होळी रे होळी, पुरणाची पोळी...

Unlike lot of other festivals, Holi doesn’t hold much dear position in my heart. When I was young, we would know Holi’s arrival when we would be targeted by water balloons aimed at us from all over the neighbouring buildings. The balloons would hit the intended target – Phachaaakkkkkkkk. The pain, the inconvenience and above all the embarrassment used to be inexplicable. We would spend the day of Holi sitting in our balcony and watching groups passing by- screaming foul words, drenched in various colours (making themselves look repulsive and gruesome – the uglier, the merrier)and forcing people with colours – irrespective of their gender or age. The memory of that site still brings me goosebumps. Even today, Holi doesn't appeal my sensibilities and I protest it in my own way by not participating in the celebration.

Inspite of all this, every year I still look forward to Holi. The sole reason is ‘Holi special’ feast cooked by my Aai – Puran poli. For those who don’t know what it is, it’s a sweet Roti (Poli) filled in with mixture (Puran) prepared with chana dal and jaggery. Its an elaborate preparation, prepared by extremely delicate hands. The trick is making them softer – so soft that the Roti almost breaks into pieces when you try to hold it.

Now, I am not going to give recipe of Puran poli here, there are many versions available on the net, you only need to google them. But here you will see a video of my Aai making Puranpoli – world’s best Puranpoli. This is not an exaggeration. If you had a fortune of tasting Aai’s Puranpoli, you would instantly agree with me. If not, then you can only imagine.





The verdict – soft and silky Puranpoli. When you take a bite, your mouth will experience flavourful explosion of jaggery, elaichi, nutmeg, a well roasted thin layer of maida and if you like dollop of home made ghee.
PS: In the video, hope you noticed how she filled the mixture inside the ball (made of refined flour), and how she rolled the roti and lastly how she transferred the roti on the rolling pin to the hot Tawa.

Puranpoli is not meant for weak-hearted cooks. Shortcuts won’t give you the same results. You need to toil in the kitchen to cook the Chana dal, break your back to grind the mixture (using handgrinder) and stand for hours in front of stove to produce a culinary miracle like that; which my Aai does diligently. Thanks to her, I still havn’t attempted to make them.

This post is a small way to pay my gratitude to Aai for being the world’s best cook.