Kaju Ubbati/Puranpoli (Cashew-filled Sweet Flatbread)

Kaju Ubbati/Puranpoli (Cashew-filled Sweet Flatbread), a soft, flaky, melt-in-your-mouth Indian flatbread made with a rich cardamom infused cashew filling

Served with a drizzle of ghee all over, it is the ultimate sweet treat for us!

(Full Printable recipe as well as Step-wise recipe is in the post below...do check them out)

WHAT IS UBBATI/PURANPOLI

Coming from the land of coconuts in coastal Karnataka in southern part of India, Konkani cuisine has some delectable, addictive culinary gems that the world is yet to know!

One among them is "Ubbati", a sweet, stuffed flat bread sometimes called "Puranpoli" or "Obbatu" or sometimes just "Poli" too in other parts of the state and even in the state of Maharashtra.

The traditional ones we make is filled with a lentil-jaggery filling encased in a flaky, soft and melt-in-mouth casing.

Like I said, the only ubbati  I have always enjoyed was those made with a filling of chana dal/split chick peas and jaggery, stuffed in a soft, tender, flaky flat bread, lovingly made by my mother!

I remember, as she was making them, freshly made ubbatis used to disappear hot off the griddle, happily enjoyed with glee and ghee by my family!

And I am glad to say, I got to make some too (February 2024) and they came out amazingly soft and delicious....almost like my mother's! Check out the lentil ubbati recipe here.

Updated March 2024.....

But wait, there is another one which me and my family are so fond of too now...cashew ubbatis with creamy cashew filling in the bread!

With the upcoming Ganesh Chaturthi (back in September 13, 2018), I wanted to make something special to offer to our God, Ganeshji.

Traditionally, I make sweet instant appe every year which are actually my favorite. But this year, being at my son’s place, I did not have the special pan we need to make this; an appe pan/ebelskiver pan.

So ventured to make this delicious cashew filled ubbati or sweet Indian flat bread, albeit with a twist!

Don't they look delicious and interesting?

I would have loved to make chana dal ubbati, but I had bookmarked a recipe of badam/almonds or almond poli which I saw on you tube (another Pathare Prabhu cuisine specialty like “Bhujana” which I had made recently) and decided to try it using cashews instead of lentils to use up the huge packet of these nuts in my pantry.

Recipe is super simple.

Make a semi-dry paste of soaked cashew in a blender, cook this with some sugar (or jaggery) and green cardamom powder in a saucepan until it is almost dry; let cool and make small balls.

I have added a bit of saffron for more exotic flavor; totally optional.

The outer covering for the stuffing is a simple flour dough with a bit of oil (or ghee) and turmeric. I have tried both the plain flour dough as well as the whole wheat flour dough. Both come out amazing and actually the whole wheat ones are my family favorite now!

The tricky part is stuffing and rolling them thin. The first few times you may not get the results you like, but do try these.

Not only will that flaky delicious taste goad you to make it again and again but you will get better with practice too!

Practice makes perfect!

Dry roast these rolled ubbatis (yes, no drizzling of extra oil or ghee here)and enjoy hot delicious, soft, melt-in-mouth kaju ubbati/puranpoli drizzled with ghee; (optional but traditional way to enjoy it), along with your family and friends.

(Full Printable recipe and step-wise instructions are given below)!

Happy Cooking/Eating!

 Step-by-step Method to make Kaju Ubbati/Puranpoli:

To make the kaju filling:

Soak  1 cup cashew in hot water for 1 hour.

After one hour, drain and make a fine paste adding a little water.

Remove and place in a non-stick saucepan.

Add ½ cup sugar (or jaggery)and 1 tbsp ghee (optional). Mix well.

Heat the pan on medium heat and cook the kaju mixture, stirring often until it thickens and starts to form a ball or starts to leave the sides of the pan easily. Stir in saffron strands (optional), elaichi/cardamom powder and mix well.

Omit the saffron if using jaggery.

 

This took me about 4 minutes.

Remove from heat and transfer to a bowl/plate to cool. Do not cook too much or once cooled, it may become too hard.

To make the outer covering of kaju ubbati:

Add 2 tsp of oil/ghee and 1/2 tsp of turmeric powder to the 1 1/4 cup flour (plain or whole wheat) and make a soft dough which is pliable and soft.  I used about ½ cup water.

Knead for 4-5 minutes until smooth and elastic.

Apply oil on the outside of the dough, cover and keep aside for at least one hour.

To make the kaju ubbati/puranpoli:

Make 8-9 small even sized balls of the kaju filling as well as the dough. If you are finding difficulty making balls of the kaju filling, grease your hands a bit with ghee or oil.

Take one ball of dough and using some oil on your hands, flatten slightly with your hands, pressing the outer portion more than the center. You can also use some flour to dust and roll to a disc about 3 inches in diameter. Do not dust too much; just enough to roll.

Place a ball of kaju filling in the center and bring the sides over it, covering the filling completely and sealing well. Make sure that no filling is exposed.

Remove excess dough if needed. Roll into smooth balls.

Dusting with more flour, roll each stuffed ball gently using a rolling pin (with the sealed side facing you). Roll as thin as possible, taking care not to let the filling ooze out. If it does, do not worry too much.

Try not to roll the outer edges too much or the filling will ooze.

Roll as thin as possible.

Heat a flat griddle/tawa on medium high flame. Once it is hot, place one rolled ubbati on the hot tawa.

If rolled evenly, they will puff up beautifully! No need to drizzle any oil or ghee.

When brown spots appear on both sides, remove and place on a plate.  Spread all the roasted ubbatis on a plate to cool.

Serve hot or warm with a generous drizzle of ghee or if vegan, omit this; equally delicious.

(It tastes best with ghee although preferably I love enjoying them just plain, unlike the rest of the family)!

Store leftovers in airtight containers.

These can be frozen too! If you happen to have excess ubbatis, just cool completely, stack them up, wrap in foil, place in a Ziploc bag and freeze.

When ready to enjoy, just remove as many as you want from the freezer, microwave a few seconds until warm and dig in!

Hope you try this easy, delicious, unique Indian Kaju Ubbatis! 

My family was devouring it and although the one with plain flour with white sugar tastes amazing, you got to try making with whole wheat flour and jaggery!

Out of this world...my family's sentiments! My mother shows a thumbs up every time she eats this!

So do try my foodie friends! You will be making it again and again, festival or not!

Enjoy and Happy Ganesh Chaturthi!

Now, let's see how to make delicious, soft, flaky and addictive KAJU UBBATIS! (Print/Save here)

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