I had eaten this delicacy called Mande once when I was a child. It was store bought and I remember it was absolutely delicious, but I didn't know what it was called and hence couldn't request for it to be bought again. Also, I never came across it in a store again. So that was the end of that till I ate this again recently. A friend came back after visiting Belgaum and brought the delicacies found there for us to taste. As soon as I saw it, I knew what I was looking at and it still tasted as delicious as I remembered it from childhood. Of course, a taste was not enough and considering that I was thousands of miles from Belgaum, the only option was to figure out how to make it myself. I was so motivated that for the next few days my focus in every free minute was to research how to make it. I didn't really find any elaborate recipes or videos or techniques. Came across many puran poli videos which also seem to be called mande (a new learning for me) but not much in regards to this version of Mande.
This version of Mande is a large very thin flaky poli/chapati which is filled with a slightly sweet mixture and the stuffing is so thin and fine, that the poli seems to be made of sweetened dough rather than filled with stuffing. After several discussions with Mom, I decided to try it out based on the data I had gathered. Oh! The result was perfect and delicious and so flaky. Of course, all of it was eaten as soon as it was cooked and I could just save one till I took some photos before it was also devoured. One of my favorite preparations that is difficult to make, but so worth it. If you are a proficient puran poli maker, this will prove to be a little bit easier but definitely a preparation that I would rate as difficult. But if you can make this you will be so happy with the result that you will want to keep making and eating this till you run out of ingredients.
Ingredients
1/2 tsp salt
1/4-1/2 cup rice flour, to roll the mande
oil/ghee to roast the mande
Method
For the dough
Mix the rava and 1 cup of maida together. Add salt. Then add a little water at a time and knead the dough. The dough should be very hard, kneaded with minimal water. Cover it and keep it aside for 30 mins. Then add a few drops of water at a time and using a pestle, pound it and knead it till the dough becomes very soft and pliable.
For the stuffing
Whisk the ghee till it is fluffy, then add in the poppy seed powder, sugar, cardamom powder and the remaining 1/2 cup all purpose flour. knead this all together. It should all come together as a very soft pliable dough. The consistency should be similar to the dough made for the covering. If the dough is dry, add some more ghee, till it comes together as becomes a soft ball
To make the mande
The mande need to be flaky and soft and so need to be cooked on a low indirect heat. So they cannot be cooked directly in a pan or tava. So place a thick walled pan or an earthen pot which has a dome shaped base upside down on your gas. You can also use an old cooker which is not flat bottomed. I placed a cast iron tava on my flat cook top and placed an old dome shaped steel pan upside down on it as my cooking surface and let it heat up as I rolled out the mande.
Make 2 equal sized balls of the dough covering. Make a ball of the same size of the stuffing. Now flatten each ball into similar shaped round discs of approximately the same radius and thickness. sandwich the stuffing disc into the two covering dough discs and pinch the seams to close the stuffing in it. Now taking care, start rolling the made into a flat thin disc (poli/roti/tortilla/chapati). Roll from the center to the edges making sure that the stuffing also gets rolled out along with it and spreads to all the parts of the disc. Dust the rolling surface with rice flour to keep the disc from sticking to the rolling surface or the rolling pin. Roll the disc as thin as you can. If proficient you can take a small rolled out disc and use your hands to stretch it paper thin into a circle.
It should be translucent and you should be able to see through it. Now place it onto the hot upside down pan and cook it till you start seeing small bubbles. Then flip it over and cook it till light brown spots appear. Flip it again till the partially cooked surface gets completely cooked. Apply a little oil or ghee while roasting. The cooking process takes time as it is indirect heat, so be patient.
Once cooked, fold it up a couple of times to make a neat rectangle. Serve with milk. It tastes great when warm as well as when it is at room temperature.
Tips
If you do not have powdered sugar, use your mixer/blender to powder normal sugar. Sift it before use. If you have made puran poli, the dough should be soft like the puran poli dough.
This version of Mande is a large very thin flaky poli/chapati which is filled with a slightly sweet mixture and the stuffing is so thin and fine, that the poli seems to be made of sweetened dough rather than filled with stuffing. After several discussions with Mom, I decided to try it out based on the data I had gathered. Oh! The result was perfect and delicious and so flaky. Of course, all of it was eaten as soon as it was cooked and I could just save one till I took some photos before it was also devoured. One of my favorite preparations that is difficult to make, but so worth it. If you are a proficient puran poli maker, this will prove to be a little bit easier but definitely a preparation that I would rate as difficult. But if you can make this you will be so happy with the result that you will want to keep making and eating this till you run out of ingredients.
1 cup fine semolina/rava
1.5 cups all purpose flour/maida
1/2-1 cup water
1 cup powdered sugar (not icing sugar)
1/4 cup poppy seeds (white)/khus khus (do not use black poppy seeds), roasted and powdered
1/4 cup poppy seeds (white)/khus khus (do not use black poppy seeds), roasted and powdered
1/8 tsp cardamom/elaichi powder
1/4 cup clarified butter/ghee1/2 tsp salt
1/4-1/2 cup rice flour, to roll the mande
oil/ghee to roast the mande
Method
For the dough
Mix the rava and 1 cup of maida together. Add salt. Then add a little water at a time and knead the dough. The dough should be very hard, kneaded with minimal water. Cover it and keep it aside for 30 mins. Then add a few drops of water at a time and using a pestle, pound it and knead it till the dough becomes very soft and pliable.
For the stuffing
Whisk the ghee till it is fluffy, then add in the poppy seed powder, sugar, cardamom powder and the remaining 1/2 cup all purpose flour. knead this all together. It should all come together as a very soft pliable dough. The consistency should be similar to the dough made for the covering. If the dough is dry, add some more ghee, till it comes together as becomes a soft ball
To make the mande
The mande need to be flaky and soft and so need to be cooked on a low indirect heat. So they cannot be cooked directly in a pan or tava. So place a thick walled pan or an earthen pot which has a dome shaped base upside down on your gas. You can also use an old cooker which is not flat bottomed. I placed a cast iron tava on my flat cook top and placed an old dome shaped steel pan upside down on it as my cooking surface and let it heat up as I rolled out the mande.
Make 2 equal sized balls of the dough covering. Make a ball of the same size of the stuffing. Now flatten each ball into similar shaped round discs of approximately the same radius and thickness. sandwich the stuffing disc into the two covering dough discs and pinch the seams to close the stuffing in it. Now taking care, start rolling the made into a flat thin disc (poli/roti/tortilla/chapati). Roll from the center to the edges making sure that the stuffing also gets rolled out along with it and spreads to all the parts of the disc. Dust the rolling surface with rice flour to keep the disc from sticking to the rolling surface or the rolling pin. Roll the disc as thin as you can. If proficient you can take a small rolled out disc and use your hands to stretch it paper thin into a circle.
It should be translucent and you should be able to see through it. Now place it onto the hot upside down pan and cook it till you start seeing small bubbles. Then flip it over and cook it till light brown spots appear. Flip it again till the partially cooked surface gets completely cooked. Apply a little oil or ghee while roasting. The cooking process takes time as it is indirect heat, so be patient.
Once cooked, fold it up a couple of times to make a neat rectangle. Serve with milk. It tastes great when warm as well as when it is at room temperature.
Tips
If you do not have powdered sugar, use your mixer/blender to powder normal sugar. Sift it before use. If you have made puran poli, the dough should be soft like the puran poli dough.
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