Holige / Obbattu ~ Poli With Sweetened Toordal Stuffing

Any occasion small or big ranging from a festival to welcoming a freshly minted son in law calls for a holige oota (festive platter that includes the delicious holige) in and around Bangalore. Making soft, thin, flaky holige / obaatu is a skill that is developed over years of practice and experience and usually the job is left to the matron of the home. Whether the holiges are stuffed with sweetened coconut (kayi hoorana) or sweetened dal mixture (bele hoorana / poorna), getting them ready to fry without tearing the outer shell while stuffing and patting is the crucial step. And seriously it needs some practice to make thinner versions that are popular in Bangalore. The dal stuffing can be made with toordal, chana dal or the moong dal.
The holige making involves two steps. Preparation of the stuffing and the outer case.

Toordal stuffing:
Ingredients:
1 cup toordal
1/2 cup jaggery powder (or as needed since the sweetness of the jaggery varies)
1 tsp cardamom powder

Method:
* Cook toordal adding 2 cups of water in a pressure cooker. Cook toordal in such a way that it gets cooked while still holding shape. Don't cook until mushy.

* Drain the cooked toordal in a colander and let cool.

* Completely drain the toordal. Grind toordal, jaggery and cardamom powder finely. If toordal mixture turns watery accidentally, just cook it in a non stick pan until it thickens. Cool and use as needed.

Ingredients for the outer layer:
3/4 cup chiroti rava / very fine semolina 
1/4 cup maida / all purpose flour
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
8 - 10 tbsp oil (yes that is not a typo.)

Preparing the dough for the outer layer:
Combine the flour, rava and turmeric in a bowl. Add sufficient water and make a thick dough as roti / poori dough. Then add the oil gradually and keep kneading so that the oil gets incorporated well into the dough. According to my mother's instructions, I kept kneading it for at least 15 minutes.  My mother swears that this much of kneading (and the addition of that much of oil too) is really important and one shouldn't skip this step. 
Let the dough rest for about 30 minutes.

Making holiges:
* Pinch about a small lime sized dough and place it on a generously greased banana leaf or a thick plastic sheet.
* Now using your fingers, pat and flatten it into a thin circle of about 3 inch diameter.
* Place about a lime sized ball of stuffing at the center of the dough circle.

* Bring the edges of the dough from all sides to cover the stuffing completely. Now the stuffing should be well inside the dough casing.

* Again flatten it with your fingers and go on patting it carefully so that it results in a thin, flat circle with spilling the stuffing out.

* Meanwhile heat a griddle / tava / or a shallow pan. Now reverse the leaf / sheet with the disc directly on the tava. Gently pull away the leaf. Add 1/2 tsp of ghee / oil along the circumference and fry it both sides till it is done and you see brown spots all over. Flip it once or twice while doing so.

This is going to be my final post of this week under "Festive Foods" theme. Check what other marathoners are cooking during BM#33.

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