Poornalu

A fried dumpling whose filling has its own name, poornam.

Vegan.

Ingredients

• 250 g raw rice, soaked 4 hours
• 80 g urad dal, soaked 4 hours
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 200 g chana dal
• 200 g jaggery, grated
• 60 g fresh coconut, grated
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 40 g cashew nuts, chopped
• oil for deep frying

Method

1. A FRIED DUMPLING WHOSE FILLING HAS ITS OWN NAME, POORNAM. Its article gives both the filling's name and the shell's composition: poornalu is AN INDIAN SWEET AND DUMPLING MADE OF RICE FLOUR STUFFED WITH JAGGERY MIXED DAL PASTE AND DRY FRUITS, and POORNAM BOORELU ARE PREPARED USING A RICE-URAD DAL BATTER, AND THEN PACKED WITH SOME SHREDDED DRY FRUITS AND CHANNA DAL MIXTURE KNOWN AS POORNAM AND IT IS THEN DEEP-FRIED IN OIL UNTIL GOLDEN BROWN. It is called POORNAM in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
2. SO THE SHELL IS A DOSA BATTER, NOT A DOUGH. Rice and urad soaked and ground together, as for a dosa. That is what makes this a fried dumpling rather than a steamed parcel like kozhukkatta, which is on its own page.
3. GRIND THE RICE AND URAD TOGETHER, THICK. Thicker than a dosa batter -- it has to cling to a ball of filling and stay there. No fermenting: this is used the same day.
4. COOK THE CHANA DAL SOFT AND DRY IT OUT COMPLETELY. Boiled, drained hard, then mashed and cooked with the jaggery until a spoon drawn through leaves a clean line. Wet poornam bursts the shell in the oil.
5. COCONUT, CARDAMOM AND CASHEWS IN OFF THE HEAT, THEN COOL IT AND ROLL IT. Sixteen balls, firmly pressed, completely cold.
6. DIP EACH BALL AND LOWER IT, DO NOT DROP IT. Turn the ball in the batter with a spoon, lift, let it stop dripping, then slide it in against the side of the pan.
7. FRY AT A MEDIUM HEAT UNTIL GOLDEN BROWN, FOUR OR FIVE MINUTES. The batter sets, puffs slightly and goes from white to gold. Too hot and the outside colours before the batter is cooked through and tastes of raw rice.
8. SERVED HOT, WITH GHEE. Its article says it IS OFTEN SERVED HOT WITH GHEE, and notes it has been part of the menu at Telugu festivals for as long as anyone records.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under India · All recipes