Puri

Puri, also spelled poori, is a deep-fried flatbread made from wheat dough that puffs up as it cooks. It comes from the northern Indian subcontinent and remains a staple there, and it is also eaten in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Malaysia.

History

The word comes from Sanskrit, where it described a fried food made with gram flour that was closer to today's papri than to modern puri. Foods resembling puri may have existed in ancient India, and recipes were recorded by the fifteenth century.

The method has changed little in its essentials: atta (whole wheat flour), water, a little salt and oil or ghee form a stiff dough. After kneading and resting, small balls of about 2 to 3 centimetres are rolled into thin discs of 10 to 17 centimetres. They are fried in a karahi, a rounded pan that uses less oil and reduces spills. Steam from the water in the dough inflates the bread to around ten times its original volume, and it is turned so both sides brown.

Today it is also made in factories that produce thousands of pieces an hour, though at home it still takes years of practice to master.

Culture

Puri is most often eaten at breakfast, as a snack or as a light meal, usually with other dishes. The most common partners are curries of potato or chickpeas, such as chana masala, a staple of street food. In North India it is served with halwa, while in the Orissa coast it may come with korma or with dal lentils. Sweets are also frequent, including jalebi, shrikhand or kheer, depending on the region.

It also has a ritual role. In Hindu vegetarian rites it is offered to deities as prasadam, blessed food later shared out. For this reason it appears at festivals and celebrations.

The chola puri variant, with chickpeas, is a complete meal in itself. Some versions add ajwain seeds to the dough, which give it a distinctive flavour. Small round puris are used for panipuri and sev puri, while flat ones serve papri chaat and bhel puri, all classed as chaat.

Trivia