell. The process was simple and very easy to prepare (at least for me). Next time I would like to try with a coconut or nut filling.



Recipe Courtesy: Nithya's mom

Ingredient: (Yield - 10 polis)
1 cup all purpose flour / maida 
A pinch of salt
1 or 2 tbsp. powdered sugar for dusting
1/2 cup oil for deep frying

Ingredients for the stuffing:

1/2 cup roasted gram / pappulu (The one used to make the chutney.)
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp. grated dry coconut
2 tbsp. coarsely chopped cashews
1/2 tsp. ground cardamom
1 tbsp. ghee
(And keep some paper towels handy.)

Preparation of stuffing:
1. Heat ghee in a pan. Add the cashew pieces and toast until they turn golden brown. Remove them onto a plate with a slotted spoon. To the same ghee, add the grated coconut and fry for a few seconds and turn off the stove. Let cool.
2. Powder roasted gram, sugar and cardamom together. Add the coconut - cashew mixture to it and mix well. The stuffing mixture is ready now. The stuffing can be made in advance and stored so that poli making process is a breeze.

Preparation of polis:

1. Combine the flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Add water gradually and make a firm dough, as you do for rotis / pooris. Cover and rest the dough for at least 30 minutes.
2. Pinch about a big marble sized dough and roll out as thin as possible, into a circle of about 5 inches diameter. Prick the disc randomly using a fork so that it won't puff up during the frying process. You don't want to deal with puffed up pooris in this recipe and pricking takes care of that. The circle should be bigger than your typical poori and repeat the same with the remaining dough. 

3. Spread the rolled discs on a wide plate and allow them to air dry for about 10 minutes. 
4. Now comes the frying part. Heat oil in a kadai or a pan. Add a pinch of dough to the oil and check whether it swims immediately to the surface. If it does, then lower the heat to medium setting and slowly drop a disc. As soon as it appears cooked and bubbles start to show up, flip using a large perforated spoon and fry for a few seconds and remove it taking care to drain the oil using that spoon. It should not be fried till it starts to change color to a brown hue like a poori. It should be just done, still maintaining the creamish hue. Also if fried longer, they would become brittle. (I placed the fried disc between two paper towels and patted it to remove the extra greasiness. This way, it was also be not hot to handle while stuffing.)
5. Sprinkle some powdered sugar on a platter and place this fried disc on it. Add about 3 tbsp. of the stuffing mixture along one edge of the disc. Start rolling from that end where the stuffing has been added and form a tight roll. 

6. Place the rolled poli on a plate with the seamed end facing downwards. Let cool. Repeat the same with the remaining discs.
7. Once cool, they become crisp. I just decorated with nuts, coconut and saffron and this is entirely optional. Store them in an air tight container.

Notes:
They are very easy to prepare. The only points to remember are
1. Discs need to be fried only until done with out changing the color. Few seconds on each side, that's it. A little longer would result in brittle discs.
2. The discs need to be rolled immediately since rolling becomes impossible when they are let to cool down.

3. If you are trying to prepare a large quantity of polis then try to make them in small batches.

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