Kayi Holige Recipe | Coconut Sweet Bread | Thengai Poli

5 from 7 votes

Kayi Holige Recipe | Coconut Sweet Bread | Thengai Poli

Kayi Holige is a classic and traditional South Indian sweet prepared using flour, jaggery (brown sugar), and coconut. This filling differs from other puran poli and is served during festivals like Ugadi, Sankranti (Pongal), Ganesh Chaturthi, Diwali, and Ram Navami.

Prep Time20

Cook Time20

Resting Time1

Course: Dessert, sweets

Cuisine: South India

Diet: Vegan

Servings:

Calories: 168kcal

Author: Kushi

Equipment

Tava or skillet

Ingredients

For kayi holige dough (kanika)

1 1 /2 cups All purpose flour
¼ teaspoon Turmeric powder or a pinch
¼ teaspoon Salt or a pinch
4 tablespoon Vegetable oil or Sesame oil divided
Water for kneading approx ¼ cup

For hoorna or puran

1 cup Jaggery Brown sugar
2 cups Grated coconut
½ Cardamom powder

Other ingredients

Oil or ghee for cooking holige

Instructions

Prepare the dough (kanika)

In a bowl, add all-purpose flour, turmeric powder, and salt to taste. Now add water little by little and form a slightly sticky dough.
1 1 /2 cups All purpose flour, ¼ teaspoon Turmeric powder or a pinch, ¼ teaspoon Salt, Water for kneading
Continue to knead to form a soft dough. Add 2 tablespoon of oil and knead for a minute.
4 tablespoon Vegetable oil or Sesame oil
Now, pour the remaining 2 tablespoon of oil into the dough. Cover and let the dough soak in oil for 30 minutes.

Prepare the hoorna (filling)

Grind the grated coconut in a mixie jar. Do not add any water while grinding. This is just to make rolling easy.
2 cups Grated coconut
In a pan, add jaggery with ¼ cup of water and keep stirring on a medium flame until jaggery dissolves and starts to thicken.
1 cup Jaggery
To this, add ground coconut and cardamom powder and mix well. Cook until the water content evaporates. You should be able to make balls out of this mixture. Do not make the mixture dry or soggy.
½ Cardamom powder

How to roll kayi holige?

Pinch a small piece of dough. Place this in a greased banana leaf (parchment paper or wax paper) and flatten it with your palms to form a circle.
Add a tablespoon of coconut jaggery filling at the center, pull the sides, and seal the edges.
Press this gently with your fingers in an outward direction till you can make it to a thin circle without the filling coming out.
Repeat the process for the remaining dough.

How to cook coconut sweet bread (poli)?

Heat a non-stick pan on medium flame. Transfer the rolled holige onto the pan and cook on both sides till you can see some golden caramel spots. Apply oil or ghee while cooking if needed.
Oil or ghee for cooking holige
Serve immediately or store it in an airtight container. This will remain fresh for at least 7 days.
Traditionally, they are served with ghee or brown butter, but they taste excellent on their own as well. You can also try it with aamras.

Notes

You must knead the dough for at least 12 to 15 minutes to get that soft dough consistency.
The dough should be shiny and elastic once it is soaked for 45 minutes. That is, when you stretch the dough, it should not tear.
Use fresh coconut for the best flavors. If unavailable, you can use frozen or dry coconut flakes.
If you cook the filling for a long time, especially the jaggery and water, then it will become rock-hard. So, to fix these, you can add a little water and heat it again. If it gets soggy for some reason, then cook until water evaporates, or add some rice flour to absorb moisture.
You can even use a rolling pin instead of hands.
Use coconut oil while cooking for the vegan version and ghee for village-style holige.
I have shared pictures from 2016 and 2024. (In 2016, I made it with brown sugar and dry coconut from Payless, added more turmeric, and cooked it dry. This time, in 2024, I have used fresh coconut, reduced turmeric, and applied oil while cooking).

Nutrition