Puri

Be it a Sunday morning breakfast, a festive meal or a quick evening snack, Puris have always been quite soulful and filling for any Indian food connoisseur. Puris are a type of fried Indian bread, made essentially with a mix of wheat flour, salt and oil kneaded to a dough. This is followed by taking out small portions, flattening them into medium disc-like structures with a rolling pin and deep frying them in hot vegetable oil till puffed up and golden. Puris are accompaniments to main dishes like bhajis (vegetable curry), Chola masala (chickpea curry) or even dum aloo (potato curry).

It was from the Vedic times that Puris were consumed, fried in ghee (clarified butter). The Vedic society considered anything cooked in ghee to be ‘pucca khana’, something that is pure, as ghee was used in traditional rituals and was offered to fire during prayers. Since then, it is believed that no religious festivity is complete without Puris being offered to Gods or consumed at the breakfast table.

Though Puris are often served with a side of savoury, over the years it has gained equal popularity when served with a side of sweet dish. Be it the Puri with Shrikhand from Gujrat. Puri stuffed with Nagori Halwa from Delhi or the famous Puri-Halwa consumed during Navratri (Indian festival), the Puris are sinful yet addictive.

The humble Puri, however, has adapted to regional tastes and evolved efficiently. The bhatura from Punjab is a larger variant of the Puri, while the luchi in Bengal and Orissa are cousins of Puri but made with refined flour or maida instead of wheat flour. Kachori, available across the country, also seems to be an upgraded version of the Puri with either stuffed lentils or peas. Recent innovations in making colourful Puris involve using spinach and beetroot (generally during Holi or the festival of colours) to match the spirit of festivities. Puris, being a revered street food in itself, have garnered increased fandom along with the ever-growing popularity of the Pani Puri, where the puris are much smaller and crisper, fried to form round balls, then filled up with spicy potato filling and dunked in zesty-tangy tamarind water. These bite-sized delicacies are a wonder, elevating your senses with a burst of flavour.