Puri

The dough is made deliberately stiff, at about 48 per cent water, which is why it puffs instead of soaking.

Vegan.

Ingredients

• 400 g atta
• 190 ml water
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 2 tablespoons sunflower oil
• oil for deep frying

Method

1. THE DOUGH IS MADE DELIBERATELY STIFF, AT ABOUT 48 PER CENT WATER, WHICH IS WHY IT PUFFS INSTEAD OF SOAKING. Its article gives the proportions as approximately 48 per cent water, 2 to 8 per cent oil and 0.5 to 1.5 per cent salt, and calls the result a STIFF dough. That one figure is the difference between this and Chapati, as on its own page, whose article gives 60 to 80 per cent for the same flour. A stiff dough rolled thin holds its shape in hot oil for the two seconds it takes the inside to turn to steam, and the bread inflates. A soft dough slumps, drinks oil and comes out heavy and greasy. A hundred and ninety millilitres to four hundred grams is 47 per cent and will feel too dry in the hand. It is not.
2. IT IS NOT RESTED LONG, AND SOME COOKS DO NOT REST IT AT ALL. Ten minutes is enough. A long rest relaxes the gluten, and a relaxed dough is exactly what will not balloon.
3. THE BALLS ARE SMALL AND THE ARTICLE GIVES THE SIZE. Two to three centimetres, rolled out to about twelve centimetres across. Bigger than that and the middle cannot inflate before the edges set.
4. IT IS ROLLED WITH OIL RATHER THAN DUSTED WITH FLOUR. Loose flour on the surface burns in the oil and makes it dark and bitter within three breads.
5. THE OIL IS HOT -- 190C -- AND THAT IS NOT NEGOTIABLE. Cooler oil and the bread sinks, soaks and never puffs. One puri at a time in a deep pan.
6. IT IS PUSHED UNDER WITH THE BACK OF A SLOTTED SPOON FOR THE FIRST THREE SECONDS. Held just below the surface so the top is submerged, which is what forces it to inflate evenly rather than cook flat on one side.
7. IT IS TURNED ONCE AND COMES OUT IN UNDER A MINUTE. Pale gold, not brown. Overcooked it goes crisp and will not fold around anything.
8. IT IS DRAINED STANDING ON ITS EDGE, NOT LYING FLAT. Propped against the side of a colander so the oil runs off rather than pooling inside the dome. Its article notes that maida is used in some regions and that its use is often regarded as inferior.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under India · All recipes