Puri પૂરી and its Variations
Servings: 20 Puris, 4-5 per person
Puris take a little shorter time than rotlis to make. Much to my surprise the rukhmehl that I use to make rotlis, results in flat puris. Apparently rukhmehl is over processed and so the desi-atta is a better flour for puris! Even though you will be left with the fried oily atmosphere, puris really are moorish! Great for entertaining and go well with any shaaks, daals and especially shrikhand. Ideally they should be eaten straight away, to enjoy the puffed crispy result. If eaten later then the puris will become softer.
There are many variations to this recipe. THE PICTURE SHOWS TIKHI PURI.
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Ingredients
- 200 g Whole wheat flour For a whiter version and also for serving guests, substitute whole wheat flour for plain white flour.
- 2 tbsp fine semolina to make the puris crispier. optional
- 4-5 tbsp Vegetable oil
- 50 ml Room temperature water Use as required
- 1 Aadni, wooden block to roll the puris on.
- 1 velan, rolling pin
- 1 Deep Pan For frying
- 400 ml Vegetable oil to deep fry. Can use corn, peanut or cotton oil
- 1 Large ladel with holes. For frying.
- 1 Wide Basin To store the fried puris in.
Instructions
- Always make the dough at least an hour before you make the puris.
- Mix flour and semolina in a wide basin.
- Rub in the 4-5 tablespoons of oil. The flour should feel quite oily and clump into a soft ball when squeezed in the hand.
- Slowly add the water. Mix quickly and knead. The resulting dough should be smooth but very firm. Knead well for a few minutes to release the gluten in the flour. Kneading will result in soft and puffed up puris.
- Divide the dough into 2” round balls and knead each ball further between your palms, flatten and store covered.
- Heat the 400ml ofoil in the deep frying pan.
- Place a paper kitchen towel at the base of the wide basin.
- Drop a small piece of the dough into the oil and if it comes up to the surface immediately then the oil is hot enough to start making the puris.
- Roll each piece of dough to a disc of about 4” in diameter, even but not too thin.
- Fry each puri one a time, frying once on both sides until it is beige in colour. Always cook thesecond side a little longer than the first side. The thinner crispier side is the right side of puri.
- It is always good to do the frying with a partner. The oil temperature will remain constant and the resulting puris will be evenly cooked.
- Drain off all the oil from each puri, back into the frying pan before storing in the wide basin.
- When served hot, the puris will remain puffed up. They flatten out after a little while.
Notes
For making the Sunday morning breakfast puris, tikkhi puris(તીખી પૂરી, as in the picture), add one and half tsp salt, one tsp cumin seeds, one tsp turmeric powder, one tsp green chili and ginger paste and half a tsp of red chili powder(optional) in the dry flour/semolina mixture before rubbing in the oil. Great with masala chai and chundo (Gujarati mango pickle). Makes about 20. For making bhaturas use a 50/50 mixture of self raising flour and whole wheat flour and make the dough slightly softer. These should be much larger than the puris and will need to be fried slowly and for longer. Makes about 12-15. Traditionally eaten with chick pea curry, chole (છોલે). Another variation for bhaturas is to add one teaspoonful of salt, one of cumin seeds, a couple of tablespoons of dried methi leaves to the flour. Also crumble up one piece of soaked squeezed slice of bread and add to the flour mix. Finally make the dough using a mixture of yogurt and water. Be careful to make very firm dough and leave it covered for at least 3 hours before frying. Make the bhaturas twice as large as puris and make two slits in the middle before dropping them into the hot oil. Again should be fried slowly and for longer. Makes about 12-15.