Being a health and calorie freak has it's own disadvantages and controlling one's cravings is one of them. It's been so long since I started controlling the consumption of white sugar that nowadays, just talking about white sugar makes me cringe. I have enjoyed a lot of sugar-filled desserts in my childhood and my mom never held back on the quantity of sugar and ghee she added to those dishes. Festivals are very grand fanfare at my mom's place and the lunch is very important part of all the festivals.
Mum used to start making desserts, snacks and arrangements for festival a week before the day and the house smelt aromatic and festive. I can't say I miss those sugary treats but I miss that grand celebration and how much of importance my parents gave to the festivals. We were woken early in the morning, took oil shower and dressed up in new clothes. We used to have relatives over and the house used to be filled with laughter from my relatives and my dad, screams of my brother and I fighting over some silly thing and my mom singing loudly while she prepared that awesome lunch. The festivities lasted till the snacks got over.
Now, being a nuclear family, Hubby and I hardly eat that many snacks. My dad can't eat sweets, I know I have mentioned it before in a lot of my posts but it is still hard to accept that change. He loved Moong dal payasa, Poppy seeds payasa and hoLige so much that he used to snack twice a day. My mom makes all those but very rarely now. Sorry, that was a lot of story but it's all so nostalgic and I wonder how much our lives have changed overtime.
Anyway, Yugadi or ugadi is the celebration of New year according to Hindu calender. We change our "Panchanga" (Hindu calender) on this day, prepare naivedya (offerings), pooja (pray) and eat Neem+Jaggery as prasada. Eating Neem leaves with jaggery signifies the ups and downs of our life and the emotions we go through like happiness and sadness. There is a Kannada song about Yugadi which all kannadigas know and hum on this festival;
ಯುಗ ಯುಗಾದಿ ಕಳೆದರೂ ಯುಗಾದಿ ಮರಳಿ ಬರುತಿದೆ
ಹೊಸ ವರುಶಕೆ ಹೊಸ ಹರುಶವ ಹೊಸತು ಹೊಸತು ತರುತಿದೆ...
Which means "Even though many Eras/ages pass, Yugadi (new year) returns and for the new year, it brings new happiness..". HoLige or Puran poli is the dessert usually made for offering in Karnataka among other desserts like payasa. I chose dates HoLige because as usual, it is guilt-free, very low in calories, healthy and full of goodness for the body like Iron and calcium. The recipe is very simple, easy and tastes crunchy and delicious. Hope you all like it as much as my family did.. Happy Yugadi in advance!
* This post is a part of event for Ugadi hosted by Jayashree T Rao @ http://www.evergreendishes.com/
| Nutritional Information (Approx) (per serving) | |||
| Energy | 160.5 | Calories | |
| Fat | 2.4 | % | |
| Carbohydrates | 33.8 | % | |
| Dietary Fiber | 3.1 | % | |
| Sodium | 17.4 | mg | |
| Vitamin A | 0.1 | % | |
| Vitamin C | 0.2 | % | |
| Calcium | 2.2 | % | |
| Iron | 3.5 | % | |
| Protein | 3.2 | Grams | |
| Sugar | 16 | Grams | |
| Ingredients | |
| Wheat flour | 1/2 cup |
| Maida/ Plain flour | 1/2 cup |
| Chiroti rava/ Semolina | 1/2 cup |
| Turmeric powder | 1/2 teaspoon |
| Salt | a pinch |
| Oil/ Desi ghee | 2 tablespoons divided |
| Water | as needed |
| Dates | 500 grams |
| Cardamom powder | 1/2 teaspoon |
| Poppy seeds | 1 tablespoon |
Mix the wheat flour, Maida, Semolina, turmeric powder and salt. Add a teaspoon of ghee and mix well.
Now, slowly add water little by little and knead the mixture into a firm dough.
Knead the dough for at least more than 10 minutes. If the dough seems tough and dry while kneading add oil/ghee. Once done kneading, drizzle a teaspoon of melted ghee on the dough and cover it. Set it aside for 20 minutes.
After 20 minutes, knead the dough for 2 minutes and divide it into big lemon sized balls. Drizzle another teaspoon of oil/ghee on the dough, cover and set aside while you make the stuffing.
Dessed the dates and steam them without water. [To steam in pressure cooker, let the water be on the bottom of the cooker, place the dates in a cooker pan and keep the pan on the stand inside cooker. Cover and cook for 3 whistles.]
Grind the steamed dates into coarse paste while still warm. Let it cool completely. In a pan, roast poppy seeds for 4 minutes. Add it to the dates mixture along with cardamom powder.Mix well.
To roll out the dough, you will need banana leaves or Aluminium foil. You will need another aluminium sheet to cover the dough while rolling.
Take a ball of dough, Roll it a little and place a spoonful of the stuffing. Pull all the sides of the dough to cover the stuffing and pinch in the middle to lock it. Place the second aluminium foil on top of the dough and roll it into a thin roti.
Heat the roti tawa, flip the roti carefully on the tawa and after few seconds, gently remove the foil. Fry the hoLige for 3 minutes under low flame and flip it. Fry for 3 more minutes until it feels crisp outside. Remove from flame and let it cool. Serve hot or cooled with a dollop of ghee.
* Kneading the dough for at least 10 minutes is very important. Else, the dough is quite difficult to handle and the texture of the Holiges wont be as good.
* Using the amount oil/ghee as mentioned is also important since the dough will dry out very easily.
* Adding poppy seeds is optional but it gives a great crunch. ou can replace it with roasted sesame seeds too.
* You can use Plastic sheets to roll the dough. I prefer aluminium foils because I can directly flip the foil on tawa but you will have to carefully remove the roti from plastic sheet to tawa which is difficult.
* It is good to fry the Holiges in medium-low flame since they cook well on both sides.
