Flat Breads from India- Lets talk about pooris

Indian daily breads are called chapati, phulka and roti and parantha and most people make them at home rather tham buy them.  They are made of finely milled whole wheat flour and water. Pooris are fried breads that are usually made on holidays, festive occasions and for entertaining.  Indian flat breads are used to scoop up curries and vegetables.  These are small round pancakes size rounds of dough that are slipped into hot oil or ghee, where they fill with steam and balloon in seconds. Pooris are soft silk like breads with which curries and vegetables are scooped up.   Allow 2-3 per person, depending on the size of the breads and the accompanying dishes. Once you make them and get the hang of it, you too will keep on making them, give it a go!

Ingredients

• 2.5 cups of flour
• 2/3 cup water at room temperature
• ghee for brushing the bread while rolling out the dough
• Oil for deep frying

Method to roll out the dough

1. Make stiff but pliable dough.
2. Cover the dough with damp cloth and set aside for 30 minutes.
3. Knead dough a little again. Dough should be stiff enough to roll without extra flour.
4. Make small balls of the dough and cover them with damp cloth.
5. Take one ball of dough and dip a corner of ball in melted ghee or oil and roll it out into 4 to 5 inches round.
6. Repeat the same process to roll out all pooris.

Frying the Pooris

1. Heat plenty of oil in a kadhai until very hot.
2. Put in a poori and immediately start flickering hot oil over the top of it with a spatula so that it will swell up like a ball.
3. This should take only a few seconds. Flip the poori over and cook the other side until golden brown.
4. Serve hot with curries or vegetables.

(Source: indianfoodsco.com)