-north India
FLATBREADS & FLAVORS; ALFORD
2 c Flour, atta; or whole wheat
1 c Flour
1 ts Black pepper, ground
1 ts Cumin, ground
1/2 ts Turmeric
1 ts Salt
1 tb Oil; or ghee
1 1/2 c Yogurt
Oil; for deep-frying
In medium bowl, mix flours and seasonings. Sprinkle oil over dry
ingredients and rub in with your fingers. Add yogurt a little at a time,
until a kneadable dough forms. The dough should be on the stiff side, but
still easily kneadable; adjust amount of yogurt as necessary. Turn dough
out onto lightly floured surface and knead 8-10 minutes.
Rinse out, dry, and lightly oil bowl. Return bread to bowl, cover, and
rest 1/2-2 hours.
Divide dough into 1 ball per puri. Flatten each ball between your lightly
floured palms and set aside; do not stack. Cover with plastic wrap. You
can either heat the oil and then roll out the puris as you cook them, or
roll out all the puris first. We prefer the latter, as it gives us time to
concentrate on the deep-frying. Roll out each puri into a circle
approximately 6″ in diameter. Set aside (do not stack them) and cover with
plastic wrap.
Heat oil for deep-frying in large wok or deep pot over medium-high heat to
375 F. You can test the oil by frying a dried bread cube; if oil is hot
enough, the cube should brown in less than 1 minute, but not instantly.
Adjust heat accordingly.
Set out wooden bowl lned with paper towels. Start frying one puri. Lay it
gently in oil. Puri will sink at first, then will rise to surface. (If
puri browns or blackens in less than 15 seconds, the oil is too hot; adjust
heat as necessary.) After bread has risen to surface, touch gently with
wooden spoon or slotted stainless steel spoon, forcing it downward with a
quick motion. At this point, the puri should puff up into a balloon. Turn
over and continue cooking 10-15 seconds. Remove to paper-lined platter to
drain. Continue cooking the rest of the puris, 2-3 at a time, depending on
the size of your wok. Serve hot with any curry or lentil dish.
Authors’ comments: When we make puris, we generally plan to have guests on
hand to share the pleasure of eating the breads. We make up a cool yogurt
dish and a curry before we get started with deep-frying the puris; that
way, we can serve the puris hot and at their best. Puris are particularly
good with gujarati Mango Curr or Egg Curry with Tomato. We find these
deep-fried breads are most successful when served with only one curry and
perhaps a fresh chutney.
Nutritional Information per serving: xx calories, xx gm protein, xx gm
carbohydrate, xx gm fat, x% Calories from fat, x mg chol, xx mg sodium,
x g dietary fiber
Tyops courtesy of Sylvia Steiger, SylviaRN (at) CompuServe (dot) com
Yields
16 Puri