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Bread
Paal poli - south indian style bread pudding

Paal poli - south indian style bread pudding

Bread

First things first: translations of the names.. Paal - The tamil word for milk, & Poli is a term that generically seems to encompass any sweetened bread, doesn't matter if its pan fried or deep fried. so basically this is a distant cousin version of bread pudding. Among dessert offerings from South India, 'Paal Poli' is probably not as well known as say, the traditional rice pudding or the mung dal 'payasam', & my personal opinion about it when I eventually tasted it 20 yrs into my life here on earth was , 'It looks eew!!' (Turns out, the reason why my mother never made this at home was because, my dad found it visually unappealing as well). But there is no denying the fact that it is a textural treat with the creamy milk & the chewy bites of the poori/poli morsels. The best thing about this dessert is the ease of making it. Fry up a couple of pooris made from all purpose flour, drop them into warm sweetened milk with a pinch of crushed cardamom, saffron & garnish with nuts & raisins. THis was one of my very first dishes I 'tweaked' when I started blogging. and instead of a liquidy pudding, I reconfigured this into a dish that could be cut up and served. Its since become a family favorite. My version is wontons soaked in sweetened milk and stacked with layers of saffron & cardamom flavored whipped cream in between.