Bhatura
Bhatura is a fried bread from northern India, served almost exclusively in one pairing: chole bhature, with spiced chickpeas. Unlike puri it is leavened — with yoghurt, bicarbonate and a little yeast — so it comes out larger, soft and slightly tangy rather than crisp. In hot oil it balloons, and that is its whole appeal. Two things make it happen: well-rested dough and oil at 190°C; any cooler and the bread soaks up fat instead of puffing.
Your own work in that: 25 min.
- Dough 15 min
- Resting 120 min
- Shaping 10 min
- Frying 15 min
Step by step
0 / 8 doneMix the ingredients
Mix the flour with the semolina, yeast, sugar, bicarbonate and salt. Add the yoghurt, oil and lukewarm water.
Ingredients: 400 g plain flour · 40 g fine semolina (sooji) · 120 g natural yoghurt · 130 ml lukewarm water · 3 g dried yeast · 1 tsp sugar · ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda · 1 tsp salt · 2 tbsp oil
Knead
Knead 10 minutes until smooth and soft — softer than pasta dough but not sticky. Add a spoonful of flour if it clings to your hands.
Ingredients: 400 g plain flour · 40 g fine semolina (sooji) · 120 g natural yoghurt · 130 ml lukewarm water · 3 g dried yeast · 1 tsp sugar · ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda · 1 tsp salt · 2 tbsp oil
Soft, smooth yoghurt dough.Rest the dough
Oil the dough, cover with a damp cloth and leave somewhere warm for 2 hours. It will not double like bread dough but will clearly soften.
Ingredients: 400 g plain flour · 40 g fine semolina (sooji) · 120 g natural yoghurt · 130 ml lukewarm water · 3 g dried yeast · 1 tsp sugar · ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda · 1 tsp salt · 2 tbsp oil
Divide
Divide into 8 balls of about 90 g, cover and rest 10 minutes.
Ingredients: 400 g plain flour · 40 g fine semolina (sooji) · 120 g natural yoghurt · 130 ml lukewarm water · 3 g dried yeast · 1 tsp sugar · ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda · 1 tsp salt · 2 tbsp oil
Roll out
Roll each ball into an oval about 18 cm long and 3 mm thick, on an oiled worktop rather than a floured one — excess flour burns in the oil.
Ingredients: 400 g plain flour · 40 g fine semolina (sooji) · 120 g natural yoghurt · 130 ml lukewarm water · 3 g dried yeast · 1 tsp sugar · ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda · 1 tsp salt · 2 tbsp oil
On oil, not on flour.Heat the oil
Heat the oil to 190°C in a wide pot or wok about 22 cm across — a litre gives a layer some 3 cm deep, which is enough if you spoon hot oil over the bread. It must not come more than a third of the way up the pot. Test with a scrap of dough: it should surface within 2 seconds. Never walk away from the pot, keep children clear and have a lid within reach.
Ingredients: 1000 ml rapeseed oil for frying
Fry
Slide in one bread at a time. As it surfaces, press it gently with a slotted spoon and ladle hot oil over the top — it will puff. Fry 30 seconds, turn and fry another 30 seconds, until golden. Eight breads one by one take about 12 minutes; let the oil come back to 190°C between them.
Ingredients: 1000 ml rapeseed oil for frying
Pressed with a spoon, it balloons.Drain and serve
Lift them out with the slotted spoon onto a rack set over kitchen paper — straight on paper they go soggy underneath. Serve at once with spiced chickpeas, onion and lemon — bhatura deflates and toughens as it cools.
Ingredients: 400 g plain flour · 40 g fine semolina (sooji) · 120 g natural yoghurt · 130 ml lukewarm water · 3 g dried yeast · 1 tsp sugar · ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda · 1 tsp salt · 2 tbsp oil
Before you start
Bhatura and puri
Puri is unleavened, made with wholemeal flour, smaller and crisper. Bhatura is leavened, made with white flour, larger and soft.
Frying safely
Never leave hot oil unattended and never add water to it. If the oil starts to smoke, take the pot off the heat and wait — smoking oil is close to its flash point. Never put water on burning oil: cover the pot with a lid and turn off the heat. Slide the breads in flat and away from you so the oil cannot splash.
Storage
Bhatura is only good hot. The raw dough balls keep 24 hours in the fridge — take them out 30 minutes before rolling.
