Puri
An Indian bread that turns from a flat disc into a puffed ball within seconds. The effect depends on three things at once, and all must be right: the dough must be firm (soft dough soaks up oil), the disc evenly thin (uneven, it vents steam at the thin spot) and the oil genuinely hot (180°C, no less). The puri is slid in, pressed with a spoon and watched.
Your own work in that: 15 min.
- Dough 15 min
- Resting 30 min
- Rolling 15 min
- Frying 20 min
Step by step
0 / 8 doneKnead a firm, tight dough
Mix the flour with the semolina and salt, add the oil and water and knead 8 minutes into a firm, tight dough — noticeably stiffer than for chapati. Soft dough absorbs oil and the puri come out greasy, and often do not puff at all.
Ingredients: 250 g wholemeal flour · 30 g semolina · 130 ml water · 2 tbsp oil · 1 tsp salt
Firm and tight — stiffer than chapati dough.Rest half an hour under a cloth
Cover with a damp cloth and leave 30 minutes. The gluten must relax so the dough rolls thin without springing back. Longer than an hour is not worth it — the dough softens and loses its stiffness.
Ingredients: 250 g wholemeal flour · 30 g semolina · 130 ml water · 2 tbsp oil · 1 tsp salt
Divide into equal balls
Divide the dough into 16 equal walnut-sized balls and cover them. Equal sizing matters practically: different balls give discs of different thickness, and those fry at different rates in the same oil.
Ingredients: 250 g wholemeal flour · 30 g semolina · 130 ml water · 2 tbsp oil · 1 tsp salt
Roll to an even thickness
Roll each ball into a 10 cm disc of uniform thickness across its whole face. Dust with oil rather than flour — flour falls into the oil and burns, changing its colour and flavour. Rolling all 16 takes about 15 minutes; keep the finished discs under film.
Ingredients: 250 g wholemeal flour · 30 g semolina · 130 ml water · 2 tbsp oil · 1 tsp salt
Uniform thickness — uneven vents steam at the thin spot.Heat the oil to 180°C
In a deep pan or wok heat the oil to 180°C. Test with a scrap of dough: it should float to the surface within 2 seconds. Cooler oil will not generate steam fast enough and the disc stays flat and saturated.
Ingredients: 800 ml oil
Slide it in and press with a spoon
Slide a disc into the oil and as it surfaces, press it gently under with a slotted spoon for a second. Pressing traps the steam inside and is what triggers the puff — without it the disc often stays flat. Fry them one at a time — all 16 take about 20 minutes in total.
Ingredients: 800 ml oil
Press it under for a second — the steam stays inside.Turn and fry 30 seconds
Once the puri balloons, turn it and fry 30 seconds on the other side, until pale gold. Deep gold is already overdone and hardens as it cools. The whole thing takes under a minute per piece.
Ingredients: 800 ml oil
Drain and serve immediately
Drain on paper and serve at once, hot. Puri deflate within two minutes and that is normal — but they should stay hollow inside. Serve with chickpea curry, yogurt and pickle.
Ingredients: 400 g chickpeas · 200 g natural yogurt · 60 g Indian pickle
Before you start
Semolina gives crispness
The thirty grams of fine semolina in the dough is not bulk — it gives puri a light crispness and helps them hold shape as they cool. Without it they are softer and deflate faster.
Fry one at a time
Put one disc into the pan at a time. Each one lowers the oil temperature, and puri only puff in genuinely hot oil. It is slower but reliable — give the oil a few seconds between discs to climb back to 180°C.
Roll ahead
Rolled discs can be stacked on a tray interleaved with film and held for an hour. No longer — they dry out and then split in the oil instead of puffing. The dough itself, tightly wrapped, keeps for a day in the fridge.
