Poori Masala

Poori looks awesome when it puffs up in the oil. Have you made Poori and wished it stays puffed up till you plate and serve it? It puffs up most of the time for me when I make it, but I never understood why it does not stay like that. I always thought that I was doing something wrong while frying. Guess what, I was not doing anything wrong at all while frying. It is the dough....

To make the poori retain its shape for a long time you add some rava/semolina to it. Easy right? It is as easy as it sounds. Remember to soak the rava before adding.



Poori Ingredients

Wheat 1.5 cups
Rava 2.5 tbsp
Oil 1 tbsp
Salt

Oil to fry

Method of Preparation

1. Soak rava for 15 min with a little water.

2. Take wheat flour in a bowl. Add salt, oil and the rava (with water if any left) to the bowl.

3. Mix well with your hands. The add water as required as you would for making chappati dough and make a thick firm dough.

4. Make 4-5 balls from this. (depends on how much space you have to roll). I used kitchen counter itself. If using chapatti rolling stone, make smaller balls. You can also pinch out smaller balls and directly roll into small circles.

5. Roll into a big circle. The using a circular cutter (i used a steel lid with sharp edge) cut into smaller circles. Like I said this is totally optional, you can directly make small circles. This saves rolling effort and also gives you uniform pooris.



6. Heat oil in a kadai. When it is hot, drop one poori into it. Pat it with your spatula on the top till it fluffs up completely.

7. Add the next poori. Do the same. At this stage turn the first poori. Then add a third one. Do the same with it. By the time it fluffs up, the first one is ready to come out, the second one is ready to be turned and a 4th one is ready to go in.



Fry all the pooris and serve with a side of choice. Standard combo is a potato masala. Recipe below. You can also serve with chole.



Potato Masala Ingredients



Onion 1 sliced
Potatoes 4 small boiled, pealed and mashed
Mustard 1/2 tsp
Channa Dal  1 tbsp
Curry Leaves a couple of sprigs
Ginger 1 inch piece
Green Chilli 1 chopped (more for spicy version)
Turmeric 1/2 tsp

Oil and salt to taste

Method of Preparation

1. Heat oil in a pan. Add the mustard. When it sputters, add the channa dal. When it starts to brown, add the chopped ginger, curry leaves, green chilli and turmeric.

2. When it sizzles, add the onions. Saute till it starts to brown.

3. Add the mashed potatoes, salt and some water. Water depends on how runny or thick you want this to be. I made a fairly thick version this time.

Serve with warm poori.




Linking this to South Indian Cooking - Event by Anu, Hosted by Sangee