Boorelu Recipe
After the sesame ladoos, the next recipe from the challenge that I made were these Boorelu. Our traditional method is lightly different for the coating, which we call as Suyyan, for which we use Maida and Rice flour. So naturally I had to try my hand for this one.
Boorelu Recipe
I loved loved the coating and as already mentioned at the end of the post, the coating reminds of Vadai which is my all time fav - hence I was biased towards this one too.
Quite simple to make and absolutely delicious too. I followed the recipe which was provided with only minor changes. Without further adieu, lets go to the recipe shall we?
  • Cook time:
  • Prep time:
  • Yields: Makes around 8
Ingredients
  • For the outer layer
  • Black gram dal/ Urad dal - 50 gms (about 1/4 cups)
  • For the Filling
  • Bengal gram/Channa dal - 1 cup
  • Grated Jaggery - 1 cup
  • Fresh grated Coconut - 1/4 cup (opt)
  • Cardamom powder - 3/4 tsp
  • salt to taste
  • oil for deep frying
Method
1.

Wash and soak Urad dal for 4-5 hrs. Place in a big vessel as it will expand after soaking.

2. Then drain water from the Urad dal and grind to fine paste adding very little water.
3. In fact just about a teaspoon of water should be enough. The batter is almost like the thick dosa batter before you make dosas. Add salt and leave it aside covered. My Notes: I had to in fact use more than 1 tsp to bring it to the said Dosa like batter consistency. I think I used about 3-4 tsps. Use your discretion to add water.
4. For the filling, pressure cook the channa dal with just enough water to cover it. Even if excess water is there, you can always use the water for chaaru. But less water is better.
5. Cook the jaggary to remove any scum. Then once the dal is well cooked, drain and cook it along with the jaggary. It should become very soft enough for you to mash well. You can either grind it to a smooth paste or mash it with the lentil masher. If you find the purnam is very loose, you can cook this in sim to get a thick paste. Add Cardamom powder and grated coconut. You will know its done when the dal starts to leave the sides. My Notes Once I cooked the dal, I mashed it lightly immediately.
6. Then in a skillet, I added the grated jaggery in low heat.
7. Then I added the lightly mashed lentil to it.
8. Then once it started to thicken a bit, added the coconut and cardamom to it.
9. Remove
10. and cool.
11. Divide them into equal balls.
12. Heat a thick bottom kadai for frying. Once the oil is hot, turn to sim. Then dip each ball in the Urad dal batter.
13. ensure its coated on all sides.
14. Then gently drop them into the hot oil.
15. Turn and cook on all sides. Since the filling is dal based, it tends to steep into the oil. That's why you will see dark spots on the sweets. Once couple of batches are done, strain the oil to remove the scum.
16. It hardly takes more than 2-3 mins to get cooked. Drain them on to a kitchen towel.
17. Since the batter used is of Urad dal, we can also make savory doughnut or the Medhu Vada. Add onions and other spices and deep fry them as regular vadas.

Leave a Reply

I love to hear from you! I read each and every comment, and will get back as soon as I am able to.
Did you try this recipe? Please share your feedback!
Upload Your Recipe Photos

1 Member Reviews

Recipe Image

By Sunita on Oct 1, 2010

hi dk i made this and it was very tasty as i used rice flour for its crispiness it was but soft inside, thanks for the recipe

18 Comments

By Jacelyn on Feb 26, 2015

Hey appreciate the post!

By Indian festive recipes | KVARM on Oct 19, 2014

[...] Dhal Boorelu See it’s supposed to be quite healthy (or at least loaded with protein) in spite of it being junk food. [...]

By Sudha on Oct 10, 2013

Do you know what am I doing wrong, my stuffing after adding jaggery stayed loose inspite of cooking it for a long time, then I didn't want it to burn, so couldn't make round balls out of it

Did you drain the channa dal? There shouldnt be any water in it. The only liquid comes from the jaggery melting. --DK

By Kamini Naidu on Nov 5, 2012

Awesome ! This is one of my favourites. We call it untallu. I learnt it from my amma. And looking forward to cook this diwali.

By suneelaprasad on Oct 23, 2012

I tried the recipe but the inside purnam is bursting out of tne cover while frying.Where did I go wrong?

Did you make the batter too thin? I am really stumped about the filling coming out! --DK

By Veni on Sep 18, 2012

Hi DK I know this recipe and I tried in your style. We call it susiam. Usually we use maidha and little rice flour for the outside covering. It will more crisper.

This is more like Andhra style. What my mom makes also has a maida covering. Will post that soon :) --DK

By Ritu Yadav on Sep 17, 2012

Can I make "namkeen" version of this?

I dont see why not, although it wont be traditional per se --DK

By KRANTHI on Oct 25, 2011

this would be my diwali sweet. excellent way of presentation. i just love it

By medha on Aug 30, 2011

hey its superb

By arunaravikumar on Aug 11, 2011

I dont dare to make such recepies because I cant get their shape after scorching effort!!!!!!!!

By poojitha on Apr 2, 2011

good recipe :) i m going to try this for sure 8)

By Sharmila on Sep 2, 2009

This is something very new to me. Urad dal as a batter for deep frying sounds so interesting. With the festive season coming up, this is going to be a great thing to make. Do you think I can use coconut as the stuffing too? Much thanks for sharing this recipe. :-)
yes its indeed interesting Sharmila - I am sure you will like it. As for the coconut stuffing - I have used coconut for the poornam (stuffing) - is that what you were asking me about?

By roma on Aug 31, 2009

Awesome description. I am sure my family will love this one! I am bookmarking it immediately.

By Srivalli on Aug 31, 2009

Lovely Dhivi..you are rocking!...where is the third you promised me madam?..:))

By vidhya on Aug 31, 2009

First time here I think. I love your presentation of making this boorelu recipe. looks really yummy

By nags on Aug 31, 2009

OOh we call this sukhiyan - a fave traditional sweet snack of mine :)

By Cynthia on Aug 31, 2009

I've only ever used yellow split peas for savoury recipes, I really should trying using it as a sweet.

By Dee on Aug 31, 2009

we add some rice too for the coating and call it chovi , another method is using maida dough , make the dough roll it like a poori and then place the stuffing in the middle and wrap the filling with the dough and deep fry
Yes, as I mentioned in the beg of the post, we make it too with maida and rice flour - we call it suyyan. Since this was diff - I though I will give this one a try :)