Poori is a popular deep fried flatbread that’s served for breakfast across Pakistan and India. In Pakistan poori is part of a popular weekend breakfast called Halwa Puri, which is basically a platter of pooris served with halwa, punjabi chole masala and aloo ki bhujia (potato curry). Today, I’m going to teach you how to make delicious soft poori at home with step by step pictures and tips. Pair it with this Suji ka Halwa , Aloo ki Bhujia and Punjabi Chole Masala for a lipsmacking brunch.
How good do these pictures look? Halwa poori is one of my favourite weekend breakfasts, and while most people go out to have it as brunch, I like to make it all at home sometimes. This week I’m going to be sharing the ever popular halwa poori recipes with you, so that you too can make a delicious Pakistani brunch at home.
As mentioned above, halwa poori is a combination platter consisting of soft, flaky poori breads, suji ka halwa, Punjabi chole aka chana masala, and aloo ki bhujia (or aloo ki tarkari) and some sort of pickle. I'm going to be sharing the recipe for Punjabi chole masala this week, so stay tuned!
But first let's start with the star of the show, and let me walk you through step by step on how to make poori at home.
Poori / Puri Ingredients
- All purpose flour and whole wheat flour (atta): Most recipes call for either just all purpose flour OR whole wheat flour (atta). But I like to use a combination of both, because the all purpose flour provides softness to the poori, while the whole wheat flour adds to the structure of the poori.
- Yogurt: Adding just a little bit of yogurt to the poori dough ensures that your poori turns out soft at home.
- Ajwain seeds: This is optional and mostly for flavour. Ajwain also helps with digestion.
- Oil: Just a little bit of oil also helps to keep the poori soft.
- Warm water: You need warm water to knead to poori dough until a tight dough forms.
How to Make Soft Poori / Puri at Home
Poori can be perceived as a little tricky to make at home, but worry not. Today I’m going to walk you through how to make delicious and flaky pooris at home!
- Start by mixing all the poori dough ingredients except for the warm water.
- Gradually add warm water and knead the dough until a soft but tight dough forms. The dough should neither be too soft nor too hard.
- Once the poori dough is ready, cover it with a cloth and let it rest for 10-15 mins.
- After the dough has rested, divide it into small dough balls and start rolling them out.
- Flatten each dough ball a little bit with your fingers, and then roll them into flat thin discs. They need to be rolled thin so that they easily puff up while frying. A tip to prevent the dough sticking to the surface while rolling, just dab a little bit of oil on the dough balls while flattening them with your fingers before you start rolling them into discs.
- Roll out a few poori dough balls at a time, because pooris fry quickly and you need to work fast to roll out the dough balls. So I like to roll out a few at time, and then cover them with a damp cloth so that they don’t dry out fast.
- To check if the oil is hot enough for frying the poori, add a small piece of dough into the oil and if it floats up and sizzles, the oil is at the right temperature. The oil should be quite hot, because the pooris need to fry quickly.
- Gently slide in the poori and fry until it floats up and starts puffing up. Using a slotted spoon, gently flip the poori and then press softly with the slotted spoon. Do not fry the pooris for too long as that will make them too crispy.
- Fry until the poori is a pale golden brown color. Remove and place on a plate lined with kitchen paper towel.
Tips for Making Perfectly Soft Poori at Home
- The poori dough should be a little stiff /tight, and not too soft. This is so that the dough can be easily rolled out without sticking to the surface.
- Adding yogurt is optional, but it does help in making soft pooris.
- When rolling the dough ball into poori, add a little bit of oil to the dough ball so that it doesn’t stick to the surface while rolling.
- The key to making perfect pooris is that they should puff while frying. If your poori doesn’t puff up while frying, either the oil is too hot or cold or the dough wasn’t kneaded well enough.
- Don’t let the pooris fry for too long or else they will become too brown and crispy.
Hope you enjoy your lovely desi brunch after trying out my recipe for pooris!
More Popular and Delicious Pakistani Recipes for Brunch
Potato Curry Recipe (Aloo ki Bhujia)
Shahi Tukda (Indian Bread Pudding)
Poori Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup all purpose flour maida
- 2 cups whole wheat flour / atta
- Salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ajwain / carom seeds optional
- 2 tablespoons yogurt
- 2-3 tablespoons oil
- Warm water for kneading the dough
- Oil for deep frying
Instructions
- Mix together the all purpose flour, whole wheat flour, ajwain, yogurt and oil. Add warm water a little bit at a time, until a smooth and stiff dough has formed.
- Cover and rest for 10 minutes.
- Remove the dough from the bowl and divide it into medium sized dough balls. You will get about 8 to 10 dough balls.
- Heat oil in a wok and being rolling the pooris into a medium sized circles. Add a little bit of oil to each dough ball so that it does not stick when rolling into a circle.
- Before frying the poori, check the oil temperature by dropping a small piece of the poori dough into the hot oil. If it floats up immediately and doesn’t become brown the oil is at the correct temperature.
- Gently place the poori into the whole and fry until it floats and puffs up, then flip it and gently press with a slotted spoon.
- Once poori is golden brown, remove it and place on a paper towel lined plate.
- Continue with frying the pooris until all are fried.
- Serve immediately with halwa or chana masala.
Maryam
My pooris came out perfect! Thanks!
Wajeeha Nadeem
Yay! I'm glad you enjoyed them Maryam! 🙂
J
Why haven't you memtioned the quantities of the ingredients? How can we follow your step by step method when the 1st step is missing?
Wajeeha Nadeem
Hi J. There's a recipe card below in the post with all the recipe ingredients along with their quantities and recipe instructions. Hope this helps.
muhammad noor
achi hai