Poori (Puri) | Puffy Indian Bread

Puri bread or Poori is a deep-fried puffy Indian bread made with whole wheat flour. It is served with curries but it is also enjoyed with sweet dishes like shrikhand, rice pudding (kheer), halwa, or basundi. It is usually made during special occasions and festivals.

Ingredients

Indian poori is made with the below ingredients

• Whole wheat flour (atta)
• Oil
• Salt
• Water
• Nigella seeds (or carom seeds, optional)

For best results use the whole wheat flour available at Indian grocery stores. I prefer Sujata Gold atta. A soft dough is made with these ingredients. The dough is not leavened i.e., it can be used as soon as it is ready.

Instructions

The dough is made by mixing the above ingredients. Earlier, the dough used to be kneaded by hand until it was soft and smooth.

However, there are other options now to make this tedious task easy, such as a stand mixer, food processor, or bread maker. I used to make the dough in a food processor but the bread maker of late has become my favorite.

Making dough in a food processor

To make the poori dough, fix the dough blade in the food processor bowl and then add all the ingredients to it, except water. Start the food processor on the dough setting or low setting and start adding water slowly through the feeder on the top of the lid.

Continue kneading until a soft dough ball is formed. It just takes about a minute or two to make a nice soft dough.

You can also use the chopping blade instead (use caution though) to make the dough. Also, weighing the flour using a digital food scale helps to get consistent results each time.

Making dough in a bread machine

Making Indian poori dough in a bread machine is equally easy. All you need to do is to place the wet and dry ingredients in the right order as per manufacturer instructions and start the dough cycle.

Again, it is best to weigh the flour with a food scale instead of measuring it by a cup to get consistent results.

Let the dough cycle run for about 5-10 minutes. Since this is unleavened bread and does not use yeast, it is not required to run the full dough cycle.

You can stop the dough cycle once a nice soft dough ball is formed and can be taken out from the container.

Instructions

Making poori involves rolling the dough into small round discs and deep frying it in oil or clarified butter (ghee).

Rolling pooris round in shape can be a bit challenging especially if you are new to it. But you need not worry, a tortilla press (puri press) is very useful in rolling perfect puri for frying. In fact, you can roll/press all the pooris at once and then deep fry it.

Take about 25-28 grams of dough and roll it into a smooth ball between your palms through circular motion and applying little pressure.

Then either with a tortilla press (poori press) or a rolling pin, make about 1.5 mm thick discs about 4 inches in diameter. Make sure to use oil to grease the tortilla press or rolling board with oil as needed to prevent the dough from sticking.

In a deep frying pan, heat about an inch deep oil on a medium-high flame. Once the oil is hot (400 °F), you can start frying the puri. You can use a food thermometer or simply drop a small piece of dough into the hot oil, if it rises immediately, the oil is ready for frying.

Drop a rolled puri in the hot oil, it should be immersed in oil (this ensures it puffs up completely), you can use a frying spatula to ensure it is immersed in oil. It will then puff up in a few seconds.

Now turn the puri and deep fry the other side until golden brown. You can press the puri gently with a frying spatula to ensure it is evenly cooked from all sides. Place the puri on kitchen towels to get rid of any excess oil.

Serving suggestions

Puri bread can be served for Indian breakfast, brunch, or with meals. It is served with Indian curries like palak paneer and matar paneer, lentils, beans, or even desserts like shrikhand (Greek yogurt dessert), kheer, halwa, and basundi.

You can also serve it with Indian chutneys like grape chutney, tomato chutney, or mango chutney.

Storage

You can store puri dough in the refrigerator for 2-3 days in an air-tight container like a pyrex container. When you are ready to make puris again, get the dough back to room temperature by heating it in the microwave for 15-20 seconds.

Puris can be refrigerated for the next day. Wrap them in a kitchen towel or in aluminum foil and store them in an air-tight container.

Leftover poori can be reheated the next day in the microwave. Evenly spread the pooris in a microwave-safe plate and heat them for about 10-15 seconds in the microwave. If needed heat for a few more seconds.

FAQ

Don't forget to check out these Indian bread recipes

• Roti
• Naan
• Aloo Paratha
• Methi Thepla
• Moong Dal Paratha
• Dal Bafla (Dal Bati)

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