Bringing back my childhood memories through this recipe and reliving it with my son who equally loves this simple dish called POORI- BHAJI or ALOO POORI in hindi. My son absolutely loves POORI and gladly calls it FLUFFY. He looks at the hot pooris fluff up in the oil and his eyes beams with joy and tongue salivating with wanting to grab it with two hands and just eat it. To be honest I really enjoy making it for him from time to time as pooris are deep fried I refrain to make it regularly, but I also want him to enjoy it just like I did as a child.
Served as a breakfast food and even as snack this poori-bhaji is also one of the dishes which has many memories from my childhood picnics to family get together. My grandma use to make this whenever I had a picnic in my school and give it to me in my TIFFIN BOX to enjoy it at lunch or snack time with friends. It was also one of the food items taken on long train journeys as they stay fresh for long hours. This is one version of this recipe the another one that is made is plain pooris with sweet-sour potato curry, which I will make soon and share it with you guys. This version consists of MASALA POORIS which are so yummy you can even enjoy them by itself or with a cup of tea or coffee for snacks. There is also another version of this MASALA POORI called TIKHI POORI which is crispier and flatter (not puffed) and I also add couple more ingredients to it which I am going to share soon as a part of my DIWALI SERIES SNACKS.
Many such recipes have been lost over time as people refrain from fried & oily food but trust me if you want to enjoy a homemade meal without any guilt this would be your best choice, as you would be using all clean and fresh ingredients in your kitchen and pantry instead of eating it at a restaurant. Now I know many people who feel that it’s tough to make pooris at home as they don’t get the same results as made by our moms & grandmoms. So today I am sharing my exact recipe with measurements, so you’ll get that soft & fluffy pooris along with the simplest BHAJI- which is just a simple dry curry made from boiled potatoes with minimal spices.
Do you know what’s the two things that will get you the soft & fluffy pooris??? What I have learnt from my grandma is this--- your dough that you knead and the temperature of the oil that you fry them in should be on point. Poori Dough is different from your regular ROTI dough it should be little tight and the one thing that make the dough perfect is by adding MOAN (amount of oil) to it and to give it that perfect texture. The other thing is the temperature of the oil- it should be hot enough for your pooris to puff up into round balls and also the technique to fry them. It’s not hard at all I will show in the pictures below and share the tips for it as well. The other part of this recipe which is BHAJI is super simple and it comes together in no time as well. So without further ADO here is the list of the ingredients and the STEP- BY- STEP for making this amazing recipe.
PREP TIME: 45 MINS
COOK TIME: 45 MINS
SERVES : 4
Ingredients:
For Masala Pooris-
4 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
2 Teaspoons Red Chili Powder
2 Teaspoons Coriander Cumin Powder
5 Tablespoons Oil
1 Teaspoon Salt
1 Tablespoon Kasoori Methi
1/4 spoon hing
1 1/2 cups water
some more oil to baste the dough later
For BHAJI (dry aloo curry)
6 Medium Potates (boiled & cubed )
1 cup Peas (microwave in water for 1.5 minutes)
4 Medium green chilies chopped small
8-10 curry leaves
5-6 Tablespoon oil
1 Teaspoon Turmeric powder
1/2 Teaspoon Red chili powder
1/2 teaspoon Methi powder (yellow fenugreek seeds powder)
1/4 teaspoon hing
salt to taste
2 teaspoons lemon juice
Some cilantro chopped to garnish
STEP 1- Will begin with pressure cooking our potatoes & Kneading the dough for our MASALA POORIS- Now I use kitchen aid to knead my dough but you can use your hands to knead it as well.
Take a pressure cooker and nicely wash the potatoes and add some water and salt and pressure cook it for 3-4 whistles and then turn off the gas (DO NOT OVER COOK THE POTATOES OR THEY WILL CRUMBLE) While the potatoes are cooking- In a mixing bowl or kitchen aid bowl add in your whole wheat flour and then dry spices (red chili powder, turmeric, salt, coriander cumin powder, hing, kasoori methi & salt). Mix well till all the spices are incorporated nicely in the dry flour and then add in your oil and mix well till the dough becomes grainy.
STEP 2: Now slowly kneading the dough add in your water little by little till all the flour mixture comes together and becomes a dough (see pics). Smooth it out and add few spoons of oil on top and baste the dough with it. Use a damp paper napkin or cloth napkin and cover the dough with it. Cover it with lid so that no air touches it and then keep it aside for about 30 minutes.
STEP 3: Once the pressure is released open your cooker and take the potatoes out carefully and dip them in cold water so you can work with them to peel of their skin. Once you can touch the potatoes take them off from the cold water and then peel off their skin and chop them into bite sized pieces.
STEP 4: Chop the green chilies small and keep all the other ingredients for the BHAJI ready. In a pan heat about 5-6 Tablespoons oil and let it heat up. Add in your mustard seeds and let it crackle. Once crackling starts add in your methi powder & hing mix well. Add in your chopped green chilies and curry leaves and mix well. Add in your green peas as well as salt and let it cook for 2 minutes.
STEP 5: Now add your turmeric powder, red chili powder and your potato cubes and mix well. Cook it for another 2 - 3 minutes and then add in your lemon juice and some cilantro to garnish and then mix well. Cover and set aside turn off the heat.
STEP 6: Check on the masala poori dough and rub some oil in your palms and knead the dough once again till its smoothed. Take small portions of the poori dough and roll them into small equal sized balls and flatten them. Now rub some oil on your rolling pin as well the surface you are going to roll your poori on and gently roll them into small sized flat round pooris. I use a SILICONE MAT and apply some oil on it and then roll the puris and lay them flat while my oil heats up for easy process. you can also use a large plate and place your pooris on it and make sure they are not sticking to each other. (SEE PICS)
STEP 7: In a deep pan add oil for frying so the pooris can dip in completely and let it heat up on medium heat. Once you see oil heat up add a small amount of poori dough in it to check - IF THE DOUGH COMES UP RIGHT AWAY that means the oil temperature id perfect. DO NOT TURN THE HEAT ON LOW KEEP IT ON THE SAME MEDIUM TEMP and then begin frying your pooris in gently one at a time. This amount of dough will make you 35-40 pooris.
I usually make a batch of 10 at one time and keep frying them till I am done. You can make as many as you want and then use any left over dough to make masala parathas.
STEP 8: VERY CAREFULLY add one poori in your hot oil at a time and let it start to puff from one side and then keep pressing gently in the oil so the whole poori will puff up like a ball. Turn and cook on other side and let it cook for some seconds. Drain the oil and take it out in a bowl. Fry all the pooris in similar way and then serve it with HOT ALOO BHAJI and some PICKLE and CHAAS or even some SHRIKHAND. Enjoy & BON APPETIT. SLIDE BELOW FOR ALL THE STEP BY STEP PICS.
