Puri (food)

Puri

Puri served at an Indian restaurant
Origin
Alternative name(s)	Boori
Place of origin	India
Region or state	India
Details
Serving temperature	Hot or room temperature
Main ingredient(s)	Atta
Variations	Bhatoora, Luchi, Sev Puri

Puri (poori, boori, Punjabi ਪੁੜੀ (pūḍī), Telugu పూరి (pūri), Hindi पूरी (pūrī), Urdu: بوری, Tamil பூரி (pūri), Kannada ಪೂರಿ (pūri), Oriya ପୁରି (luchi/puri)), is an unleavened Indian bread, commonly consumed in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and other countries of South Asia. It is eaten for breakfast or as a snack or light meal.

Puri is most commonly served at breakfast. It is also served at special or ceremonial functions as part of ceremonial rituals along with other vegetarian food offered in prayer as prasadam. The name puri derives from the Sanskrit word पूरिका (pūrikā), from पुर (pura) "filled".

Ingredients

Puri is prepared with wheat flour, either atta (whole wheat flour), maida (refined wheat flour), or sooji (coarse wheat flour). A dough of flour and salt is either rolled out in a small circle or rolled out and cut out in small circles and deep fried in ghee or vegetable oil. While deep frying, it puffs up like a round ball because moisture in the dough changes into steam which expands in all directions. When it is golden-brown in color, it is removed and may be served hot or saved for later use (as with the snack food pani puri). The rolled puri may be pricked with a fork before deep frying to get a flat puri for chaat like bhel puri. A punctured puri does not puff when cooked because the steam escapes as it cooks.

Accompaniments

Indian puri with accompaniments

Puri can be served with halwa, korma, chana masala, dal, potato based curries (e.g.: saagu, bhaji, bhujia), shrikhand, basundi. In some parts of India, puri is also served with a mixed vegetable dish that is prepared during Puja, and with kheer, a dessert prepared with rice, milk and sugar.

Types, variants

A variant of puri is bhatoora, which is three times the size of a puri and served with chholey (spicy chick peas). It often constitutes a full meal. (See chole bhature). Bhatoora is made of a different flour; puri uses whole-wheat flour while bhatoora uses leavened all-purpose flour ("maida"). In the Indian state of Orissa a large size Puri is made during Bali Yatra which is called Thunka puri (Oriya: ଠୁଙ୍କା ପୁରି).

Another variant of the puri popular in the eastern states of West Bengal and Orissa is the luchi.

Sev-puri is an Indian snack offered by street vendors who serve chaat.

Street vendors in Mumbai serve bhel in a throw-away folded leaf with a flat puri to scoop it.

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  A scene of Puri

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  Puris being deep fried at a shop in Varanasi.

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  Aloo Puri, typical morning snack, Varanasi.

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  Puri masala from Krishna Cafe Salem in Tamil Nadu

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  Puris just after deep-frying in oil

See also

• Lángos
• Kulcha
• Chiburekki
• Qutab
• Börek
• Puff Puff

External links

• Step by step puri recipe