Puri (sometimes spelled as poori) is a deep-fried bread made from unleavened whole-wheat flour that originated in the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographical region in Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian Ocean from the Himalayas. Geopolitically, it includes the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, In ...

. It is eaten for

breakfast Breakfast is the first meal of the day usually eaten in the morning. The word in English refers to breaking the fasting period of the previous night.Anderson, Heather Arndt (2013)''Breakfast: A History'' AltaMira Press. Various "typical" or " ...

or as a snack or light meal. It is usually served with a savory curry or ''bhaji'', as in puri bhaji, but may also be eaten with sweet dishes. Puris are most commonly served as breakfast and snacks. It is also served at special or ceremonial functions as part of ceremonial rituals along with other

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetariani ...

food offered in Hindu prayer as prasadam.

Name

The name ''puri'' derives from the

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion ...

word पूरिका (pūrikā), from पुर (pura) "filled". In other Indian languages it is known as:

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Dogri: पूरी (pūrī) or पूड़ी (''pūṛī''), Kumaoni: लगड (''lagaḍ''), ta, பூரி (''boori''), te, పూరి (''pūri''), Gujarati: પૂરી, as, পুৰি (''puri''), bn, পূরি (pūrī), hi, पूड़ी (''pūṛī''), bho, पूड़ी (''pūṛī''), mr, पूरी (''pūrī''), kn, ಪೂರಿ (''pūri''), ml, പൂരി (''pūrī''), my, ပူရီ (''pūrī''), ne, पूरी (''puri''), or, ପୁରି (''puri''), pa, ਪੁੜੀ (''pūṛī''), Garhwali: पूरी (pūrī),

Ingredients

Puris are prepared with wheat flour, either atta ( whole wheat flour) or sooji (coarse wheat flour). In some recipes,

ajwain Ajwain, ajowan (), or ''Trachyspermum ammi''—also known as ajowancaraway, omam (in Tamil), thymol seeds, bishop's weed, or carom—is an annual herb in the family Apiaceae. Both the leaves and the seed‑like fruit (often mistakenly called ...

, cumin seed, spinach, or

fenugreek seeds Fenugreek (; ''Trigonella foenum-graecum'') is an annual plant in the family Fabaceae, with leaves consisting of three small obovate to oblong leaflets. It is cultivated worldwide as a semiarid crop. Its seeds and leaves are common ingredient ...

are added to the dough. The

dough Dough is a thick, malleable, sometimes elastic paste made from grains or from leguminous or chestnut crops. Dough is typically made by mixing flour with a small amount of water or other liquid and sometimes includes yeast or other leavenin ...

is either rolled out in a small circle or rolled out and cut out in small circles, then deep fried in

ghee Ghee is a type of clarified butter, originating from India. It is commonly used in India for cooking, as a traditional medicine, and for religious rituals. Description Ghee is typically prepared by simmering butter, which is churned from ...

or vegetable oil. While deep frying, puris puff up like a round ball because moisture in the dough changes into steam which expands in all directions. When they are golden-brown in color, they are removed and either served hot or saved for later use (as with the snack food pani puri). Rolled puris may be pricked with a fork before deep frying to make flat puris for chaat like bhel puri. A punctured puri does not puff when cooked because the steam escapes as it cooks.

Accompaniments

Puri can be eaten with many savory accompaniments, including korma, chana masala, dal, potato-based curries (for example, ''saagu'', ''bhaji'', ''bhujia'', ''Aloo ki tarkari'', ''shaak'', and ''sambharo''), shrikhand and basundi. In some parts of India, puri is also served with a mixed vegetable dish that is prepared during Hindu Puja. Puri is also eaten with sweet accompaniments, such as

kheer Kheer, also known as payasam, is a sweet dish and a type of wet pudding popular in the Indian subcontinent, usually made by boiling milk, sugar or jaggery, and rice, although rice may be substituted with one of the following: daals, bulgur wh ...

(a dessert prepared with rice, milk and sugar) or halwa (in Hindi-speaking regions of India, the expression "Halwa puri khana", "to eat puri with halwa", signifies a celebration – of possibly modest means). Puri is often the bread of choice for festivals and special occasions. In southern India, puri is almost always made for breakfast, and on the east coast (Andhra, Tamil Nadu) it's rarely eaten with non-vegetarian dishes. Often, they will be served with pickles, chutneys, dal masalas, potato masala, or gourd curry (either ivy, ridge, or bottle varieties).

Types, variants

A variant of puri is

bhatoora Bhatoora (also known as batoora, bhatura, batura, or pathora) ( hi, भटूरा, pa, ਭਟੂਰਾ) is a fluffy deep-fried leavened sourdough bread originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is commonly served as a midday meal or a br ...

, 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 bread is with yeast and puri bread made from unleavened dough. In the Indian state of

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...

a large size puri is made during Bali Yatra which is called ''thunka puri'' ().''Binita Jaiswal''
Fanfare & spectacle mark the opening of Bali Yatra
10 November 2011 Another variant, largely popular in the Northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh is ''bedvi''. It is a saltier and stiffer version of the regular puri, and is often stuffed with lentils. Another variant of the puri popular in the eastern states of West Bengal and Odisha is the luchi. In Assam, it is pronounced as ''lusi''. Luchis in Bengal are served with typical side dishes like aloor dum (potato preparation), begun bhaja (fried eggplant) and others The ''puris'' used for '' panipuri'' are smaller, and are usually made crisper by the addition of '' rava/sooji'' (semolina) to the dough.

Sev puri Sev puri is an Indian cuisine snack and a type of chaat. It is a speciality that originates from Pune, Maharashtra, India. In Pune and Mumbai, sev puri is strongly associated with street food, but is also served at upscale locations. Recently, ...

is an Indian snack offered by street vendors who serve chaat. Street vendors in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...

serve bhel in a throw-away folded leaf with a flat puri to scoop it. Fast food chains in the Middle East use puri for fried chicken wraps. File:Aloo Puri, typical morning snack, Varanasi.jpg, Aloo Puri, a typical morning snack in Varanasi, India File:Halwa Puri - Walled City of Lahore Punjab Pakistan is famous for this traditional food.jpg, Puri Frying in Pakistan File:Poori.jpg, Puri is traditionally deep fried. File:Dal Puri.JPG, Dal puri, a traditional Bengali version File:Pani Puri - Perfect Street food.JPG, Mini-puris are part of panipuri snack. It's crunchier in texture. File:Puri (food), fried dough food at Wikipedia's 16th Birthday celebration in Chittagong (01).jpg, Daal puri, Bangladesh File:Halwa Puri, a traditional food made in Walled City of Lahore.jpg, Thin bread is fried in oil and eaten with salty curry of chickpeas potatoes and sweet pudding. File:Puri used in Panipuri made from aata.jpg, Puri, made of wheat flour, which is used n Panipuri. File:Sooji Batashe used in Panipuri.jpg, Puri, made of rawa, which is used in Panipuri.

References

External links