Bhakshalu are famous authentic festive treat all over India, but with different names. This sweet is mainly made during Sankranthi, Ugadi and Dussehra/Vijaya Dasami. These are delicious flat breads stuffed with the sweet aromatic stuffing of chana dal and jaggery. This is also one of the special dish that is passed down through many generations in my family. My grand mother was a pro in making all the traditional festive treats.

These are made with chiroti rava/semolina. This is the main ingredient that gives it’s distinct thin texture and taste compare to other similar recipes. Some people use toor dal but believe me… it tastes a lot better with chana dal.

Whenever I make this delicious dish, I eat it with milk everyday for breakfast until I finish the last bhaksham. It makes a good satisfying breakfast with full of protein. (Don’t judge me for eating dessert 1st thing in the morning , I can’t resist myself from eating. I can also have it for an evening snack .

Few important Notes/tips:

1. This takes a little planning to retrieve best quality Bhakshams.
2. The dough needs atleast 4 hrs of soaking time to become very soft and stretchy.
3. If you don’t have chiroti rava/semolina available, you can use Fine sooji or You can grind regular sooji to get even more fine rava. But chiroti rava is the best choice of all.
4. Chana dal should be soaked over night or at least 5-6 hrs to get cooked well and fast. For some dal 1-2 hrs soaking time should be enough.
5. Dough and stuffing (puran) both should be in same consistency to get perfect bhaksham.
6. You need smooth, oil and water resistant paper to make bhaksham like (eg., removable back side paper of wall liners, papers from cigarette packs). If you don’t have any of them, I heard good quality oven liner/parchment paper or butter paper will also do the trick.

I request you to check my other poli recipes

• Savory Bhaksham / Dal Poli
• Thella Oligalu/White Oligalu
• Kobbari Bhakshalu | Coconut Bhaksham / Poli

Snack using the leftover dough Yummy Evening Snack | Rekulu

Rasam using leftover poornam (stuffing): Poornam Charu | Chanadal – Jaggery Rasam | Kattu Rasam | Obbattu Saaru

How to make Bhaksham/Puran poli/Holige/Oliga

PREP TIME: 25 MINS  COOK TIME: 35-40 MINS  SOAK TIME: 4-6 HRS TOTAL TIME: MIN 60 MINS (EXCLUDES SOAKING TIME) COURSE: SWEETS/DESSERTS  CUISINE: INDIAN MAKES: 4-5

Ingredients

For stuffing(puran/poornam):

• Chana dal – 1 cup
• Jaggery – 1 cup, crushed/powdered (if your jaggery sweets less, add additional 1/4 cup)

For dough:

• Chiroti rava/Semolina – 1 cup
• Oil – 1 tsp
• Salt – pinch
• Water – 1/2 cup

Bhaksham – Step by step instructions

1. Stuffing/Poornam: Rinse and soak 1 cup dal for at least 5-6 hrs. Drain off the soaking water and add 2 cups of fresh water and cook on stove top till they become soft (you can also pressure cook). Mix a few times while cooking, remove the froth that forms on top. Strain the water into separate bowl for later use.

2. Mix 1 cup jaggery with cooked dal and grind to a smooth paste using a grinder/mixie. Add few tea spoons of water if needed.

3. Dough: Mix 1 cup semolina, pinch of salt and 1 tsp oil in a mixing bowl. Make dough by adding 1/2 cup water little by little. It should be soft. Cover the dough with a wet cloth. Set aside for at least 4 hrs.

4. Now the dough and stuffing(puran) ready. You can see below, the difference in the dough before and after it is soaked.

5. Now take the bhaksham paper, add a teaspoon of oil on it. Place a small piece of dough and stretch it into 3″ round with your hands. Place a ball of stuffing/puran/poornam on the dough. Start closing from the sides.

6. Close it from all sides to make a dumpling. Pour 1/2 tsp of oil over the dumpling and flip it then pour another 1/2 spoon of oil. Pat it a little with hand and place a thin plastic film over it.

7. Apply a little pressure and spread it into a thin round. Take off the plastic film slowly. Sprinkle a teaspoon of oil on it.

8. Transfer it to a heated flat tawa, that is on low flame, by placing the bhaksham paper upside down. Slowly separate the bhaksham paper from the flattened dough as shown below. Cook on low flame.

9. Insert a flat spatula underneath the bhaksham until you can freely able to slide it side to side when you see bubbles on top, slowly flip it over and pat it with spatula lightly. It will puff up, in about 10 sec, again slowly slide the spatula and make sure everything comes off the pan, then transfer it to a plate.

10. Do not stack them up when they are hot/warm. Allow them to cool down a bit before you stack them up in a box.

11. Per your taste, Bhaksham is best served with ghee or freshly squeezed mango pulp or warm/hot milk.

Making Mango Pulp: Peel the mango, squeeze the pulp into a bowl with hand, mash it with hand until it blends without chunks. If it is not sweet enough, add sugar to your taste.