Poori

Poori or Puri is a popular deep fried, fluffy Indian bread made with Whole wheat flour and other ingredients. It is a very tasty recipe although not so healthy as it is fried in oil. But let me tell you, some of you may find this recipe better than chappathis.

Going back to my college mess where they made Puris as breakfast and none of us enjoyed it, because it was rubbery and hard. Some restaurants and places like our college mess adds maida ( all purpose flour) for making puris, which makes it rubbery and hard. Even my husband never liked puris, but now my husband enjoys puri with the rest of our family.

Let me tell you the easiest, simplest, tastiest method for preparing puri with very few ingredients.

Ingredients:

Whole wheat flour- 1 cup
Semolina or rava- 2 spoons
Salt to taste
hot Water for mixing
Oil for frying
Steps to follow:
Take the first three ingredients in a large bowl and mix them well
Heat water and add the water into the mix in batches. If the water is more then, it will be difficult to form a dough and will be very sticky to the hand. Pour water in small batches to avoid this mistake
Form into a dough and rest the dough for 10 minutes. This will help the semolina to absorb the water.
Form the dough into into small balls and press it out using a pathiri press( or a chappathi press). I will include the link for the press at the bottom of this page. Apply a drop of oil to the press before pressing it out to avoid sticking.
Heat oil for deep frying. Once the oil is hot enough place the puri gently and carefully into the oil.
The puri fluffs up into a ball.
Flip and cook on the other side for a minute.
Remove from the oil and place on a kitchen towel to absorb any excess oil.
The poori is ready to be served

Tips:
Adding semolina or rava to the mix helps in making the puri crispy and gives it stability. If made without the rava, the puri fluffs up in the oil but loses its shape once served and will not be crispy.
Avoid adding all purpose flour as it can make the puri rubbery and hard. Use wheat flour and rava alone.
Using a pathiri press for rolling out makes your job easier and reduces cooking time. From my experience I found out that when we use a rolling pin to flatten the puri, the excess powder in the Puri Makes the puri hard.
Make sure to fry in deep oil and do not shallow fry.
Also make sure to remove excess oil from the puri before serving. Use a kitchen towel or a kitchen tissue

I am sure that you will enjoy this recipe as it is easy to make and very tasty. Puri can be eaten with vegetarian or nonvegetarian curries and it is one of the very popular breakfast recipes in India.