Katachi Amti- Puran Poli Chi Sobatin

Hello Dearies!! Today we Celebrate The Marathi new Year i.e. Gudi Padwa. Although Shrikhand is the  sweet many homes prepare today, lack of time and energy at times compels us to either outsource the sweet or make something else. Planning, prepping, sourcing the materials and then actually preparing takes some time.

There is no hard and fast rule that certain sweets only should be made and others cannot, however general practice prevails and people do tend to follow the age old customs.  

However, today I bring to you the most famous combo, Puran Poli and Katachi Amti. I have posted Puran Poli recipe not once but twice before. So now I will link you to Puran Poli and post the amti recipe today. Gear up as the process may look long if making the amti alone, but if making with puran poli, it's a breeze.



You will need;
2-3 cups Kat-water from the dal
** Drain the water from the cooked chana dal ( we call this water as "Kat" in Marathi; see puran recipe below)
1 tbspn Jaggery
1 tbspn Tamarind Juice/paste
**If using Tamicon Concentrate 1 Tspn is enough 
1 Tspn Red chili powder
** Adjust to your spice level. This is Medium hot 
Salt to taste

1 Tennis Ball Size Puran
** See Recipe after Masala.

Tempering; 
1 Tbspn oil
1 Tspn Mustard Seeds 
1 Tspn Cumin/Jeera
1/2 tspn hing/Aesafodita 
 5-6 Curry leaves
  
Masala;
1 Tbspn Dry Coconut powder
1 tspn Cumin seeds
1 inch Cinnamon stick
5-6 Cloves
5-6 Peppercorn

** For the Puran;
This is a Measure for making approx 20 Puran Poli, for amti you need only one tennis size ball of Puran. 
3 cups Chana Dal
2 cups Gul or Jaggery
1 cup sugar
Or Use 3.5 cups Jaggery alone

In a pressure cooker, add the washed dal and 7-8 cups water. Pressure cook for abt 7 whistles. let cool. once cool, strain the dal so that all water is separated and the dal is dry. This Water is Called KAT, and we make the katachi amti from this. Once again take the dal in a cooker and add gul /jaggery and sugar. On low heat, cook this till the mixture starts leaving sides and starts sticking to the spoon. Keep stirring this from the time you put it on heat. You will reach a point when your arms will talk to you. The mixture will look dry and The spoon if made to stand will stand on it's own....your puran is done...

Now Back to Amti;
 Take a deep pot, Add the Kat/Drained water from the cooked dal,  to this add one big tennis ball size of puran, little jaggery, little tamarind paste, red chili powder, salt and keep aside. 

In a pan, roast  the Masala Ingredients-Cumin seeds and dry coconut with cloves, peppercorns, Cinnamon stick. after the mix turns brown, grind it into powder. add this to the dal mix set aside.

In a separate wok, take the oil, when its hot, add the tempering ingredients one after the other in the same order, when the tempering is ready, add this to the dal mix, and heat till it comes to a rolling boil. Katachi Amti is done. Add water to either thin it out or leave it thick. We like it thick.

This amti/dal goes with Puran Poli as well as Plain Rice with a dollop of ghee.