Published: April 12, 2018 Last Modified: December 5, 2019 Freda Dias

Poori Recipe | Puri Recipe | How To Make Pooris

This lightly crisp yet soft, chewy and Indian puffed bread, Poori, also known as Puri is great to mop up any curry of your choice. Potato bhaji and aamras (mango pulp) are amongst the popular choices to pair these pooris with.

WHAT IS PURI | POORI?

Poori is a whole wheat, unleavened, crispy, yet soft & puffy, deep-fried Indian bread. This Indian poori is paired with so many classic dishes like poori bhaji (poori served with aloo sabzi, also known as aloo puri). Other popular combinations are chana poori, dal puri, halwa poori, or it is simply enjoyed with some shrikhand or aamras.

My son loves this crispy Indian bread, and can easily gobble up a number of them. I don’t know any kid or adult for that matter who doesn’t like crispy poori! As a kid, I did enjoy having them with potato sabzi. It is an absolutely heavenly combination.

If you follow my blog, you know I don’t share a lot of deep-fried foods, that’s simply coz we don’t eat much of it at home. So even though my son enjoys pooris, I restrict it to just once a month or twice maybe. Thankfully, he isn’t very demanding that way.

PURI INGREDIENTS

Basically, you need only wheat flour, salt, water, and oil to make pooris. That’s all! Semolina is added for extra crispiness and it also helps the puri to stay puffed for a longer time.

HOW TO PREPARE POORI?

Making perfectly puffed poori bread is an art and definitely comes along with practice. Watching a poori puffing up is a sheer delight.

Pooris are made with atta i.e. whole wheat flour. Besides atta, you will require some salt and oil. Making puri dough is quite easy. But you need to remember that the dough has to be stiff, if the dough is too soft, it won’t puff up well or may not puff at all. Below are the detailed stepwise instructions to make the perfect wheat puri recipe.

HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED WHY DO POORIS SWELL UP?

It is simple science. The dough to make this Indian bread has water. So when the rolled out dough hits the hot oil, the water is converted into steam, which tries to escape and this helps the upper layer of the dough to rise, making the poori puff. That is why it so important to roll out the dough evenly, or else they won’t puff up uniformly.

Now that I answered that, I’m sure you also have this question? Why do puris float on the oil while frying? Again it’s simple science, once the pooris puff, they basically have air in them, and since air is lighter than oil, the puffed pooris will float 🙂

HOW TO MAKE GOOD PURI? HERE ARE SOME TIPS TO MAKE SOFT AND PUFFY POORI, THAT I’VE LEARNT FROM MY MUM-IN-LAW

The puri dough should not be too soft, it should be smooth and stiff.
Do not use excess flour to dust the board and rolling pin while rolling out the dough, all the excess flour on the rolled pooris will leave a burnt flour residue in the wok/kadai. Grease the board and rolling pin with some oil instead, to facilitate smooth rolling.
Remember to cover the rest of the dough balls with a damp kitchen napkin or else they will dry out.
Pooris have to be rolled out evenly, or else they will not puff up.
If you are wondering how to make puris less oily, then pay close attention to the temperature of the oil. The temperature of the oil is important to fry the pooris. If it is not hot enough, the poori will absorb a lot of oil, if it’s too hot, it will brown quickly and will not cook from within. To test drop a small piece of dough, it should sizzle up quickly. If you have a thermometer, you can use that to check the temperature of the oil. It should be heated up to 375 degrees F.
Press the back of a ladle against the poori as soon as it begins floating on the surface of the oil, this helps in puffing it up.

Ideally, the dough is divided into several balls, and each is rolled out. I take the shorter way out and roll out a big circle then use a round cutter and cut smaller circles. It just saves a lot of time, especially these days when I can barely work at leisure in the kitchen.

POORI VARIETIES | DIFFERENT TYPES OF POORI RECIPE

You can also make them with maida (all purpose flour). The pooris made from maida as called luchis, which are a Bengali version of pooris. Luchis are generally served with Bengali style dum aloo.

Some pooris are also stuffed with sheera/suji halwa and deep-fried, a specialty of Andhra Pradesh. They are known as sojjappam.

You can also make another interesting variation of pooris known as masala poori, by adding spices like turmeric, coriander powder, cumin powder, red chilli powder, dried fenugreek leaves, and a pinch of asafoetida to this dough.

The other types of poori that I prepare are spinach, beetroot, and carrot pooris. Make a puree of the vegetables, and add it to the flour to knead the dough.

To make my son’s plate interesting, I use different shaped cookie cutters for the pooris, these bite-sized pooris look cute and are a fun meal indeed for the little ones! It makes it even more appealing to them.

We enjoyed these pooris with some Goan mixed bhaji that I had shared in the previous post! You can check out the recipe for that here, or enjoy this fluffy poori bread with your choice of curry or aamras, aamrakhand, shrikhand or sheera (semolina pudding)!

TO SUM IT ALL UP, REMEMBER THE KEYS TO MAKE A FLAKY, PUFFY, CRISPY, AND SOFT PURI-

The right consistency of the dough
Pooris have to be rolled out evenly
The right temperature of the oil

LOVED THIS EASY, SOFT PURI RECIPE? THEN DO CHECK OUT THESE INDIAN FLATBREADS THAT I HAVE SHARED EARLIER

STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS TO MAKE CRISPY, SOFT, AND PUFFY POORI AT HOME.

HOW TO MAKE POORI DOUGH

1.In a large mixing bowl, add whole wheat flour, salt. Add oil and mix well to incorporate the oil into the flour. Then add water, little at a time, and knead to make a stiff dough. Cover with a clean napkin and set aside to rest for 10-15 minutes.

2.METHODS OF ROLLING THE POORIS

Method 1-

After the resting time, knead the dough again for another minute. Apply some oil on your palms, divide the dough into small equal balls, about walnut sized. Flatten each between your palms, cover all the flattened dough discs with a kitchen napkin.

Apply a little oil on your rolling pin and work surface. Place a flattened disc, and roll it out to a diameter of about 4 inches. It should not be too thick nor too thin. Prepare a few more in the same manner, do not stack them, simply lay them next to another. Cover all the rolled out discs with a kitchen napkin.

Method 2-

Divide the dough into 2 parts, roll out one part of dough evenly to a diameter of about 12 inches, using a cutter to make smaller discs. Repeat with the remaining half of the dough. Remember to keep the cut-out pooris covered. Gather the scraps, roll out an cut out few more discs. Use more oil if required to roll out the dough.

3.FRYING THE POORIS

Heat oil in a heavy bottomed kadai over medium heat. To test if the oil has reached the right temperature, slide a small piece of dough, it will sink initially, sizzle up in seconds and rise to the surface of the oil. This is the right temperature. If it sits at the bottom of the kadai for too long before rising, the oil is still cold.

4.Once the oil has reached the right temperature, gently slide a poori in the hot oil. It will sink, then sizzle and rise up within seconds. Press the poori gently with the back of a ladle, this will help in puffing the poori. Carefully flip and fry the other side, until golden brown. Depending on the size of your kadai, you can fry 2-3 pooris at a time.

5.Remove on a plate lined with paper towel to drain of excess oil. If fried at the right temperature, pooris do not absorb much oil. Serve hot with any accompaniment of your choice.

NOTES

1.Please exercise precaution while frying the pooris as the oil is very hot. Remember to slide the pooris in gently to avoid any oil from splashing on you.

2.For added crispness, you can add 1- 2 tbsp semolina to the wheat flour.

HOW TO MAKE POORI?