PALA MUNJALU RECIPE - SEMOLINA DUMPLING WITH SWEET LENTIL FILLING
Pala Munjalu Recipe - Paala Munjalu is a classic Andhra festive sweet dish. It’s a deep fried semolina dumpling stuffed with a sweet lentil filling.
Servings: 6
Ingredients
For Stuffing:
- 1 Cup Channa dal Split Bengal Gram or Chanaga Pappu
- 1½ Cups Water to Pressure cook lentils
- ½ Cup Desiccated Coconut
- 1½ Cups Powdered Jaggery
- ½ Cup Water for Jaggery Syrup
- 1 tsp Cardamom Powder
For Outer Layer:
- 2 Cups Milk
- ½ Cup Water
- 1½ Cups Semolina
- 1 tsp Ghee
- ¼ tsp Salt
- 2 tsp Sugar
Other Ingredients:
- Required Oil for Deep Frying.
- Some Oil/Ghee to grease your hands.
Instructions
Prepare Filling:
- Wash and soak Bengal gram dal (minimum ½ an hour).
- Discard soaked water, add 1½ cups of fresh water to the drained dal. Add just enough water to cover the dal. Pressure cook over high heat for 3 whistles. Then simmer to low heat for 5 minutes and turn off the heat.
- Open the pressure cooker once the pressure subsides. Drain any excess water in the dal and mash it.
- Take jaggery powder in a saucepan and add ½ cup of water to it.
- Heat over medium heat till the jaggery melts. Turn off the heat. (This is mainly done to remove any impurities in the jaggery)
- Transfer cooked lentils to a wide pan,
- To this add ½ cup of desiccated coconut.
- Now strain jaggery syrup into the mixture in the pan.
- Cook the mixture over medium heat till all the moisture evaporates.
- You get a thick consistency as shown in the pic below. Now turn off the heat.
- Add cardamom powder and mix well. Let the mixture cool completely.
- Let it cool and divide into small round shape balls. Keep them aside.
Prepare Outer Covering:
- Heat milk over medium heat. To this add a pinch of salt, 1 tsp ghee & 2 tsp Sugar. Mix well. Bring milk to rolling boil.
- Slowly add the semolina to it and stir continuously without any lumps.
- Reduce the heat and let it cook for a couple of minutes or until the mixture thickens. Turn off the heat, cover with a liid & set aside.
- Let it cool for about 10 minutes and knead it well in batches so that it doesn’t dry out. The semolina dough should be very soft.
Shaping & Deep Frying:
- Grease your hands with little ghee/oil and divide the dough into round shape balls. The dough ball size should be double the size of the filling ball.
- Flatten the dough ball and keep pressing with your finger to form a flat disc.
- Place chana dal stuffing (Poornam) in the middle. Bring the edges together, cover and seal it. Now, shape it into a smooth ball.
- Prepare all the balls & let them dry for 10 minutes.
- In the mean time, heat oil in a pan over medium heat for deep frying.
- Slide few stuffed balls into hot oil. Reduce the heat once the colour slightly change & stir them gently. Do not stir until a light crust its formed.
- Deep fry the stuffed balls in hot oil over medium low heat until golden brown color. Remove from oil & place on kitchen tissue paper to remove any excess oil.
Recipe Video
Notes
- Cook chana dal just enough to hold shape. Do not overcook with lots of water. It shouldn't become mushy.
- You can use a mix of milk & water to prepare outer covering or just milk.
- Semolina dough should be smooth, soft and lump-free.
- Cover the semolina dough to prevent from drying. You may get cracks while shaping.
- While shaping, remember the outer layer dough ball size should be double the size of the filling ball.
- Dry the prepared balls for about 10 minutes before frying & not too long.
- If the oil is not hot enough, the balls will stick to the bottom of the pan as soon as you add to hot oil.
- They taste best when served hot...but, you can store in an air tight container once they cool down. They last for two to three days.