Appears in
Oxford Companion to Food

By Alan Davidson

Published 2014

  • About

poori an Indian bread prepared in a similar way to chapati, but deep fried in such a way that the pooris puff up.

Pooris are made with a variety of flours depending on the type of poori with a small addition of oil or ghee and enough warm water to make a stiff dough which is then kneaded. The dough is then usually divided up into balls which are then flattened and rolled out into rounds. The frying is done in a utensil called karhai, using smoking hot oil or ghee.

Some pooris are stuffed, with various vegetables and spices. For these the dough is rolled out, the filling placed in the centre, and the edges folded up to enclose it completely. The dough is then carefully rolled out again before being fried.