PURI

 I think Puri masala must be the most famous food in railway stations. This was my brother's favorite for sometime.

CAROM SEEDS PURI

• When I went to my friend's house, she served me puri and channa masala. Her puri was flaky unlike mine. She puts oil into the flour before making the puri dough. My usual way of making puri was to make a chappathi dough and then roll out into small, mini chappathis and fry them. In the process I used to roll out the puris dusting them with flour. And the problem with that, was, while frying the dust settles down in the oil as sediment. Adding oil is a neat way to skip the dusting of flour while rolling out the puris. The oil remains clear and can be reused. 
• Using the right amount of water keeps the puri soft and puffy More the water, crispier the puris and harder to chew.
• This is my friend's recipe: For 1 cup of atta. Double or triple the recipe as you may. This is also the same recipe from the book Flavors First by Vikas Khanna. For ordinary puri, just skip the carrom seeds.

1.  1 cup atta
2. 2 Tbsp oil
3. 1/4 tsp salt
4. 1/4 tsp  Ajwain(caraway oomam,carom,ayamodakam) seeds, slightly crushed(optional)
5. water as required to bring the dough together into a firm yet soft one(start with 3 Tbsp)

Method

• Mix the salt and ajwain seeds with the flour.
  

  
• Rub the oil into the salted flour until becomes into breadcrumb like consistency. 
  

  

  
  
  

  

  
  
  

  

                                        

• Add the water into the flour and mix to form a smooth dough. Add more water only if needed. Firmer dough helps make the puri puff up better and also absorb less oil when frying. Cover the dough with a damp towel. 
  

• Make small balls and roll out puris. There is no need of dusting with flour. The puris won't stick to the rolling board.
  

  

  
  
  

  

Frying the puris

• Heat a wok om high heat. When warm pour oil (about 1 and 1/2 cups). Turn the flame to medium heat and let the oil become hot(about 5 minutes). Now turn the flame to high heat and wait for another 2 minutes.
  

• The oil will be hot by now. Put in one rolled out puri. The puri will sink to the bottom and rise up to the top.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• When the puri rises to the top, use a slotted spoon to drizzle the oil on top of the puri. In doing so, the puri will puff up.
  
  
  
  
  
  

• Now, use the slotted spoon to flip the puri to the other side. Fry for a few seconds and thread it to a bamboo skewer or drain it to a paper towel. I like to thread all the puris to a bamboo skewer and when the skewer is full, rest the skewer on a paper towel and use a new one for the next set of puris. In this way the excess oil will be drained from the puris.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• When all the puris are done, release all the puris from the skewer and serve.
  

•  The puris will remain crispy and puffed up even after 2 hours.
  

  

                                            

MINT AND CUMIN SEEDS PURI

• Instead of the carom seeds, use 2 tsp dried mint leaves and 1/4 tsp crushed cumin seeds. 

NOTES

• When you roll out the puris and the edges are ragged, that means that the water used for kneading was not enough. These are the puris that were kneaded with less water and its difficult to roll them out and even if you roll them out, the edges will be ragged.

  

  
  
• If the puris come are soggy after frying, that means the water used for kneading was more.
• If you don't want the puri to puff up , prick the rolled out puri with a fork 3 to 4 times, at different places.
  

  

  
  
  

  

  
  
  

  

  
  
  

  

  
  
  

  

• I like to use these puris for making sev puri at home. Mix it with leftover channa masala or peas curry and top it with some homemade date-tamarind chutney and mint chutney.