Poori / Deep fried, puffed bread

This weekend, I made Poori Saagu for brunch. Best part was the kids wanted to help and my two girls alternately pressing the dough balls (I have a poori press) made it so easy for me to fry them. And they thought it was so much fun that they want me to make pooris every weekend so that they can help.

Sometimes, kids have funny questions and my older one asked "Mommy, does every Indian know how to make poori?" and to that I did reply a "Yes". So, technically, this is not an innovative or even a new recipe at all. But, there are certain things when followed, you make a very good poori and not just an ordinary one. The trick is to use fine soji or chiroti rawa. It makes the pooris retain their shape longer. I always made it with equal parts of whole wheat flour, fine rawa and all purpose flour or maida. I skipped using maida in this just to make it a little better nutrition wise. Also, people use flour to roll pooris and that leaves the dry flour in the oil and sometimes on the top of the fried poori. Try using oil instead and you will see how clean they look. They are of course greasy but once in a while it is alright to eat such food in moderation.

One Year Back - Garlic Toast
Two Years Back - Vegan Sourdough Scallion Pancakes
Three Years Back - Fenugreek Curry / Menthyada Gojju
You can find the recipe for Saagu with which this is served generally here.
Ingredients: 
Whole Wheat flour - 2 cups
Fine Soji - 1 cup
Salt - 1 tsp or to taste
Oil - 2 TBSP for the dough and more for frying
Water - 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 cups

Method:
Mix Whole wheat flour, soji, salt and oil. Add water a little by little and make a soft dough. Cover and let it sit for half an hour at least. When ready to make pooris, heat oil in a pan. Knead the dough for couple of minutes and divide into small lemon or lime sized balls. You should be able to make 24 - 26 pooris out of this dough. Roll the balls smoothly and spray lightly with vegetable oil spray or you could brush them with oil.
For rolling, do not use flour as we do for rotis. Apply a little oil on the surface that you are rolling the dough. Take the dough and flatten it a little thicker than what we make for rotis. Oil has to be moderately hot for the pooris to puff up. Gently slide the flattened dough into the oil. With a slotted skimmer or a ladle, press the disc when it starts coming up in the oil. This is the way to make them puff up evenly and nicely. Gently turn over and let the other side become brown. Remove and drain on the paper towel. Serve hot with potato subzi or Saagu.

This post is written for weekend cooking post that I write with Srivalli  and  Vaishali,  

Enjoy.

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