Puri

Makes 20 puris.


Ingredients

• 2 cups whole-wheat flour
• 1 tbspn vegetable oil for dough 
• 1/2 tspn ajwain
• 1 cup water 
• a pinch of salt
• vegetable oil for deep-frying

Preparation

1. Make a dough with the flour, oil and salt - this should need slightly less than 1 cup of water.
2. Cover the prepared dough with a damp cloth for 15 minutes. 

Instructions

1. Heat the frying pan with oil on High heat.
2. Make four logs from the dough.
3. Divide the log into dough balls - this allows all puris to be the same size.
4. Take a dough ball and roll it into a circle. 
5. Brush lightly with oil, and flip and roll it slightly.
6. Lower the heat to Medium and put puris in.
7. If the puri does not immediately rise to the top, the oil is not hot enough. If the puri turns brown in splotches immediately, the oil is too hot. 
8. As the puri immediately rises to the top, hold it down under the oil for one second. This fluffs it up.
9. Put the puri on a paper napkin to absorb the excess oil. I line the puri serving container with 2-3 layers of paper napkins so that any excess oil is absorbed well before serving.

  Serving

1. Puris are best served within minutes of frying.
2. They go well with all vegetables and curries, especially with potatos and tomato curry.
3. In Gujarat, where puris originate from, they are served with all vegetables, and are a mandatory accompaniment to undhiyu, keri nu ras (mango pulp) and shikhand (sweetened thick yogurt). 

Ghattas to be added to curried vegetables

Makes 16 ghattas.
These add to the diversity of flavor in a vegetable curry like undhiyu.

Ingredients

• 2 cups besan (chick pea flour)
• 2 tspn ajwain 
• 1 tspn finely chopped garlic
• 1 tspn finely chopped ginger
• 1 cup finely chopped green vegetables (fenugreek or spinach)
• salt to taste

Preparation

1. Mix the ingredients with water to make a batter.

Instructions

1. Heat the oil. 
2. Deep-fry 1 tbspn of batter at a time. 

Serving

1. Serve as a snack, or add to a vegetable curry to add flavor.