Hyderabadi Chobe ki Puri aur Kheer

Kheer Puri is a traditional Rajab and Milad-un-Nabi special sweet. Crunchy chobe ki puri and creamy kheer make an amazingly delicious dessert. Hyderabadi Chobe ki Puri is like Gujiya. The filling of these puris is pretty simple and called choba. Grated dry coconut, sugar, cardamom powder, chopped dry fruits and nuts make choba.

I believe every family has their own set of recipes which are specially cooked depending on occasion, season and tradition.  Documenting family recipes keeps part of the legacy of our loved ones alive. Over the years I have mastered, learnt and penned some of my family favourite recipes. But still I feel some recipes are ‘the best’ when made by my mum, nanima (grand ma) and ammi (mom-in-law). Do you have any family favorite recipe like this?

About This Recipe

Chobe ki Puri (Chobay ki Poori) is crispy and flaky pastry stuffed with choba. Choba is a mixture of grated dry coconut, finely chopped dry fruits, nuts, sugar and cardamom powder.

Some add fine semolina (sooji) or khus khus (poppy seeds) along with dry fruits. My mom sometimes add add chironji (sara pappu) to the stuffing.

Back home, Eid celebrations start with making a big batch of choba. It is used mostly as a garnish in recipes like dum ki seviyan, meethe chawal and zarda pulao. This is also as a filling in sweet samosa.

Khasta puri recipe is similar to gujjiya recipe. The crust of the puri is made with all-purpose flour and ghee. Crisp, flaky and deep fried chobe ki puri is popular during Rajab (kunde ki niyaz). In some families, these puris are made during Milad-un-Nabi too.

Traditionally chobe ki puri is deep fried. But these days you can easily find baked version of this in many sweet shops in Andhra and Telangana. Chobe ki Puri is also called as Meetha Samosa (Sweet Samosa) or just samosay in Hyderabad.

Chobay ki Puri is also part of sweets which are sent with the bride after wedding. These are often made to send as return gift with new bride and new mother.

Chobe ki Puri is almost similar in size and shape to,

North-Indian Gujiya. Maharastrian Karanji,  Kajjikaya in Telugu, Pedakiya in Bihar, Ghughra in Gujarat and closely resembles with Latin-American Empanada and Shekerbura from Azerbaijan. Food never stops to amaze me….

Rajab ki Kheer Puri

The tradition of making kheer poori in Rajab still continues in many houses. Rajab is the seventh month of the Islamic Calendar. I remember eating these at my choti nanima’s (grandma’s co-sister) house during Rajab and Milad. When we (me and my lil sis) were kids, mom use to make a huge batch of sweet and savory snacks to munch during our summer vacation. These chobe ki puri is always one among them.

Till date mom makes it a point to keep a fresh stock of homemade snacks to munch anytime. Few of the jar snacks mum use to make are Khajoor, Chivda, Shakkar Pare, Namak Pare, Cashew Biscuits, Ribbon Pakoda, etc;

Ingredients For Making Chobe Ki Puri

Flour: Commonly made with all purpose flour. But you can use whole wheat flour too. You can even try mixing 1:1 ratio of whole wheat flour and all-purpose flour.

Ghee: Clarified butter bring flakiness and crispness in puri.

Water: Use to knead the dough. Stuffing of Chobe Ki Puri

Dry Coconut: Usually grated dry coconut is used in stuffing. If not available, you can use desiccated dry coconut powder too. But grated dry coconut flakes will bring nice crunch in the recipe.

Dry Fruits and Nuts: You can use your choice of dry fruits. I used chopped cashews and almonds along with raisins. You can walnuts, dried cranberries, unsalted pistachios, etc;

Cardamom: Cardamom powder brings in flavour and aroma in puri. I used green cardamom in the recipe. Remove the pods from cardamom and grind to smooth powder in pestle and motar.

Sugar: Sugar is used in stuffing to bring sweetness. In place of refined sugar you can use brown sugar or organic jaggery powder too. But the traditional recipe calls for refined sugar only.

More Eid Favorite Hyderabadi Dessert Recipes

Sheer Khurma

Doube ka Meetha

Gil-E-Firadaus

Meethi Seviyan

Serving Chobe ki Puri

Chobe ki Puri is served with a bowl of warm kheer. Kheer is either prepared with semolina (sooji) or with coarsely ground basmati rice. The filling in this puri is mildly sweet, coarse and rich with nuts. Traditionally chobe ki puri is deep fried but baked ones are also available in many sweet shops in Andhra and Telangana. These puris are also called Meetha Samosa (Sweet Samosa) or just samosay in Hyderabad.

Crunchy chobe ki puri when dipped in warm sooji kheer and relished it is riot of flavours. First warm kheer will hit your taste buds and then the crunchy crust of puri. And then hits coarsely ground dry nuts, sugar, cardamom and dry coconut which bombard your taste buds. Tempting isn’t it??? Then what are you waiting for…scroll down to check to step by step pictorial recipe and try today….

Step By Step Instructions

STEP 1: PREPARING FILLING | CHOBA

• Soak almonds for 3-4 hours and remove the skin. Spread them on kitchen cloth and wipe dry. Leave to dry for 10-15 minutes and cut them into slivers.
• Remove the pods from cardamom and powder them. Cut the cashews into pieces and set aside.
• Heat a non-stick pan and add slivered almonds, dry coconut flakes and finely chopped cashew pieces. Toss gently on low flame for 3-4 minutes.

• Remove from pan and spread this on plate to cool. Upon cooling mix in sugar, raisins and cardamom powder.
• This is our filling, Choba. Cover and set aside.

STEP 2: PREPARING OUTER CRUST | PURI (POORI)

• Take whole wheat flour, ghee and salt in a bowl. Gently mix the ingredients till the mixture resembles crumb. Slowly add water and make a soft pliable dough. Cover the dough and rest it for 15-20 minutes.
• In a small bowl take cool water and set this aside. (We will use this water as sealant).

• Knead the dough for a minute and divide the dough into equal balls. Lightly dust the work surface with flour and take a ball and roll it into a small circle of about 1/8 inch thick. (You can even use Poori Presser)
• In the center of the circle, add a tablespoon of filling/choba. Dip your forefinger in water (step 2) and gently wet the outer edge of the circle.

• Carefully close the circle in half. Now you can pinch the edges, or you can use pizza wheel to trim away the corners or you can use clove/fork to make pattern to seal the edges.

• Using clove (laung) make a simple pattern on the edges to seal the ends together. You can even use pizza wheel to cut the sides of the puri or you can use gujiya cutter spoon to shape and size.

• Repeat and shape all the balls of dough into puris. Keep the prepared puris on a flour dusted kitchen plate or baking paper.

STEP 3: FRYING CHOBE KI PURI

• Heat enough oil for deep frying and gently lower 2-3 pooris into it (add pooris depending on the size of the kadai, don’t overcrowd).

• Deep fry on medium flame by turning in between until the pooris turn nice golden on all sides.
• Using a slotted spoon carefully remove them on to a plate. Spread them on a kitchen towel or tissue in a single layer.
• Don’t forget to check my quick, easy ,creamy and delicious recipe of sooji ki kheer.