Pakatlya Purya

Pakatlya purya

I vividly remember having eaten these sweet flaky pooris with a soft juicy interior during my childhood days. My ajji (grandmother) had prepared them after taking the recipe from her neighbour. They were delicious :) I loved the food prepared by my ajji.

After that, for some reason this recipe was lost on me and my family for a long long time until this Holi, when I suddenly remembered this dish and had a strong urge to eat these delicious little discs dipped in flavoured sugar syrup.

I got this recipe from my mom this time and tweaked it a bit to suit my palate. The result was just worth drooling over. May be somehow, I was successful in recreating the flavours that I had in my memory all these years. And I just knew that I had to share the recipe here with you all…

Purya is the plural form of puris in Marathi and Paak means sugar syrup.

Ingredients for Pakatlya Purya:

For Purya:

Maida or refined wheat flour - 1 cup

Chiroti rava or very fine semolina - 1/2 cup (you can grind the rava in a mixer jar to make it fine)

Salt - a pinch or two

Very Hot Oil/Ghee - 2 tbsp

Yogurt - 2 tsp

Little hot water - to bind the dough

For Paak:

Sugar: 1/2 cup

Water: 1/4 cup

Cardamom powder: 1/2 tsp

Saffron strands soaked in 2 tsp of hot water: A generous pinch

Lemon juice: 1.5 tsp. Lemon juice prevents crystallisation of sugar and imparts a nice tanginess to the sweet syrup

For Garnish:

Slivered or powdered almonds

Recipe:

Let's begin by making the syrup first:

Heat water in a thick-bottomed pan and add sugar to it. Heat the solution till you get a one-thread consistency. (Check by putting a few drops of the warm sugar syrup between the index finger and your thumb and try to get an unbroken thread of the syrup when you move your fingers apart.)

Once you achieve this consistency, mix it the lemon juice, saffron strands and cardamom powder and keep it ready.

Let's start with the puris:

For the puri dough, mix in all the ingredients listed under it and knead with little hot water at a time to get a consistency that is neither too soft nor too hard. Cover it and let it rest for 20-30 minutes. The rava will absorb the water in there and fluff. After the resting time, knead the dough well once again and keep it covered with a wet cloth since the dough tends to dry out quickly. Divide the dough into 12-15 balls of equal size and roll them out into puris.

Alternatively, divide the dough into small portions and roll out each portion into a big chapati, the size of your polpat or chakala (the rolling board). Cut the pooris from the rolled out dough using a circular cookie cutter or a small katori. The puris should not be too thin or they won't soak up the sugar syrup well.

Tip: Keep some water handy while rolling the puris. You can apply a few drops of water to the dough balls in case they become too hard to roll.

Fry the puris in hot oil, a few at a time, on medium heat till they puff up and change colour to a nice shade of light golden brown. Take them out of the oil and drain them before dipping them immediately into the warm sugar syrup. Dip only for a few seconds and make sure the puris are coated well with the sugar syrup on all sides. Set them aside and allow them to cool.

Tip: Fry one or two puris to begin with and check the texture and taste you are getting after dipping it in the syrup. It should be flaky and crispy on the outside and soft and juicy on the inside. Meanwhile, check the consistency of the sugar syrup alongside. If the syrup gets more thick or crystallised, add a little water again to get the correct consistency. Ensure the syrup is sufficiently warm.

Garnish it with almonds and more cardamom powder as needed. These stay well in an air-tight container for up to a week.