Purnam Burelu Andhra Purnalu Recipe (Burelu)

As India is a land of festivals, so is the festival food. So, here’s another popular sweet snack – Poornam burelu – from the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana regions of South India. It can be called simply Burellu or even Purnalu and is a specialty during the Ugadi festival in this part of the country. The distinctive feature of this dish is that it has a sweet, savory stuffing that is coated with a rice-lentil batter and then deep fried. Definitely qualifies as a vegan dish if no ghee is used.

These are deep fried snacks made with chickpeas+jaggery and coated with rice+urad dal batter (similar to dosa batter).

In Andhra Pradesh and Telangana Burellu is prepared during festivals and offered as Naivedyam to the deities. As Ugadi Festival is just around the corner, sharing this recipe of Poornaam Burellu.

Burellu recipe has many variations. Basically, the stuffing here is ‘Puran’ which we make while making Puran Polly or Bobatlu.

If you have leftover old stuffing, you can use it to make Burellu. I did not add fresh coconut to the recipe, but you can add about ¼ cup of fresh coconut.

Purnalu is very common during festivals in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, where the food is also offered as an offering to the deities. You can also do this and offer it to your deity at home. Apart from this, they can also be enjoyed as snacks with your tea and coffee.

If you are looking for more Ugadi Recipe Then check:

Step by step guide

How to make Purnam Burellu

for the batter

1. Wash 1 cup of rice several times with water and then add to a bowl.

2. Wash ½ cup of urad dal with water and then add it to the same pot.

3. Add 3 cups of water. Cover and soak rice and urad dal for 5 to 6 hours or overnight.

4. Next day, drain all the water.

5. Then add rice and urad dal in a grinder bowl. Also add ½ to ⅔ cup of water.

6. Grind to a smooth light batter. The consistency of the batter should be medium thick like dosa batter. If a drop of batter is placed in a container of water, it should float and not sink.

7. Add half a teaspoon of salt or add as per taste.

8. Mix very well. Cover the batter and keep aside. You can also ferment the batter for 4 to 5 hours if you want.

Creating staffing for full name Burelu

1. Wash and then take 1 cup of chickpeas in a stove pressure cooker. If you want, you can also soak chickpeas.

2. Then add 2.5 cups of water. Pressure cook on medium flame for 6 to 7 whistles.

3. Once the pressure settles, just open the cooker lid and check if the chickpeas are cooked well. Take a few chickpeas and mash them with your fingers. They should mash easily. Be careful as the dal is very hot.

4. Strain the chickpeas and let it cool or warm. Use strained water to make rasam or katachi mango. You can also make batter with this water or add it to gravy or dal.

5. Then add chickpeas in a grinder jar.

6. Add 1 cup jaggery. I used organic molasses so strained it without dissolving it in water.

7. Add ½ tsp cardamom powder and ¼ tsp nutmeg powder. You can omit the nutmeg powder if you want.

8. Grind to a smooth consistency. If you cannot grind, you can add 2 to 3 tbsp of water. Grind at intervals. Grind, then scrape the jar and grind again.

The full name is created Burelu

9. Heat 1 tbsp ghee in a pan.

10. Add chana dal + jaggery mixture. You can also add ¼ cup of grated coconut at this step.

11. Cook the mixture stirring non-stop on low heat until it starts leaving the sides of the pan.

12. Then turn off the heat and keep aside. Allow the stuffing mixture to cool.

13. Make medium sized balls from the mixture and keep aside. Cover them so they don’t dry out.

14. Heat oil for deep frying in a wok. Dip the stuffing ball into the batter and coat it evenly.

15. Then gently slide the batter coated ball into the medium hot oil.

16. Add the rest of the batter coated balls in this manner as well. Do not overcrowd and add depending on the size of the pan.

17. When one side turns golden, flip gently with a spoon and fry the other side.

18. Fry the burellu till light golden and crispy. Scoop out excess oil with a slotted spoon and place on kitchen paper towels to absorb excess oil.

19. Offer Burellu to your deity, otherwise you can serve them hot to your family.

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This Purnam Burelu post from the archives, originally published in March 2017, updated and republished in February 2023.