Bobbatlu (Obbatu/Puran Poli)

Bobbatlu from Andhra or Puran Poli from Maharashtra are basically the same, a traditional sweet flatbread.
It is a paratha made of plain flour stuffed with a sweet mixture called Puran ( in hindi ) or Purnam ( in telugu) .

Ingredients:

For Dough:

• All Purpose Flour ( Maida ) - 2 cups
• Salt - 1/4 tsp
• Ghee ( Clarified Butter ) - 1/2 cup
• Water - 3/4 cup ( or as needed to knead )

For Purnam ( Stuffing ) :

• Chana Dal - 1 cup
• Jaggery ( Powdered ) - 1 cup
• Dessicated Coconut - 1/2 cup
• Cardamom Powder - 2 tsp ( adjust to taste )

Directions: 

• In a mixing bowl, add flour, salt and 1 tbsp of ghee. Adding a very little water at a time, knead the to form a pliable dough. 
• Add a tbsp more of ghee and knead . Let is stand for about 2 hours. Cover and let it rest.

• While the dough rests, make purnam. Pressure cook the chana dal with very little water ( just enough to cover the dal ) for only one whistle. Do not over cook the dal. We do not want the dal mushy. We want it just cooked but not mashed or broken. 
• Drain the dal using a collander. You can save this water to make rasam or sambar later. 

• Spread out the drained chana dal on a clean kitchen towel ( cloth or paper ).

• Leave it for about half an hour or till you see all the moisture absorbed.
• In a blender, blend the dal without adding any water. The texture should be like powder. let it be course.

• To make purnam mixture, heat a pan, add this ground dal, powdered jaggery on medium heat. Keep stirring till the jaggery is melted and the mixture is formed like a dough. Add dessicated coconut and cardamom powder and give it a good mix till all the ingredients are well incorporated. 
• Remove it in a plate and let it cool.

• Now to make bobbatlu we need to make parathas with the dough and stuff this purnam mixture in it. This is traditionally made on greased banana leaf, but if you do not have it, make it on greased plastic sheet ( cut open a ziploc cover ) or greased aluminium foil. 
• Grease your palms with ghee so that the dough doesn't stick to your fingers while working with it. Take a lemon sized ball of the dough and place it on greased sheet. With the help of your fingers press it gently to spread the dough.
• Now take a portion of purnam ( slightly bigger than lemon ) and place it on the center of the spread dough.

• Bring the edges of the chapati together to seal it. 

• Grease this stuffed ball with few drops of ghee and start spreading it gently with the help of your fingers. After spreading for about 4 inches, roll it further using a rolling pin to make it thinner and even.
• Roll it very gently making sure the stuffed mixture doesn't ooze out.

• Heat the tawa or griddle, grease with ghee. And gently place this rolled out poli on the tawa.
• Roast on both the sides by smearing ghee. Be generous with ghee for this recipe , its ok... You can run a few extra miles the next day. 
• When both the sides are roasted well, take it out on a serving plate. You can add few more drops of ghee on top of this bobbatu or poli just before serving. Don't be guilty. You don't eat bobbatlu every day afterall.

We usually make this on festivals like ugadi, Sankranthi, Diwali etc.. and put it for naivedyam ( offering to God )