Though we watched and helped make pooris in Nani's Hyderabad kitchen many times, we hadn't perfected our own in our Brooklyn kitchen. During the Covid-19 pandemic, we called Nani over FaceTime to have her help us along.
Prep Time5 minutesmins
Cook Time10 minutesmins
Coursebread, Side Dish
CuisineIndian, north indian, south indian
Keywordfried bread, poofed bread
Equipment
heavy-bottomed pot for frying
Ingredients
1cupatta see below
3/4tspsunflower oil
1pinchsalt
1/4cupwaterplus more as needed
sunflower oil (to fry)
Instructions
In a medium bowl, mix the oil into the atta and salt until crumbly. Add 1/4 cup of water and mix until combined. If more water is needed, slowly add more - a teaspoon at a time - careful not to add too much. You want the dough to come together and be elastic-y but not sticky! For this recipe, no need to knead or rest the dough.
Working quickly, make small, 1-inch balls (just shy of a golf ball) and set aside, covered. When all balls have been made, begin rolling them out to 1/8 of an inch thick with a rolling pin, carefully making them as round as possible, without too much fussing. Keep them aside until all the balls are rolled out.
In a heavy-bottomed pot good for deep frying, add sunflower oil until it is about 1/2 inch deep. When very hot (when one small bit of dough floats, it's hot enough), carefully slide in your first poori, holding one side and allowing it to slip into the hot oil. It should float and within seconds, it should begin to poof up and brown on the underside. Spooning a tad of oil on top will also help it to poof up. As soon as it poofs up, use tongs to flip it over and allow it to brown for a second or two. Remove poori with tongs and allow to cool on a paper towel-lined plate. Repeat for remaining discs of dough.
In Hyderabad, Nani most often serves these for breakfast along with aloo curry (potato curry), but our second favorite combo is channa masala (chick pea curry). It's also delicious with simple scrambled eggs.
Notes
Pooris have variations all over India. Choice of flour(s) and fat vary by area, which in turn changes the need for the dough to rest - or not! This represent's Nanis' version.
Atta is a wheat flour found in Indian stores. It is not exactly whole wheat nor unbleached. Prior attempts with whole wheat flour were not successful but I'll keep trying with various ratios and report back.