Poori Recipe – Puri

Looking for a perfectly soft and fluffy poori recipe this festive season? 

You are at the right place. This is the easiest recipe ever, with loads of tips and tricks. 

It is a very popular Indian deep fried bread. These soft, slightly crispy, and delicious pooris are made with wheat flour. They can be served with various curries or halwa for breakfast or any festive season in a meal. 

There are various ways of making poori with different combinations of flours. Some recipes are made with half wheat flour and half all purpose flour, the mixture of wheat flour and semolina, or wheat flour, semolina, and gram flour for the color. 

I have tried so many variations over these years and love to simply use wheat flour in my recipe.

Remember earlier this week I posted Batata bhaji? Poori and batata bhaji is a heavenly combination. This combination is perfect to carry with you on road trips, for a lunch box, or as an amazing brunch option on weekends. 

I try to keep myself away from deep frying frequently. At my home, deep frying is done  only on special occasions and festivals, just like my childhood days. The rest of the year I hardly cook anything which is fried. Pooris tastes amazing but they are definitely not heart healthy. Consuming them in moderation is always a good idea. 

Ingredients

• Wheat flour
• Salt
• Sugar
• Oil

Step by Step Poori Recipe

For Making the Dough

In a large bowl, combine wheat flour, salt, sugar, and mix everything well.

Make a well, add half of the oil, and start adding some water little at a time. 

Start kneading the dough so it becomes stiff. If the dough is too dry, add a teaspoon of water one at a time to form a dough.

Next, add the leftover oil and knead the dough for another minute to form a smooth dough. 

Cover the dough with a clean cloth and set it aside for 5-10 minutes.

Knead the dough again for 15 seconds, divide it into 18-20 equal lemon sized balls, and slightly press them. Set aside by covering them with a cloth. 

Grease some oil on the work surface and your rolling pin – never dust flour on the surface or else your poori will absorb more oil and may turn oily. I am using a wooden chakla belan but you can use a dough mat for rolling them. 

Rolling The Poori

With a rolling pin, roll out each ball into a 4 inch disc. Do not roll them very thin or too thick – around 1mm in the thickness. 

Make around 6-7 pooris at a time and cover them with a cloth so they will not dry out. Do not stack them or they will stick to each other. 

Frying The Poori

Line a plate with paper towels to absorb the extra oil from them. 

Heat some oil in a kadhai (pan) on medium heat. To check if the oil is hot enough, drop a small ball of dough in the hot oil. If it rises immediately that means the oil is ready for frying. 

Once the oil is hot, slide the poori and press down gently with the back of a slotted spoon – it helps to puff up the poori.

Once it is puffed up, flip it and cook the other side for about 10-15 seconds or until golden. 

Transfer it to a lined plate using a slotted spatula to drain off the oil. 

Keep on frying the rest of the pooris. Check for oil temperature before frying the next one. 

Lower the heat and roll out the next batch in the same manner. Increase the heat to medium making sure the oil is hot enough to fry the next batch. 

Tips For Making A Perfectly Puffed Poori  

• Adding little sugar into the flour give them a beautiful golden hue and nice flavor. 
• The key for making the best poori is to form a stiff dough. The dough should be soft and smooth without adding too much water.
• The dough should not be rested for longer than 10 minutes – if you rest the dough for longer, it will start to release more moisture and the pooris will turn oily once you fry them.
• If your dough is sticking while rolling a poori, add some flour in the dough to make it a little stiff, and roll them. 
• Greasing some oil to the work surface will help not to stick the poori while rolling. You can add a few drops of oil as you need while rolling them. 
• Avoid using dry flour to roll out the pooris. When the flour comes into contact with the hot oil, the flour particles will start burning – they will leave some black residue over the poori.
• Do not roll out the poori too thin – once you fry them they will turn hard and very crispy. Do not roll out it too thick – they might turn very chewy, undercooked from inside, and not light or airy.
• Roll out all of them at once, lay them separately without sticking to each other, and cover them with a cloth from getting dry out.  
• You should fry them in hot oil or else they will turn very oily. 
• Checking out the oil temperature before frying each poori is very important to get them perfectly puffed up or else they will turn flat. You can increase or lower the temperature as you go to maintain the correct temperature of the oil. 
• Each poori will take around 20-25 seconds in total from both sides to fry. If you fry them for longer, they might turn hard and oily. 

How To Store Poori? 

These taste the best when served hot and fresh. They can be stored at room temperature for no more than 1 day.

If you are planning to take them with you on a road trip or picnic then make sure to pack them warm into the aluminium foil and then transfer the foil to a ziplock bag. 

How To Serve Poori?

• Poori bhaji is a popular combination to serve for breakfast.
• Halwa poori is another combination to have for breakfast in the Northern parts of India.
• Shrikhand puri and batata bhaji are the best combination to serve on any special occasion. Another famous combination is Aamras poori and bhaji when mangoes are abundantly available in the market.
• These can be served with various curries like chole, kala chana, kofta, or any curry made with paneer. 
• On special occasions, it can be included in a thali along with vermicelli  kheer, basundi, rabdi, gulab jamun, or gajar halwa.  

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I will love to hear from you! 

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