Gul is jaggery, pohe is flattened rice and vadi is burfi. Pohe being one of Lord Krishna’s favorite foods, are offered to Him for the Janmashtami festival, which celebrates His birth. I love the mythological story about Sudama’s gift of pohe for Lord Krishna. It teaches us all a valuable lesson that gifts given from the heart are far more precious than any other gifts.
Gul pohe are made with jaggery, coconut, ghee, nutmeg and cardamom mixed with flattened rice or pohe. They are not a favorite with my kids. So I decided to make a vadi/burfi with similar ingredients adding almonds and roasted dal/dalia to it too.
This is a ‘no syrup making skills required’ recipe! Many people are nervous about the right consistency of jaggery syrups, especially here in America, as we do not get a type of jaggery made especially for desserts. So I experimented and came up with this easy recipe that needs no syrup. Plus the mixture is so pliable that you can take your time rolling it, unlike the syrup recipes where you have to handle the hot mixture or the vadi falls apart! Needless to say the palms of your hands are not happy with that recipe:)
So the yummy Gul Pohe Vadi is a winner all around! I especially loved the crispy texture of this vadi and the fact that I could sneak in all the nutrition of the almonds, coconut, dalia and the iron rich pohe, jaggery and dates. It is a great gluten free snack with a vegan option in recipe too.
This is what I did-
I used thin pohe for this recipe. Microwave the pohe on high for 1 ½ minutes, stirring every 30 seconds. The pohe then look curled and crisp. Set them aside to cool.
Next I toasted the almonds, dalia and dry shredded coconut on a teaspoon of ghee. Start with the almonds and toast them lightly then add the dalia. Stir fry for a few seconds and add the shredded coconut. Stir until it is toasted to a golden brown color and fragrant. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
I used my mini food processor to pulse the pohe- just 2 to 3 times is enough.
I also pulsed the almond mixture 3 times to turn them into smaller bits. I reserved 3 to 4 tablespoons of the mixture aside.
And combined the rest with the pohe.
In the food processor bowl, add the jaggery and the dates. Pulse until it is broken down into little bits and is gooey.
Add the pohe-almond mixture, sea salt, cardamom and nutmeg and keep pulsing the food processor until the mixture comes together and is all clumped.
Remove the mixture to a greased plate. I have used a baking mat. Roll the mixture out with a rolling pin.
Add the reserved almond-coconut mixture on top and roll again. The mixture is pretty pliable and easy to roll.
Cut into square or diamond shapes!
Gul Pohe Vadi
Ingredients-
- 1 cup thin poha (flattened rice)
- 1 teaspoon ghee +some to grease the plate. Or coconut oil for a vegan option.
- ¼ cup almonds
- ¼ cup dalia (roasted chana dal)
- ¼ cup shredded dry coconut
- ½ cup jaggery
- 10 dates
- Pinch of sea salt
- 5 green cardamoms, shelled and seeds powdered
- about 1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
To make the Gul Pohe Vadi-
- In a microwave safe bowl, heat the pohe on high for 1 ½ minute, stirring the pohe every 30 seconds. Remove and set aside.
- In a pan heat the ghee or coconut oil and toast the almonds, dalia and the shredded coconut in that order, until golden brown and fragrant. Remove from heat and set aside.
- In a food processor, pulse the pohe until broken into smaller bits. Remove.
- Add the almond mixture and pulse until the mixture is broken into smaller bits. Remove and set aside about 3 tablespoons of this mixture.
- Add the jaggery and the dates to the food processor bowl, and pulse the mixture until it becomes a gooey mixture.
- Add the pohe, the rest of the almond mixture, sea salt, cardamom powder and the nutmeg powder. Pulse the mixture until it all mixes well and is all clumped together.
- Remove from the food processor and roll on a greased plate or surface to about 1/2 inch thickness.
- Add the reserved nut mixture on top and lightly roll again to embed them into the vadi/burfi.
- Cut into diamond or square shape.
This easy to make, Gul Pohe Vadi is a hit at our home and I hope that you and your family like it too!
Wishing you a happy weekend!
Love,
Sandhya
Looks delicious and healthy too. When I was growing up we had two dogs, one named Laddu and the other Burfi.
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Thank you Greg! What cute dog names!
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Sri Krishan Janmashtami Subhaakaankshalu, Sandhya. Another winner from your ever growing repertoire.
Gul Pohe is somethi at grows on one and can be quite tough to eat in large quantities. 🙂
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Aruna, I am truly flattered and humbled to get such a huge compliment form an accomplished person like you! thank you so much!
Happy Krishna Janmashtami to you too. My kids used to eat a tiny bit of gul pohe because it was prasadam but will eat more of these vadis for sure:)
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Lovely:)
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Thank you Lina!
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I m learning lot of new recipes from you ,Sandhya…
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Thank you so much Swapna! What a huge compliment that is! Sure appreciate it!
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Gorgeous Sandhya, all my favorite ingredients and I like how you’ve implemented it to suit your family’s tastebuds. I’ve been hearing about this festival coming up through other blogs too, such mouth-watering treats. How else do you celebrate other than making these gorgeous sweets?
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Thank you Loretta. The gul pohe as such kind of get mushy. So I was happy that I could turn them into a crunchy snack that the children will love.
The big celebration in Maharshtra at this time is also a ‘dahi hundi’ strung very high and people create human pyramids to get the hundi which has gifts and money all with singing an dancing going on around them
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This looks so yummy and I LOVE the diagonal cuts
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Sandhya,
This is Vani from Shishubharati NH and I am amazed at your varied talents.
All your recipes look great and the title of your blog is so appropriate. This will come in handy for all the busy Moms/kids out there.
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Vani, so happy that you saw my blog! Thank you so much for compliment.I am thrilled!
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Thanks Stephy! You are so kind!
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This looks good and something that I could possibly make!
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Thank you so much. It is a great gluten free snack too.Do let me know how you like it!
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Nice tip and it looks really delicious! Thanks for sharing. Bye. K
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Thanks Kamila!
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Very unique recipe Sandhya and it looks so delicious! I have the thin poha, so going to try this soon!
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Thank you Naina! Do let me know how you like it.
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Almond and coconuts are included! I am sure I am going to love it 🙂 Thanks for the recipe Sandhya!
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Thank you so much Indah!
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Looks delicious Sandhya! What a perfect and healthy snack 🙂
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Thank you Antonia!
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looks delicious..
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Thanks Ruchi!
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This is a wonderful twist on the traditional gul pohe. I think I will try it! Thanks for sharing!
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Thanks so much! We liked it as the vadi has the crisp texture of the pohe. Do let me know how you like it.
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Sure will do!
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Wow Sandhya!
This wadi looks and reads delicious.
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Thank you Sonal!
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I like the turquoise plate with doily and your excitement in this post. 🙂 The dessert sounds delicious. I like the way you explain things in a clear method. 🙂
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Thank you Robin. I liked the turquoise color of that plate too.So glad to know that the instructions/explanations are clear. I am usually chasing my tail with the posts, so many times my posts are written in a hurry. You seem to be very organized with your brilliant posts. They never seem rushed.
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Your posts never sound frustrated or rushed. You are a professional, my dear. You hide this well, what you were sharing. My posts were so long and lots of research that now, I try to be more carefree and shorter in my words usage. 🙂
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Thank you sweet Robin! Your words, as always , are perfect!
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I trust kids since they don’t have a “filter” and say what they like or not, despite how we are trying to get to speak up.
Sandhya, if your children love this dessert, I need to try it someday. 🙂
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Thanks Robin!
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So good I feel like makig them right now, but do not have ingredients ;-( Do you take orders?
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Thanks so much Rita! That is such a sweet comment! I feel that way when I read your recipes for the mouthwatering Parsi cuisine too.
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I want to try and make your jardalu chicken soon….drooling here thinking of it.
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Sandhya I am so happy that I tried making these today n is super hit at our house..Sara my 10yr old loved it who is very picky eater.. Thanks a lot..
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Roopali, I am so glad that you made it and that Sara loved it! Thank you so much for letting me know. Truly appreciate your kind words.
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