I can’t remember when was the last time I participated in any blogging event. This withdrawal was not intentional, I was just trying to balance between my home, office and some bad surprises of life. But now that aayi is here, I thought of participating atleast in one event which looked very interesting to me. It’s Anita’s puri party :).
Puri is a kind of Indian bread made with wheat flour and then deep fried. The size of these beautiful and tasty treats vary from place to place. At my place we make puris of a big bangle size, but my friend from Andhra used to make it 1 and 1/2 times bigger than the one I make. Recently our friend’s mom from Karachi, made puri – chane combo for us, her puris were of our chapathi size. Whatever size and shape it might have, these are real treats.
While growing up, my brother and I used to fight for puffed puris. Somehow, I always loved the ‘happy little puffed puris‘(At least few of you know I am Bob Ross fan, so this is side effect). I loved to poke those puffed ones with finger and enjoyed the hot air that escapes from them. It was and is a treat for me. My brother sometimes presses the puris on a paper towel to remove oil from them and I feel sad about such puris :).
Usually puris are made for breakfast at my home. We like to eat this with any one of potato bhaji with coconut (batate pattal bhaji), potato-garlic bhaji, green peas kurma, amras etc. I have tasted it with many other combinations and have started like to many of them, but these are the ones I grew up eating.
I had posted few tips about “How to make soft and puffed puris“. Current post is what my aayi has followed. She passed on these tips to me which she has learnt from experience of 30+ years. When we made these today, there was not even one sad puri in the whole lot, my hubby said they looked like balls since they had come out perfect rounds :).
Everyone knows how to make puris. So I will concentrate on how to make them perfect. These are not instructions but tips to make them perfect(This tutorial is mainly for beginners. Those who are experts in puri making, please ignore) . Most of you know these already, but this is a kind of summary.
Puri tutorial:
– Puri dough should be harder than chapathi dough. If you make it too soft, they soak up lot of oil. If you make it too hard, you get broken sides. So we measured the ratio of water to flour today. I use Pillsburry chakki fresh atta, which has never failed. But you can use any one of your favorite.
For 1 cup water, we used 2 cups of wheat flour and salt(according to taste). Knead well till you get a uniform dough.
– Immediately after dough is made, roll them into puris. If you keep the dough for a long time before making puris, they soak up lot of oil.
– Do not stack the puris one on top of other. I have seen one of my friend stacks them and keeps touching them and patting them. Please touch/pat a soft toy or a pet if you like patting so much, don’t do it with puris. Again, they soak up oil and don’t puff up when stacked. So, spread them on a paper or a plate.
– Heat oil in a pan/kadai. The oil should be of perfect temperature to get perfect puris. Cut a tiny bit of the dough and put it in oil. If it raises to top immediately, your oil is ready and you can start frying your puris. If smoke is coming out of oil, then that means it is too hot and not suitable for frying.
– Slide a puri slowly in hot oil. Some people hold the puris for a long time in hand, please stop doing that, as soon as you lift, please slide them in oil. If it rises to top immediately, oil is on correct temperature.
– Now press the puri slightly with a spoon. This helps them in puffing up.
– Turn them upside down and fry from other side. (In the whole process of frying puris, if some of them become dark too soon, you will know temperature is too high. Keep adjusting temperature. You might fail for once or twice, but with practice, they come out perfect. I have had my share of failures before, each failure taught me something new).
– Take out the puri, hold it in the spoon for sometime allowing as much oil fall back into the pan. Then keep them on paper towel.
– Serve immediately.
Some more tips to avoid unnecessary usage of gas/electricity:
When you have rolled 4-5 puris, keep oil for heating. While you finish few more, the oil comes to perfect temperature. Try to keep the heat on medium flame to avoid burning of oil unnecessarily. When you are not frying, bring the heat to low.
To avoid a wastage of oil:
It is not good for health to use the same oil again and again for frying. So when you take oil for frying, take it in a smallest available. Smallest because, you can pour only a little oil, this is ideal for people with small families.
PS: One very important point Manisha mentioned today is, do not use any non stick pan for deep frying. It is not good for health. When they are used for extended time on high temperature, they give off poisonous gases. In my case, all I have at hand here with me is one non stick set of pans which I use for everything. But I will surely go for a traditional kadai soon.
Shilpa! Lovely puris! And excellent tips! I laughed about the patting of puris!
Why flat-bottom pan though? Isn’t a kadhai better? That way you get depth with smaller quantity of oil?
Shilpa: Manisha, I tried to squeeze one of my tips in that post and flat bottomed pan was my tip :(. Good catch…I agree with your point.
My pooris start our giant sized…and then as the oil becomes less and less, they get smaller and smaller to fit 😀 ! I too feel sad if anyone tries to flatten my pooris so that they may blot a half drop of oil from it – blasphemy!
Great tips on making perfect-poori. And am happy you shook yourself out of the event-participation-inertia. Thanks for coming!
Shilpa felt as though stood beside you in your kitchen. Lovely tutorial. Viji
Wow feel like eating them right away. Anyway my breakfast for tomorrow was puri bhaji (pre-planed, not after reading this post, but got tempted to eat them) I add a few tbsp of fine semolina and they are crispier and do not soak much oil.
Excellent and useful tips Shilpa.
Step-by-step picture is very helpful.
Thanks.
Thanks for the very useful finer details, for puri making. Please , do let me know if the puris need to be rolled out with flour or with oil.</p>
Shilpa: Shubhada, you can add a little flour for rolling. I have heard some people add oil, but we always add flour. Only thing is, do not use too much flour, when the loose flour is sticked to puri, it falls off in the oil and oil gets bad very soon.
Shilpa the pics are great & so are the tips. Do you know what they add to puris to keep it puffed & crisp for a longer time? Maybe your aayi might give few handy tips. Thanks & keep up the good job.
Shilpa: Suma, few tips which might work. Add a little sooji/rava while making dough (some people also add a little maida). Fry them for more time and make them reddish. There is one link “how to make soft and puffed puris” that I have mentioned in above post. It has some very useful tips which I collected over time. Please have a look.
I like your step by step demo. Hope all is well at your end.
Shilpa: Yes Cynthia, things are getting better :). Thanks for concern.
That was a very pictorial tutorial. Yes and a Kadhai helps.
You know I see many of you not adding any oil/shortening to the Poori dough. I have never done it that way. Is it soft, if you don’t add oil while kneading and fry ?
Shilpa: Thanks Sandeepa. Yes, we never add oil/shortening to dough. Still puris turn out soft and puffed. We add oil to chapathi dough though.
those poris r looking great. puffed and round looking yummy.
Those are gorgeous pooris, Shilpa :).
The poori’s are real beauties!
One more tip I read it somewhere..
If you keep the rolled poori in the refrigerator 5-10 mins before sliding them into oil it would absorb less oil than usual.
k
Hi Shilpa, I absolutely love your site…keep checking very often to see what’s new and also to get recipes. Your comment on patting the puris was soooo hilarious that it got me writing. Love the look of your puris and also the stepby step tutorial. Will have to make them this week 🙂
Awesome puris.Mouth watering.Tips are really helpful because i am very much naive in the cooking world
Shilpa,
Lovely pooris and excellent tips, just the way we have come to expect of you!!!
HI Shilpa
I tried Puris but the measure of 1 cup of water and 2 cups of wheat flour became too soggy so had to add one more cup of wheat flour and it turned out to be alright.
Kirti
Shilpa..have a look..at my today’s post. Also scroll down for cake! 😀
Thanks so much for the recipe. First time i made poori n they were tasty. My husband n me were shocked! The only additional thing i added was 1tpsn of Red Chili Powder.. Yummmyyy 🙂
Hi Shilpa,
I dont cook anything more than instant noodles, I stumbled onto this webpage through google. But lemme tell you that you are doing a wonderful job of helping/guiding people (GSBs) improve their cooking coefficient. I know what it means to miss home food.
Cheers.
Necro
while frying puris, we should not press from the top, because if it makes a hole, oil can get inside and it absorbs more oil and it becomes flat. The alternate way to make it puffy is pour hot oil from the frying kadai itself on the top of puri.
Shilpa: Vidya, if you poke the puri with laddle, it makes a hole, but if you press the flat end on it, it never makes a how. Thats the easiest way and always works fine.
hi shilpa
it was yummy. thankyou
Shilpa,
The poori post really helped me with a lot of information. Thanks a ton!
swetha
Hi,
I dont know what went wrong to my pooris… This was the first time i prepared pooris, the dough was not soo soft and not soo hard… i kept the dough for nearly an hour and then prepared pooris. May be this was the reason they dint get puffed… it was crisp and like biscuit. I am very dissappointed. I will try to make pooris next time and prepare it as soon as the dough is made. Hope your tip will work. If there is anything to be done please let me know. Thank You
Dear Shilpa,
Its amazing surfing thru this website, awesome, i couldnt refrain from appreciating ur efforts, more especialy in taking pictures, infact i saw some of ur recipes (biriyani, puri etc) the picture itself prompts us to prepare the dist I tried ur egg green masala, it was great.
I regret for not have known about this website before, BETTER LATE THAN NEVER.
With love,
Molly
Hi Shilpa,
Many thanks to you for the recipe… your propotions came out beautifully… all my puris very happy and beautiful…. thanks again to you and your mom….
p.s. this is my first try with puri…
I always loved poori but dont make it frequently because of the oil it drinks up. I am going to try adding rava and rice flour at different times and milk instead of water. Thanks so much. Just the picture makes my mouth dribble.
Thanks a lot again
achoo
tips & step by step pictuers are very helpful.
Thnx.
hi..
thanks for your tips…i will surely try,,, can u tell me…y milk not water…. this confusses me….
which one is better
please advice….
Shilpa: I always use water as I have mentioned in above procedure. But I found the tips somewhere and thought of sharing them. I really don’t know what difference it makes.
wow…thanks for such detailed version….with this anyone can make puris now…
Hi,
I must say excellent and easy to follow steps. I have failed trying to make puris almost a 100 times, it was either too oily or hard or just a flop. I followed your recipe with some changes, ex I had to use 3 cups of flour because with jsut 2 cups it was sort of soggy. But then it could be because I used milk like your tips suggests and also used 2 tsp soji/rava. The first one did not puff up and so I just quickly scrolled up your instructions ( yes indeed I had my laptop on the counter next to where I was rolling the puris) and it mentioned about the oil being hot enough, so I increase the temp of the oil and then dropped a little pc of dough and it came right up…and lo and behold like a miracle my puris started puffing up and rising to the top right away. Almost all of them had a nice puff up
My husband and kids enjoyed the puris so much. Thank you so much and ofcourse thank your aaiy. There was litterally no oil in the puris which was the best thing to top it all. Cant wait to check out your other recipes
I wish you hadn’t put those pictures. It saddens me, makes me crave until I actually do it at home, end up eating in restaurant making me waste money, and most important of all, I would have thought the poori I made is same as yours and would have happily eaten, now I know what the standard of poori has to be…too bad, pls take the pics off…:)) And I dont think am going to work anymore today, thanks to your pooris.
dear shilpa.
what a great recipe. just before serving it my mouth was already watering looking at it. it was so delicious.
thank you so much.
Shilpa! excellent tips. I, really did’t know how to make these puris. As, also I, am Chinese. Anyways, I enjoyed yours tips and I have tried out it worked really well. Earlier, If I would make thes puris, they would become PAPAR. So, you can imagine the situation with me. Anyways thanks. Keep up the good work and those tips coming..
I have seen ur site today only (unfortunately) though I browse the net for recipes since 1 year. Your tips are well explained with minute details and reasons. I know now where to look for help regarding recipes whenever I need it.
Hi Shilpa!
You have done a wonderful job on this website.
Putting pictures and specifying every step has really made the learning process much easier.
I am not the kind of person who writes comments/feedback, but yours was such an Awsome website.. that it made me 🙂
Great Job!
Also, I was wondering… My puris often out like papad :-(.
Can you tell me where I am going wrong!?
Hi…tried out the puris…came out real well…infact have made them over 4 occasions already!! thank you.
I have an inquiry regarding mooli parathas…I was and and am still sure that I picked the recipe frm your site…loved it..can’t seem to find it. Do let me know.
gud tips of kneading a dough.i made them b4 also but it always cracked but i will try this ime again with ur tips. i hope they will work .thanx
i tried puries it came very nice thank you
wooooow the pics look yummmy i am gonna try them at hjowemright awayyyyyyyyyy……..
Today for first time in myl ife i made Poori & shrikand and indulged in making and eating it.
Thanks to your perfect tips it turned out very well & made my day.
Thanks a lot Shilpa !!! This was my 2nd attempt at making Puri’s and they turned out to be perfect, thanks to your tips. My first attempt was a total disaster, thats old news now ;)) Just want to know – can i store unused dough? If so, how do i store them?
Usually we don’t make puris from old puri dough, it usually retains a lot of oil when fried. So if dough remains, we make chapathis instead. You can cover it well and refrigerate
How long do you knead the dough? I find that my puris puffed well, but some of them were too chewy.
Just till everything is well mixed. No need to knead it for long.
Shilpa is it – I was wondering for days … who this is .. My God. I was so scared of cooking. i used to call my cooking “Survival cooking” and my Boy Frnd said – Bring on those lead rolls – my chapatis … .. he said it was his daily jaw exercise. Now i’m going to try your method of Chapatis and Pooris. Heard you were going thru tough times. God !!!! Give her peace please.. She’s a great help. Thanks ANgel.
Keep on the helpful work. Where;s the tava and the kadhai… Wait now no more exercise for those jaws — !!! Will keep you posted.
Love.. Lots of it — thanks again for the perfect picture and step by step tutorial. God bless u and your loved ones.
Hi..very nice pictures of pooris..excellent demo..good tips..thnx.
Shilpa i fried the puris on high flame through out
from total 10 puris, first two went flat, third suprisingly puffed up lol & the rest all flated
Though the dough was perfect
hey thax very nice demo… u knw as m newly married it helps me a lot.specially ur tips r very useful for me.
Thank you.
Hi Shilpa,
Your aayisrecipes is amazing! Really very good collection of recipes and great to see those “delicious pictures” :). Your way of giving minute details is very helpful…
With best wishes
Shrilata
Hi Shilpa
This site is awesome – it is very well presented and the recipies look yummy. Will try some soon.
Ur step by step guide to poori making is very helpful. My rotis are always a flop. Either they dough is soggy or hard like a stone. Just cant seem to get the right mix! Will try ur measurement.
thanks again! good job.:)
Hi Shilpa, You give very favorable tips and tang recipes. I am a beginner. However,I have been looking into your site since a week. It is really building my interest in cooking 🙂 Love your site!! 🙂
thanks shilpa great tips and now i will be able to make excellent puris i hope after seeing yr tips
Hi Shilpa.
Thanks a tonnnnnnnn for this article. 🙂
My friends and family says that i m a good cook, but making pooris have always been a disaster for me. Yesterday , when my hubby wanted to have puri, again my trouble started. But i came across this article…..and u won’t believe that first time in my life all my pooris came out perfect. They were all soft and puffed up. I was in the seventh sky. Wanted to click the snap for u,,, but me and husband can’t stop drooling, so just had all of them. Next time will definitely click one.
Once again. thanks a lot.
Best wishes and Regards
Komal
my pooris always comes out like a pappad…wil try this recipe
Thank u
hi
i am satisfied with ur recipies
can u please give some tips about grill chicken with out oil,ajnamoto added colour and flavour. 100% helthy with natural aroma an taste
waiting 4 ur answer…………………………………………. mehboob
Grilled chicken, grilled chicken with kasuri methi
Hi, is there any way i can rolled
The puris and keep them for some hrs or freeze
Or refrigate before frying
I have invited some of my friends on lunch
N wanted to make puris i wanted to rolled puris before the arrival of guest b/c my baby
Is scared of strangers and he gets crying in his full volume
Plz do let me know if there is any way
Thx
Sorry I haven’t tried it. In my experience, when you don’t fry the puris soon after rolling, they don’t puff
I will try your recipe . I made puri first time and it was very hard. Thank you for giving many tips to make puri correctly.I was looking for one and found this
Thank you
Hi,
I really like your blog. I have come in here for the first gtime. But I like the details that you present with. Keep it up 🙂
I followed the steps and puris were soft and puffed just like the photo.Awesome tips.I tried your green pulav recipe too.It came out so well 🙂
Thanks for the recipe. I was struggling to make puffy puris and even though not all I could make about 40% puffy ones 🙂 thanks again