Food Stories is a column in which Best of Vegan community members share recipes from their cultures and personal stories connected to those dishes. Today, Priya Narayanan of @spices.and.spoons shares five of her vegan Diwali recipes, including this Vegan Poori.
This recipe was featured in this week’s Culture Tuesday column. Click here to see the full article.
When it comes to Indian festivals, “healthy” might not be the word of choice, instead, it’s all about comfort and tradition. When it comes to festival season, nothing can surpass the craving of this classic dish that – poori.
Poori, also spelled as, ‘puri,’ is a deep-fried bread made from unleavened wholewheat dough. It is often served as an accompaniment to a savory sauce such as aloo mattar, chana masala, and korma. However, it can also be served as an accompaniment to sweet dishes/desserts such as payasam (kheer).
Text, recipe & photography by Priya Narayanan (@spices.and.spoons).
Ingredients
- 3 cups whole wheat flour
- 2 tbsp rava or semolina
- ½ cup chickpea flour
- ¾-1 cup warm water - or as needed
- 2 tsp salt - to taste
- 1 tbsp oil
- ~2 cups oil - for frying
Instructions
- Combine the wholewheat flour, semolina, chickpea flour, and salt in a large mixing bowl.
- Slowly add slightly warm water, a little at a time, and knead the flour to form a thick/soft dough. For a crispier poori, use less water so the dough is stiffer. (N.B. Do not add cold water or water straight from the tap)
- Add the 1 tbsp of oil to the dough and knead the dough until it is firm, yet soft, and is no longer sticky.
- Cover the dough with a damp kitchen towel and let the dough rest for about 30 mins.
- Heat the 2 cups of oil in a frying pan at medium-low.
- While it heats up, roll the dough into small 4-5 inch diameter circles (or to your preferred size).
- Fry them in the hot oil and gently press down the top side of the poori to help them rise/puff up. Also, pour oil from the pan over the poori to help with the puffing process.
- Once risen, turn the poori and fry them top-down for about 30 seconds.
- Serve them immediately with spicy potato and peas masala and some homemade Indian pickles.
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