Poori | puri
Poori or puri is a staple Indian fried bread. It is made from basic store cupboard ingredients - wholewheat flour, salt & a little oil. The dough discs are then deep fried in hot oil. The dough is not leavened with yeast or fermented, making them one of the most popular and quick breads to make. Although not as common as roti or paratha (which feature almost daily), poori is a bread served more on special occasions. I love to have poori with aamras! Total summer heaven on my plate.
Recipe tips
- The dough should be tight and smooth. It should not be soft like chapati or paratha dough. A soft dough will absorb oil during the deep frying process, making the final poori soggy.
- You can make these poori with 100% atta. I like to add 1 tbsp fine semolina (rava) as well. This makes them crispy on the outside and gives a nice texture to the poori.
- To ensure that the poori puffs up completely - you have to roll the dough to an even thickness. Aim for 2-5mm thickness (neither too thin, nor too thick)
- Do not use flour to roll out the pooris - this excess flour will burn during the deep frying process. Instead use oil!
Ingredients
Makes 10-12 poori
140g/ 1 cup wheatflour (atta)
Makes 10-12 poori
140g/ 1 cup wheatflour (atta)
1 tbsp fine semolina (rava) helps make the poori crispy on the outside
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp oil
Water, as required
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp oil
Water, as required
Vegetable oil for deep frying
Method
Making the poori dough
- In a bowl, combine the flour, semolina, salt & sugar. Mix well to ensure that everything is distributed evenly.
- Next, add the oil and rub into the flour.
- Next, make a well in the centre of the flour mixture and add 1/4 - 1/3 cup of water. Start kneading and bring together to make a tight and smooth dough. Do not add more water to make it softer. The dough should be tight - this will stop the dough absorbing a lot of oil during the deep frying.
- Once you have a smooth and tight dough, grease with a little oil, cover and let rest for 20 minutes.
- When the dough has rested, divide into 10-12 equal pieces, reserving a small piece for testing if the oil is hot enough later. Shape each piece into a round ball without any cracks!
- Take a kadai or large sturdy pan suitable for deep frying. Add enough oil for deep frying (they poori do need to submerge, so a shallow fry is not suitable here). Turn the heat to a medium-high and let the oil heat up.
- To start rolling the puris, take one of the dough balls. Flatten slightly and grease with around 1/2 tsp oil. Do not use flour as this will burn during the deep frying process.
- Roll out the dough ball to a circle, around 2-5mm thick. Keep rotating the disc to ensure that you get a round shape. To allow the poori puffs up during deep frying, rolling out evenly is the key. Repeat with the remaining prepared dough balls. As pooris cook very quickly, it is easier to roll them out all in one go and then fry them all in one go. Keep the rolled pooris on a plate and covered with a clean towel.
- To test if the oil is hot enough for frying, drop the small piece of dough you reserved. If it bubbles and floats straightaway, then you know the oil is hot enough. If it does not fizzle and float up straight away, then let the oil heat up for a few minutes more.
- When the oil is hot, careful drop in the rolled out poori disc.
- The poori will immediately start to fizzle. Press on the poori gently with a slotted spoon to encourage it to puff up and float to the surface. If you have rolled the dough evenly then the whole poori should puff up!
- When the poori is golden on one side, gently flip the poori and fry until golden on the other side. You don't need to cook it for more than 30-45 seconds on each side if the oil is very hot. Don't overcook them as they will go tough.
- When the poori is golden brown all over, remove with a slotted spoon and place on a plate lined with kitchen paper.
- Serve the poori hot with aamras or aloo bhaji! (recipe coming soon for that!)
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