Recipe: Mayur's Khawa Poli

Khawa Poli is a traditional Maharashtrian sweet preparation quite similar to the region's famed puran poli.

As the name suggests, the stuffing is the milk khawa or mawa, derived from reduced milk, instead of puran or sweet lentils. The rich yet delicate sweetness of khawa poli is enhanced with generous teaspoons of warmed ghee.

This recipe features a basic stuffing, but you can also mix the khawa with nuts, raisins, other kinds of dried fruit and desiccated coconut.

Khawa Poli is typically served for lunch on festive occasions, like Ganesh Chaturthi, but is good for a little detour into the world of sweets on any day of the year too.

Khawa Poli

Serves: 4-5

Ingredients

• 1 cup khawa or khoya or milk solids
• 1½ cup maida or all-purpose flour + extra for rolling the polis
• ½ cup icing sugar
• ½ tsp green elaichi or cardamom powder
• ¼ tsp jaiphal or nutmeg powder
• Salt to taste, around a pinch
• Water for kneading the dough
• 6 tbsp ghee + extra for kneading the dough + extra for frying the polis and serving

Method

• Heat the 6 tbsp ghee in a kadhai or frying pan and roast the khawa in the ghee for about 10 minutes or until the mixture turns light golden.
  Take off heat and cool.
  Add in the icing sugar, cardamom powder, nutmeg powder.
  Mix well and keep aside.
• Combine the maida along with the salt in a large bowl.
  Add a little water and knead to make a soft dough.
  Grease your palms with ghee and knead the dough further.
  Cover with a moist cloth or kitchen towel and let it rest for 15-20 minutes.
  Divide the dough into 1½-inch diameter balls.
  On a lightly-floured surface, using a belan or a rolling pin, roll out each ball into a small poori.
  Place 1 tbsp of the stuffing in the centre, bring all the edges together like a potli or moneybag, and lightly flatten.
  Using your palms, pat and press out the stuffed poli very carefully to form a round stuffed puri.
  Repeat the process for all the pooris until the filling is exhausted.
• Heat a little ghee on a large non-stick tawa or frying pan over medium-high heat.
  Roast each poli, on both sides, until golden brown.
  Serve hot, with yet more ghee.

Mayur's Note: Instead of using only maida, go with a combination of maida and whole wheat atta, if you prefer.

If adding nuts, raisins and other dried fruits to the stuffing, make sure to chop them into tiny bits.

You can reduce or increase ghee as per your liking. The recipe derives its richness from the ghee, so do not replace it with oil.