Making Dough and Frying It

This excerpt -- some text and all photos -- is taken out of my posts on koraishutir kochuri, aloo porota and daalpuri. It's a template-post for making, stuffing and frying most Indian flatbreads, whether puris, kochuris or parathas. It's the... third instalment of the how-to in an Indian kitchen series :-)

Making the Dough

To the flour, add some salt and a bit of sugar. Say, for every two cups of flour, add half a teaspoon granular sugar. Add salt according to your taste, but unless you're cooking for more than four at a time (or several meals of a smaller number of people) it shouldn't be more than half a teaspoon.

Now to the sifted flour, add some oil (we use sunflower oil at home) or two tablespoons of melted ghee. Mix the flour with this. Not all of the flour will be evenly mixed with the moyaan (ghee/oil + salt + sugar), but that's okay.

Now add warm water and make a nice, stretchy dough. The trick to making a lovely, springy dough is to add most of the required water at first in the middle of the heaped flour (which makes the dough very sticky), and slowly keep kneading in the peripheral flour till the water mixes evenly and the stickiness reduces.

If you're making luchis, skip straight to rolling out and frying.

I used a little too much oil for this dough. It shows in the lack of suppleness. Too much moyaan makes the dough too khasta or crisp, not a quality I like at all, but you might.

Stuffing the Dough

Make little balls from the dough. Flatten them lightly between your palms. Now make cups from each ball by pushing the centre in. Put in some of the filling. Pull the sides over the filling, seal them together and give the dough a twist so it doesn't come undone. Then flatten the sealed ball between your palms again, and roll it flat with a pin.

 Koraishutir kochuri stuffing.

 

Aloo porota stuffing

Daalpuri stuffing.

 

 Sealing the stuffing in.

 Pushing the crown back onto the dough-ball before rolling it.

 The near-perfect circle of koraishutir kochuri

 Rolled-out aloo porota

Frying the Luchi/Puri/Kochuri

For puris, kochuris and luchis: heat at least four inches of oil in a wok (flat-bottomed ware will need a LOT more oil, so stick to a wok). When the oil bubbles, throw in a tiny piece of flour. If it floats up immedietly, the oil is hot enough. Lower the flame (or the kochuri will char) and slide in one rolled-out kochuri at a time. When the kochuri is in the oil, turn the flame back up. It will -- or should -- make the kochuri/puri puff up immediately, starting at the centre. Flip it when it's all puffed up so both sides are properly fried, then take it off the wok. Drain on a kitchen towel if need be.

For parathas, the non-puffy flatbreads: first toast each paratha on a griddle, tawa, or even skillet. When both sides sport lovely golden-yellow toasty spots, pour a little oil, ghee or butter around the edge of the paratha. Let sizzle, adding more as you flip so both sides are toasted AND lightly fried. The golden-yellow spots should turn brown and golden-brown. Et voila!

Serve with potato curry, aloor dom, or their respective stuffing. Parathas can be combined with raita, but NEVER do that for the other stuffed flatbreads, thank you.

  Koraishutir kochuri in hot oil.

 Tawa/skillet toasted and fried aloo porota.

 Daalpuris served with pasted daal and green chilies.

 Koraishutir kochuri, with mustard and the seasoned green-pea filling.