Poori – Deep Fried Puffed Bread
I would say without hesitation that this one little bread is treasured and loved by all Indians.
Pooris are little discs of whole wheat dough that are deep fried in hot oil/ghee, as they fill with steam and puffs up like balloons, and in few seconds you have the most delicious fried bread.
Weekend breakfasts, cozy indulgent evening snack, lunch, dinner, picnics and lunch boxes, festivals and special occasions from birthdays to weddings, train joruneys, and even the street food- all have one thing in common; the Pooris. They are sinful, but worth every little bite.
Looking back many years from now, when I was at an age when children exists more in the imaginary world than real, with dolls and pony tails and friends, we used to have doll weddings between friends. Now with a wedding we had to have a party. So my ma made a list of the invitees, and decided on the menu. I remember all of us sitting down and enjoying a lavish meal; along with many other delicacies were the really tiny Luchi that ma fried for us – hot, puffed and bite size.
Luchi/Loochi in Bengal, is made a little differently than the Poori. While Poori uses whole wheat flour, the Luchi uses maida – which is equivalent to the all purpose flour here. Therefore Luchi results is a beautiful elegant pale white puffs as opposed to the brownish Poori. The texture also differs as it would with the whole wheat and all purpose flour. There was also a tradition in our home to fry the Luchi in ghee. So you see, it is definitely a very indulgent affair.
Poori or Luchi is accompanied by a side. It could be a vegetable dish, some lentils or even meat. Poori (not Luchi), may be flavored with spices, or sometimes some greens like spinach may be added or even a different flours other than wheat may be used ( chickpea flour, buckwheat flour, amaranth flour etc). There can be many creative variations as with any other bread.
Poori happens to be an unleavened bread; they puff without the yeast, and with little bit of practice making Poori is a breeze. The procedure simply involve a few steps of making the dough, rolling them (believe me the shape does not matter), deep frying and pouncing on them.
Poori – Deep Fried Puffed Bread
Ingredients: (makes about 10-12 pooris)
- 2 cups whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour/atta (atta=wheat flour available in Indian Groceries)
- 2 teaspoons oil + 1/2 teaspoon oil
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup water or as much needed to make a tight dough
- oil to deep fry
Note: The whole wheat flour/atta that is available in the Indian grocery is finer than the whole wheat flour; it has a texture similar to the whole wheat pastry flour. If you have access to whole wheat pastry flour, use it for a better smoother texture of the Poori.
To make Luchi, add a couple of tablespoons of yogurt to the dough and adjust the water to make a tight dough. The yogurt softens the dough, as the Luchi is supposed to have a different texture than Poori.
Preparation:
Combine flour, salt and oil. Rub everything together; some parts of the flour will form crumbs because of the oil. Slowly add the water and only as much as you need to make a dough. Pull the flour together and knead to make a dough. The dough should be stiffer than normal roti/flatbread. It should not be sticky at all, but should be smooth and pliable.
Knead for about 5-7 minutes, form a big ball, coat the ball with the 1/2 teaspoon oil. Set it aside or use right away. (If you are letting it sit, then cover the dough with a cloth to prevent drying out and knead it again before making the bread.) The dough should be stiff enough to roll without extra flour.
Divide the dough into 10-12 parts (you are free to make more or less, but the size of the dough will decide the size of the pooris). Roll these portions into balls between the palms of your hands till they are smooth and without cracks.
Take a ball of dough and dip a corner of ball in melted ghee or oil and roll it out into 4 to 5 inches round.
Repeat the same process to roll out all Pooris. Roll out as many Pooris as you like, stacking them, ready to cook with a layer of cling film/parchment paper between each Poori.
Heat plenty of oil in a kadhai/wok until very hot. To test if the oil is hot enough, pinch a small piece of dough and drop it in the oil. If the dough rises up to the surface right away the oil is ready to start frying the pooris.
Put in a poori in the hot oil and immediately start flickering hot oil over the top of it with a spatula.
Gently press down on the Poori with the back of the spatula, and you will see it start to puff up. (If the poori turns dark in less than a minute, the oil is too hot. Reduce the heat of the stove. ) Gently press down with the spatula, without resisting the puff and wait till it puffs completely, it should take only few seconds.
Flip the poori over and cook the other side until golden brown.
Drain on paper towels.
Serve hot.
Side dishes that Poori tastes great with:
Dum Aloo – Potatoes Simmered in Spices and Coconut Milk
Aloo Gobi: Spiced Cauliflower and Potatoes
Potatoes with Indian Five Spice
Aloo Matar/Peas and Potato Curry
Related Posts:
Aloo Paratha-Potato Stuffed Flatbread
Mixed Flour and Root Vegetable Paratha
OMG, definitely without much hesitation you could say that, most favorite bread for Indian in India and outside:). I even ask in restaurants for it when they don’t have it on the menu because it is fried, but they fry few right up for our table. I just made it recently and meant to post about it. I make it slightly different and my mom has another recipe with a different method I need to yet perfect before posting.
Yours look so gorgeous. I can give you my entire menu tonight for a bute of one:). Your photography is stunning!
I had that treat once and I found it delicious! Yoir poori look perfect and so good.
Cheers,
Rosa
so pretty..I never get it in this perfection 🙂
long time Soma..all good? 🙂
Poori looks so delicious and fulfilling. Can go along with any sweet like halwa or any type of curries. Excellent preparation.
Deepa
Hamaree Rasoi
Cute and perfect !! absolutely puffed up.I used to add lill semolina to keep the puffing for long though.super clicks too.
wow,..:-) brought back so many meories
The pictures are awesome! And the puffing -incredible!
Poori is now on my to-do list! Your photos are spectacular!
I am lucky to live near several Indian stores and the other day bought a few staples; one that really excited me was a bag that said “natural gum”; when I tried to chew the crystals, they were rock hard and I did not wish to break my teeth or my jaw; is there a way to use this that you know of?
I am not sure I know what this Natural Gum is. Does it say anything else? like the Hindi/or any other Indian word for it? What does it look like?
Regards
Soma
sigh…one of my favs but something i still dont know to make..
sigh…one of my favs, but something i still don’t know to make 🙁
And you don’t have to be Indian to love poori!
Beautiful shots, Soma. I just got up, and the idea of splitting and filling one of these hot little pockets with a dry pulse curry is making my belly growl harder.
Spectacular photos.I just had puris for lunch and now to see them like this on your blog, I feel like I had some gourmet food!:-)
Excellent presentation and a beautiful attempt on your part to show the rest of the world, what the real Indian cuisine is all about.
My daughter`s fav. On on our visits to India she will have them three times of the day and my mom is happy to make them for her. Yours have come out perfect.
That’s amazing! Thanks for sharing, gotta give this one a try!
Those pooris look SO SO good Soma! If he could my husband would eat pooris EVERYDAY and I remember those initial newly wed days ours and would make them for him for almost every meal and we both turned into balloons! I don;t know if it was our new love or the love for these pooris 😀
Love all the photos!
This looks so good! SO light and puffy!
Pooris has come out perfectly..My mom used to make this while I was little and I was only supposed to stand few feet away from it…:). By the way I Loved the first picture….beautiful patterned plates…
Oh my goodness they look so beautiful and light, I can almost taste them!
These pooris look fab. we eat ours with kheer. I must say thoug, mine become slightly oily after a while. Wonder why?
Fabulous post, loved your write up. I admire that piece of intricately designed cutlery you have! How I wish to own some now! Your pooris have puffed up so well and beautifully. Art work!
Amazing mouth watering poories. They are looking so inviting and delicious that i just wish one platter flies to me too. Loved the pictures and presentation… !
gorgeous! halwa, puri, and chanay are pure bliss! 🙂
these look absolutely perfect. deep frying is just not my thing but for poori i will make an exception!
Your purri are perfect and the pictures are awesome!
I agree with Meeta – Deep frying is not my thing but for puri I make an exception! Yous look perfectly puffed and fried. Oh yum!
Soma, today is perfect weather at my place for pooris….it’s raining outside….uhhhh! but I’m gonna satisfy myself with visual treat only……perfect pooris & beustiful pics as always…
I was just going thru other comments & read Joumana’s(taste of beirut) question about “Natural Gum”….I know what she is talking about is called gond in hindi…not aware of other parts of India but in Northern areas specially Delhi Punjab it’s used in Panjiri made for new moms……& it’s usually fried(cooked) little bit in ghee first……just thought of putting it here, might help her…..
Perfect pooris and my very fav one..way too tempting . Clicks are awesome …
I *love* pooris! I made some masala pooris with Anita’s (mad tea party) punjabi chole last week. But your post has got me craving for them again!
And I read the comment about the natural gum and have heard of it from my aunt who lives in Delhi. Like spice mentioned in her comment, they are fried in some ghee first which makes them puff up and almost double in volume. They are then crushed into powder and used to make laddu’s with other dry fruits. My aunt told me that its a dish eaten during the wicked Delhi winters to give sustenance and warm the body from within. She sent me with a batch of those laddu’s when I was living in Cleveland.
These look perfect and it’s amazing how they puff without any yeast.
They are perfect puffy puris. Love to have with potato masla!
wow!! Thanks so much for the tutorial Soma! Your blog has really re-sparked my interests in Indian cooking!
I love Poori but never knew how to make them. Thanks for sharing the recipe. Must try soon.
I use poori presser….poori’s look yum…love those puffed ones…
I had puri today for my breakfast..but after reading your blog i think i fixed my tomorrows menu as puri again…thanks for the this
Looks so perfect…beautiful clicks!
Beautiful puffed bread. They are just prefect to be stuffed with any side dish !
So wonderful and refreshing. Love Puris! Love the way you have pictured them! Fantastic! Makes me crave for some now. 🙂
Perfectly puffed puris! I love, love, love them, my all tiem favorite with a nice gravy curry. Unfortunately, we hardly make these at home because of the deep frying :-(.
I do love the doll wedding story you mentioned, how cute!
wow.. im a big fan of this.. color is too tempting… you are my inspiration to start a blog of my own.. i just celebrated my sec blog anniversary.. bt still i remember the fst day i found ur blog.. 13hours i spent in ur blog and after that daily i wl search recipes and wl try in my kitchen 🙂 ….
I love your receipes. Shame the wheat flour is not suitable for me, everytime I eat food that goes wheat flour my stomach getas bloated, so I tend not to eat wheat flour . Can I make Poori – Deep Fried Puffed Bread
using other type of flour?
Thank you! I am so sorry to hear that:( There is another kind of poori we make, with a combination of buckwheat flour and boiled & mashed potatoes (to bind) that can be deep fried too. It tastes very different ( but really good) as it has a coarser texture and are thicker as they are difficult to roll and has to be patted down with hand/palms/fingers. I have not posted that yet.
I was just looking at your FB post and dreaming of puris with potato masala and pickle! Glad to see you enjoy them my fav way too! Life is short, am making puris for breakfast this weekend and it’s all your fault 😛
🙂 life is short! how can you live without eating puri for more than a year???? blame me after you are walking around with a deeply satisfied soul!
I just came upon this on Pinterest, which lead me to your site! I love Indian food, but how to cook it is a mystery to me. Your recipes sound delish and your photos are stunning. I’m now following you on FB and Twitter!
Really this is awesome recipe. i love puri-deep fried puffed bread. delicious and very tasty too.this is one of the favourite indian street food. many people like this. thank you for sharing.
Mouthwatering poori. Brings back a lot of memories. Added this recipe on my “Pohela Boishakh” round up.