Saran Ki Pudi / Puri

I don't know what this is called in Marathi. I know very few ladies who make this Saran ki Pudi for Diwali faraal, but I do know lot of them who like it! It's a modified version of Karanji, or perhaps Karanji is modified version of this. It has jaggery instead of sugar. I love jaggery, so I prefer putting it instead of sugar in dishes like puran poli, kharvas and anarsa.

The filling is called 'saran' (सारण) and after stuffing it, it's fried like puri. I usually prepare the filling for karanji and this, and then make both the dishes together. This filling can be stored in an airtight container for a week or so. Shaping this is easier than karanji though.




Ingredients

For filling

• 2 cups Semolina1/2 cup Dessicated coconut
• 1 1/2 cups Jaggery
• Cardamom powder
• 3 tsp ghee
• Ghee/ oil for frying
• 1/2 cup milk

Method

1. In a pan, add 2 tsp ghee. Heat on medium flame. When ghee melts, add Semolina.
2. Fry until it's golden brown in color. Then add coconut to it. Take off the heat.
3. In another pan, take 1 tsp ghee. Heat on medium flame. When ghee melts, add jaggery.
4. When jaggery melts, add the mixture of semolina and coconut, and mix it well in the jaggery quickly. Let it cool.
   
5. As we want an even mixture, take this mixture in a mixie and grind. We don't need a fine powder, but a coarse and even mixture. Keep it aside.
6. Prepare the dough same as we prepare for karanji. Set this dough aside for 15-20 minutes. Keep it covered with a damp cloth.
7. Sprinkle some milk on the filling and mix it well. It should be slightly moist so that it holds well inside the puri.
   
8. Take 1 inch ball from the dough. Roll it to make a thin disc.
9. Now sprinkle some maida on a flat surface and put this disc on it.
10. Take 2-3 tsp mixture and spread it over the disc leaving the edge. Leave about 1/2 to 3/4 inch margin near the edge. The mixture should be spread evenly and could be about 3 mm thick layer.
11. 
12. Take another 1 inch ball from the dough. Roll out one more thin disc. Put it over the other disc covering the mixture, and bringing the edges over each other.
13. Now seal the edges carefully. Make sure there are no air bubbles, so as you go on sealing the edges, try to remove the air between the disc and the mixture below it. We need to apply some pressure so that the edges are sealed properly, so it's important to have enough maida sprinkled below the 1st disc. Otherwise it might stick to the the surface.
14. Cut off the remaining dough with karanji cutter. Be careful while doing this to make sure the edges won't open up.
15. Put this puri on a paper and keep it covered.
16. Make remaining puris one by one. Keep the dough covered while making puri's.
17. Heat ghee/ oil on medium heat. Deep fry these puris by one. You can serve hot or store in a container.

Note
Adding milk to the mixture and keeping it for long time might also form lumps in the mixture. You'll need to grind the mixture again in that case. To avoid this, don't add the milk to all the mixture at once. Keep the powder ready, take some of it (enough for 5-6 puris) at a time and add milk.