Indian Fry Bread – Poori – Puri
Whole wheat flour Poori recipe / Puri recipe preparation, step by step instruction and video.
Poori is wickedly delicious and difficult to resist. There is a variety of poori/puri made.
Puri is a very popular Indian Fry Bread. It is unleavened deep fried bread.
Poori is not a everyday Indian bread. Poori/Puri is a special bread that is made on weddings, festivals, parties, picnics etc.
It is made occasionally as breakfast or snack too. As puri is a fried bread, it should be eaten only once in a while.
When served for festivals or weddings, Poori is served with sweet dishes such as Aamras, basundi, kheer , srikhand, gulab jamun etc. in Maharashtra.
Most of the times it is served with spicy vegetable dishes such as potato masala, vegetable saagu, curries or chutneys.
Indian fry bread recipe is made either with atta – whole wheat flour or maida – plain flour or a mixture of both.
Plain flour/maida puris are softer and whiter. But using whole wheat flour is healthier and I find it tastier.
I always use whole wheat flour. A little semolina or gram flour can also be added if you like the puris a little crisp like I do.
By adding a few other ingredients, you can vary the taste, color of the puri. Such as
- Potato Poori –
- Methi poori –
- Masala-Poori – Spicy Fry Bread ,
- Palak-Poori – Spinach Fry Bread ,
- Bhatura.
- The popular bengali Luchi is a variation of puri that is made with maida (plain flour).
You can mix the puri dough and keep in the fridge for 2-3 days and make pooris whenever you want.
You can also take this Indian fried bread with you when you go for a picnic as puris remain soft for long and can keep for a day or two.
My family loves them. Your family would love them too!
How to make Whole wheat flour Poori – Puri
Main ingredients for Indian fry bread Poori – Puri
Ingredients for Indian fry bred Poori – Puri:
- whole wheat flour – 2 cups
- salt – 1/4 tsp
- ajwain(optional) – 1/2 tsp, I added.
- water to form dough
- oil for deep frying.
Step by step instructions for making Poori – Puri
Step1:
Mix flour, salt, ajwain, two tea spoons oil in a bowl. Add water little by little and form a tight dough ball.
Step 2:
Keep aside for about 15-20 minutes. After that, knead the dough again and divide the dough in small lime sized balls.
You can see 3 balls in the image below. Make the remaining balls similar way.
Step 3: Roll each dough ball into a round of about 3″. If the dough sticks to the board, put a drop of oil on the board before you start rolling. Better not to use flour, use oil only.
Frying poori – puri
Step 4: Heat oil in a deep frying pan/kadhai/skillet. Once it is heated well, reduce to medium hot.
Put the rolled round carefully in the hot oil. It will puff up like a ball. Let fry for 2-3 seconds.
Step 5: Turn on to the other side. Let cook for 5 seconds or till it is golden brown.
Step6: Take out the puri from the oil and drain well.
Poori is ready to serve.
Serve hot with any curry or chutney of your choice. You can eat poori by itself too. You may serve it with pickle, jam, sauce, dry chutney powder etc.
Tips :
- Do not sprinkle flour if the dough ball sticks to the board. Use a drop of oil. If you sprinkle flour, that can stick to the puri and burn in the oil when you fry poori.
- Instead of rolling out each small ball separately into a circle, you can make a big circle with a bigger ball(chapati size ) and then use a round cutter ( a round lid ) to make equal sized puries. These look great.
- You may also use different shapes and sizes cookie cutters to shape pooris after rolling a big round. Kids love these.
- A poori/Puri press is also available where you put the dough ball and press. This is fast and reduces work and time of pressing the round.
- The color of the fried poori can be light or dark brown according to your preference.
Puri is best with Potato Subji/Aloo Bhaji, potato sagu, coconut chutney, mango pickle, any dry chutney powders or with Potato Curry.
