Ssshhh.. Secrets of a Poori

Friday Morning, I had made breakfast at home , yet had no time to eat. I had to rush out of the door..I had Poori and masala for breakfast in Saravan Bhavan in my office cafeteria. I felt like Prakash Raj in ‘Un Samayalariyil‘ Love this song, by the way!

That night , at dinner , I described how delicious the poori was to my kids and I saw my son drooling 🙂

He requested right away , ‘Mommy, can we have poori and masala for tomorrow’s breakfast??’.

“Sure” said I, delighted to have a ‘Neyar virupam’.

Thats how I got to make this Poori , and I wanted to share the secrets to you all as well.

Ssshhh… Did I say secrets of a non greasy puffed poori ?

Here we go, we all may know , for making poori, you knead atta with little salt. Press them in to rounds and fry them in oil.

But , the tricks are ..

1. Add a tablespoon of rava (sooji) to 2 cups of atta to get the fluff and to retain it. The more rawa you add, it will be more crispy and will retain longer. I serve them to my kids right away , hence , I added 1 tablespoon .

2. Adding little sugar while kneading.Kneading should be very minimal as you don’t want the gluten to form (like you would make a pie crust – No Kneading ). Stop adding water when the flour is crumbly and use minimal water to bring in the binding. Dough for chapati , on the contrast , needs more water and needs to be kneaded longer.

3. Try to make dough right when you are planning to fry. Making the dough ahead of time, results in absorption of oil.

4. Use oil to help in kneading , no flour please. This will pollute the frying oil and the burnt flour will start sticking to the pooris.

5. Knead a bit thicker than for roti.

6. Use ample oil. Heat the oil long enough . If the oil is not hot enough , the poor is will be soaking in oil and soggy. If it is too hot, pooris will get burnt , adjust accordingly.

7. Cook on one side for 2-3 seconds, as soon as it fluffs, turn it around. The other side is bit thicker , and requires about 5-8 sec to cook. Ladle out and space them well not to disturb the puffiness. 🙂