The name puri derives from the Sanskrit word पूरिका, from पुर "filled". It has a similar name in many Asian languages including: Gujarati: પૂરી, পুৰি, পুরি, पूड़ी, पूरी, ಪೂರಿ , പൂരി, ပူရီ, पूरी, ପୁରି, ਪੁੜੀ, பூரி, పూరి, Georgian: პური, پوری
Ingredients
Puris are prepared with wheat flour, either atta or sooji . In some recipes, ajwain, cumin seed, spinach, or fenugreek seeds are added to the dough. The dough is either rolled out in a small circle or rolled out and cut out in small circles, then deep fried in ghee 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. 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, shrikhand and basundi. In some parts of India, puri is also served with a mixed vegetable dish that is prepared during Puja. Puri is also eaten with sweet accompaniments, such as kheer or halwa. Puri is often the bread of choice for festivals and special occasions. In the South of India, puri is almost always made for tiffin, and on the east coast it's rarely eaten with non-vegetarian dishes. Often, they will be served with pickles, chutneys, dal masalas, potato masala, or gourd curry.
Types, variants
A variant of puri is bhatoora, which is three times the size of a puri and served with chholey. It often constitutes a full meal.. Bhatoora bread is with yeast and puri bread made from unleavened dough. In the Indian state of Odisha a large size puri is made during Bali Yatra which is called thunka puri. 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, begun bhaja and others The puris used for panipuri are smaller, and are usually made crisper by the addition of rava/sooji to the dough. Sev puri is an Indian snack offered by street vendors who serve chaat. Street vendors in Mumbai serve bhel in a throw-away folded leaf with a flat puri to scoop it.
