2 March, 2018

KADLEBELE HOLIGE/BENGAL GRAM POORAN POLI…. using date palm jaggery

Posted in : HOLIGE/HOLIGEGALU/PURAN POLI on March 2, 2018 by : Divya Suresh

Recently I got date palm jaggery through someone from Kolkata. I have never seen or used this jaggery before. So today I tried making kadlebele holige or bengal gram pooran poli using this particular jaggery. It is differently aromatic and tasty compared to sugar cane jaggery. Rest of the procedure & is same as any other holige we do except for I have used the date palm jaggery.

Phoenix dactylifera, commonly known as date or date palm, is a flowering plant species in the palm family, Arecaceae, cultivated for its edible sweet fruit (Wikipedia). Coconuts, dates, betel nuts, palm oil are an obvious product of Palm trees. Date palm jaggery, made from the sap of the date palm, is a winter delicacy and is mainly produced in West Bengal. Bengalis use it extensively in place of sugar in all their sweet treats. It lends the sweet a great taste and its taste is simply unmatched by sugar. The nutritious sap of the date trees is collected from the jungles, heated and transformed into jaggery. Overall its an excellent healthy substitute to sugar and used traditionally in the states of Jharkhand and West Bengal. Date palm jaggery is a rich source of minerals like Iron, Potassium, Sodium and Zinc and carbohydrates and energy, and also acts as a cleansing agent by pulling out dust and unwanted particles from inside the body.

The below mentioned quantity of ingredients yielded 10 nos., of Holige

Date palm jaggery ⇓

Ingredients :

For the outer layer :

Whole wheat flour – 1 cup
Chiroti rave/fine quality sooji – 1/2 cup
Ghee – 1 tsp
Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
Rice flour – 3/4 tbsp

For the filling :

Bengal gram/kadlebele/chana dal – 1 cup
Grated fresh coconut – 1/2 cup
Date palm jaggery – 1 cup

PROCEDURE :

Pressure cook bengal gram using enough water, Put it in a strainer and collect the dal water in a container to use it later for making saaru/rasam
Gather together ghee, turmeric powder and rice flour in a wide bowl, rub everything together in a circular motion till it becomes like butter, then add in the flour & semolina/sooji/rave, combine everything well, add little by little water and knead into a stiff, soft dough, soak it with oil, cover and rest it for minimum 2 hours
Now in a pan/kadai put cooked and strained lentil/dal/bele, coconut and jaggery and cook till all the water evaporates

Remove the mixture from the fire once it leaves the edges of the pan and comes out as a whole

Allow it to cool completely, then grind into a smooth paste without adding water and make portions

Now knead again the soaked dough really well, pinch a portion, stuff in the filling, roll it into a thin circle by dusting wheat flour or rice flour (I always use rice flour)