How to make Poori or Puri

Puris are Indian deep-fried bread made with wheat flour or maida (all-purpose flour). I have grown up helping my mom in the kitchen to fry the puris and i remember, i would get so excited if my puri would puff up in a perfect round. Yes, i could hardly get 1-2 to the perfection, while my mom would just know the right trick to get each of them puffed up. So, there are a few tricks that i have learnt which i would like to share with you all to get a perfect round puffed puri :

1. Make sure the dough is not too soft, not too hard to roll. Hence while making the dough, add water little by little so you know the dough consistency while you knead. If at all your dough gets a little sticky, add more flour but if your dough gets too hard, even kneading it with oil afterwards won't help that much. So knead a stiff but not hard dough.

2. While rolling the puris, try not to use flour but brush the dough-balls with oil instead, so it is rolled well.

3. The puri should be rolled into an even round shape. Many a times the middle portion remains thin and the outer portions are thicker. So make sure, you roll an even puri.

4. The oil for frying the puris should not be too hot or else the puris will brown immediately and will remain uncooked from inside. So, heat the oil well and then put the flame on sim while frying the puris.

5. This is the perfect tip to puff up the puris : While frying the puris, just press a little on the side of the puri gently. I don't know whats the logic behind this, but i have seen my mother doing it and it has worked with me too.

Puri-sabzi or Puri-bhaji is the best combination to have for breakfast. The bhaji is usually a dry or curried potato sabzi. Puri-bhaji is even served as a "prasad" ( offering ) to God at temples or at any auspicious occassion. A typical Maharashtrian meal at any pooja is Puri-bhaji-shrikhand. On festivals or ceremonies, puris are also eaten with Basundi or kheer. In North India, Puri-sabzi-halwa is eaten as breakfast. Puris are made in different versions - some add spices to it, some even add rava (suji ) to make them crispy, or some add flavouring or purees and sauce for colour, texture and flavour. Like masala puris or spinach puris or beetroot puris are quite common. There is also the Tiranga puris which are tri-coloured made with the use of spinach and beetroot. 

Last weekend was hubby dearest's birthday and our lunch menu was his favourite: Shrikhand-puri :)) I have already shared the recipe of Shrikhand before. Here's a pic from this time making homemade "chakka" from curd :

Let's get to the puri recipe -

Preparation time : 5 minutes
Cooking time : 30 minutes
Serves : 2-3 people
Makes : 15-20 puris
Recipe type : Breads

Ingredients:

Whole wheat flour - 2 cups
Salt - to taste
Ghee/oil - 1-2 tsp
Water - to knead the dough
Oil - for frying the puris

You can add any spice like turmeric powder, red chilli powder, ajwaiin or any of your choice.

Recipe:

Mix together the flour and salt. Add oil or ghee. You can even heat the oil or ghee and then mix it ( known as "Mohan" in Marathi language). This helps to make the puris soft.

Add water little by little to knead a tight dough. 

Set the dough aside for about 10 mins covered.

Apply little oil on hand and now divide the dough into equal sized balls ( about 15-20 )

Roll each of the ball into small puris. Remember to roll it even. Dust flour if needed, but best is to apply little oil on the ball instead of flour.

Heat oil in a kadhai for frying the puris. When hot, lower the flame and fry puris one by one.

Press the puri gently and it will puff up, now turn it and fry the other side till golden brown.

Remove the puris on a tissue paper to drain excess oil.

Your puffed puris are ready :))

Happy Cooking :))