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    Home » Sweets and Desserts » Tota Puli | How to make Bengali Tota Puli

    Tota Puli | How to make Bengali Tota Puli

    Published: Sep 23, 2017 · Modified: Oct 5, 2020 by Srivalli · 11 Comments

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    Tota Puli is my choice for T in the A to Z Bengali Sweet Series. There are some traditional sweets starting with T such as Talsansh Sandesh, Tangail Cham Chama, while I also came across Tripti, a Sweetshop version. For a long time, I was hooked on Tal sansh Sandesh as this one seems to be very traditional and popular.

    However, I couldn't find a recipe to make it, and all the pictures I saw didn't give out much. The other two options were also not so feasible. I was almost giving up on getting a proper dish until I landed here and read about Tota Puli. This seems to be a traditional Bengali Sweet losing out on its popularity.

    This is a fresh paneer / chhana kneaded and made into a dough, stuffed with sweetened khoya. It is then rolled out as a Puli and then deep-fried, before being soaked in a Sugar Syrup. After soaking for a while, the sweet is served as such with nuts garnished.

    As the recipe wasn't very clear at a few stages, I had to arrive at my own measurement after reading about how it is prepared. I had a tough time keep the stuffed khoya intact. Maybe this needs some resting time for it to harden. I somehow managed to deep fry without breaking it as it was written this tends to get broken while either deep frying or during soaking in sugar syrup.

    Tota Puli is the last in the series of deep-fried and sugar-soaked Bengali Sweets. If you scroll down further you will get to see my huge vessel having all the deep-fried Bengali Sweets. I made a huge batch of sugar syrup and the entire 6 liters of milk was made into chhana and kneaded. I took a portion of about 1 cup of fresh chhana to make different dishes like the Jilapi, Lyangcha, Nikhuti Payesh, Pantua. I made about 6 pieces of each dish, only Nikhuti and Pantua was more in number because of the size. Apart from family, I even took the whole lot to my colleagues and it was over within minutes.

    As with all Paneer Based Bengali Sweets, you need to make fresh soft Paneer/Chhana and then knead it well.

    How to Make Soft Homemade Chhana for Bengali Sweets

    How to Knead Chhana for Soft Bengali Sweets

    In this A to Z Bengali Sweets for Protein Rich dishes:

    A for Aam Sandesh
    B for Bhapa Sandesh
    C for Channar Puli
    D for Danadar
    E for Elixir Sandesh
    F for Fruit Sandesh
    G for Gajarer Sandesh
    H for Hot Chocolate Sandesh Truffle
    I for Ice Cream Sandesh
    J for Jilapi
    K for Khirkadam
    L for Lyangcha
    M for Malai Sandesh
    N for Nikhuti Payesh
    O for Orange Sandesh
    P for Pantua
    Q for Quick Rasmalai
    R for Rasgulla
    S for Sita Bhog

    Step By Step Pictures for making soft Chhana for Bengali Sweets

    Step by Step Pictures for kneading the chhana to a soft texture.

    Step by Step Pictures for making Tota Puli

    Step By Step Pictures for making Sugar Syrup

    The entire batch of deep fried Bengali Sweets.

    Tota Puli | How to make Bengali Tota Puli

    Ingredients Needed:

    For the Paneer Layer

    1 cup Paneer / Chhana / Cottage Cheese
    2 to 3 tbsp Flour 1oo gm
    1 tbsp Ghee
    A Pinch Baking Soda

    For the Khoya Layer

    1/2 cup Khoya
    1/2 cup Sugar powdered
    A pinch Red Food Colour

    for the Sugar Syrup

    1 cup Sugar
    2 cups Water
    Few Cardamom

    Cooking Oil for deep frying

    How to make Tota Puli

    For the Paneer Layer

    Make the fresh soft chhana for making Bengali Sweets
    Knead till you get tiny granules.
    Take the portion required to make Tota Puli and add baking soda and flour by a teaspoon and start kneading it. Flour should be added in small quantities as it depends on the moisture of the chhana on how it would require retaining the shape.
    Knead till you get a dough that's soft and can hold the shape. Remember you will be making a puli to the size that's almost 2.5 to 3 inches in length and half-inch width. Once you have kneaded, keep it aside.

    For the Khoya Layer

    In a bowl, take the khoya, sugar, and food colour. Mix well and make small balls.

    Assembling the Tota Puli

    Divide the paneer dough into equal balls.
    Divide the Khoya dough into equal balls. If it is difficult to handle, refrigerate for a while till the khoya is easy to handle.
    Now flatten the paneer dough into a disc, place the khoya over it and enclose completely as you would do any stuffed balls.
    Then gently roll over the plate to get a thick rope of about 1/2 inch width. Make the ends pointed as a puli. Complete the rest.
    Heat the kadai with oil and gently drop in the pulis and deep fry on all sides.

    Making the Sugar Syrup

    Melt the sugar with water and make a syrup that is not very thick like Jalebi or too thin as Rasagullas. The syrup will have to be a little thicker similar to Danadar, as it's not let to soak for long and is served as a separate sweet on its own.

    Serving the Tota Puli

    Once the syrup is done, drop the deep-fried Tota Puli and let it soak for a couple of hours.
    Then drain the tota puli, garnish with nuts, and chill until serving.

    Notes

    The original recipe asks you not to soak in sugar syrup for long as it might break. Mine was intact after a couple of hours as well.
    The Tota Puli is juicy and oozes out sugar syrup when you bite into it.

    Recipe

    Tota Puli
    Print Pin

    Tota Puli | How to make Bengali Tota Puli

    Tota Puli is a traditional Bengali Sweet that is stuffed with Khoya and deep fried and soaked in sugar syrup. This is served with nuts garnished on top. This traditional sweet is slowly losing its mark and not so commonly prepared these days. So learn to make it at your home with this recipe.
    Course Sweets
    Cuisine Bengali
    By Cook Method Deep Fried, Stovetop
    Occasion Diwali, Festival Meal
    By Diet Protein Rich
    Dish Type Deep Fried Dishes, Paneer Dishes
    Prep Time 10 minutes minutes
    Cook Time 15 minutes minutes
    Total Time 25 minutes minutes
    Servings 4 pieces
    Author Srivalli

    Ingredients

    For the Paneer Layer

    • 1 cup Paneer / Chhana / Cottage Cheese
    • 2 to 3 tsp All Purpose Flour / Maida
    • 1 tbsp Ghee
    • A Pinch Baking Soda

    For the Khoya Layer

    • 1/2 cup Khoya
    • 1/2 cup Sugar powdered
    • A Pinch Red Food Colour

    For the Sugar Syrup

    • 1 cup Sugar
    • 2 cups Water
    • Few Cardamom

    Other Ingredients

    • Cooking Oil for deep frying
    • Mixed Nuts for Garnish

    Instructions

    For the Paneer Layer

    • Make the fresh soft chhana for making Bengali Sweets
    • Knead till you get tiny granules.
    • Take the portion required to make Tota Puli and add baking soda and flour by a teaspoon and start kneading it. Flour should be added by small quantity as it depends on the moisture of the chhana on how it would require retaining the shape.
    • Knead till you get a dough that's soft and can hold the shape. Remember you will be making a puli to the size that's almost 2.5 to 3 inches in length and half inch width. Once you have kneaded, keep it aside.

    For the Khoya Layer

    • In a bowl, take the khoya, sugar and food colour. Mix well and make small balls.

    Assembling the Tota Puli

    • Divide the paneer dough into equal balls.
    • Divide the Khoya dough into equal balls. If it is difficult to handle, refrigerate for a while till the khoya is easy to handle.
    • Now flatten the paneer dough into a disc, place the khoya over it and enclose completely as you would do any stuffed balls.
    • Then gently roll over the plate to get a thick rope of about 1/2 inch width. Make the ends pointed as a puli. Complete the rest.
    • Heat the kadai with oil and gently drop in the pulis and deep fry on all sides.

    Making the Sugar Syrup

    • Melt the sugar with water and make a syrup that is not very thick like Jalebi or too thin as Rasagullas. The syrup will have to be little thicker similar to Danadar, as it's not let to soak for long and is served as a separate sweet on its own.

    Serving the Tota Puli

    • Once the syrup is done, drop the deep fried Tota Puli and let it soak for a couple of hours.
    • Then drain the tota puli, garnish with nuts and chill until serving.

    Notes

    The original recipe asks you not to soak in sugar syrup for long as it might break. Mine was intact after a couple of hours as well.
    The Tota Puli is juicy and oozes out sugar syrup when you bite into it.
    Tried this recipe?Mention @spicingyourlife_ or tag #spicingyourlife_!

    This is part of the A to Z Protein-Rich dishes, where I decided to showcase A to Z Bengali Sweets with Paneer/Chhana as the main source.
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    « Sita Bhog | How to make Sitabhog
    Utshob Sondesh | How to make Utsav Sandesh »

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Rajani says

      September 23, 2017 at 4:44 am

      Wow that picture with all the sweets is such a mouthwatering treat! You have done an amazing job with your theme Valli.

      Reply
    2. Priya Suresh says

      September 23, 2017 at 12:15 pm

      Thats seriously awesome Valli, coming with your own measurements is definitely a brilliant idea. Tota puli looks juicy and so fabulous.

      Reply
    3. Sapana says

      September 23, 2017 at 8:30 pm

      I am in love with that pot of deep fried sweets, it's so beautiful and tempting. Today's sweet is amazing too.

      Reply
    4. Mayuri Patel says

      September 24, 2017 at 12:28 am

      A pot full of sweet goodies. Wish I could taste all of them. Waiting for letter U.

      Reply
    5. Sharmila - The Happie Friends Potpourri Corner says

      September 24, 2017 at 8:21 am

      Good one.. I want that entire batch of sweets..

      Reply
    6. Gayathri Kumar says

      September 25, 2017 at 4:17 am

      Oh my my, this looks so goo. Both paneer and koya are my favs and both combined in a single recipe along with it being sugar syrup soaked, I can finish off the whole batch.

      Reply
    7. vaishalisabnani says

      September 25, 2017 at 8:48 am

      The best of the lot ! The entire deep fried sweets batch is simply stunning ! Feel like taking a bite from all of them , not bothering about any calories ! Too , too good !

      Reply
    8. Sowmya says

      September 25, 2017 at 1:44 pm

      Paneer and khoya together sound delicious ....am drooling looking at your seeet series....please let me know next time you make a batch of these!!

      Reply
    9. sizzlingtastebuds says

      September 25, 2017 at 5:41 pm

      the entire batch looks awesome and this double toned sweet is great too 🙂

      Reply
    10. Srividhya Gopalakrishnan says

      September 25, 2017 at 8:57 pm

      I am at an total awww and wow only. How you pulled to prepare all these one day? Taking pics and stuff... Hats off and kudos for keeping the khoya intact. Should give these recipes try sometime.

      Reply
    11. ruchi indu says

      October 06, 2017 at 2:44 pm

      Wow amazed at your planning. You have also executed your plan in style. The whole lot of deep fried sweets is superb.

      Reply

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