Pani Puris ---- I must tell you that in this quarantine time, I have realised that I am soooooo in love with chaats. I have never missed something so much. The basic reason is you majorly procure the raw materials like puris, sev etc from market generally and during this time you cant do that. So I thought of trying my hands on making puris and trust me I never knew they were so easy to make and the result will be so satisfying.

Ingredients :-

Suji / Semolina – 1 Cup

Baking soda – 2 pinch

Salt – ¼ tsp

Oil – 1 tsp + for frying

Water – 8 to 10 tbsp max or a little more if needed

Maida – 1 tbsp

Method : -

 Method : -

1.      Take Suji in a blender jar and churn it once or twice to make it still finer. Suji should not be roasted

2.      Take the churned Suji in a  bowl. Add in this baking soda, salt and 1 tsp oil and mix well with fingers, ensuring an even cover of oil on suji

3.      Now add to this mix, 1 tbsp maid and again mix well with fingers.

4.      Now gradually add 1 – 1 tbsp water, ensuring a good knead of dough with hands post addition of 1 tbsp.

5.      The gradual add of water and successive kneading will ensure that the water is absorbed well by Suji and gluten formation happens rightly and as much as possible.

6.      You shall need 8 to 10 tbsp water max. While adding water, there shall be one stage where you shall feel that the dough shall not take up any more water.

7.      The dough will totally be soft, crack free and elastic. While you pull the dough apart between two hands, it will pull well and not immediately break. It will appear as if totally made from Maida. This total process shall take 20-25 minutes since kneading is a process that shall take time.

8.      Now, cover the dough with damp cloth for 30 minutes.

9.      Post this divide the dough in 3 – 4 equal parts. Take one portion and keep the rest portions covered in wet cloth

10.   Roll the taken portion, on a flat surface as thin as possible. I rolled it on a glass table and rolled it that thin that the glass was more or less visible from the rolled dough. Since the dough has been kneaded well and is elastic, will help you to lift it in between and aid rolling without the breakage of the dough. Do not put oil or dry floor to aid rolling, this will make dough dry and will not aid puffing of puris when fried.

11.   Now with a cookie cutter or right sized lid / bowl, make roundels on the rolled dough. This shall make some 20-30 roundels (roundels shall be as close as possible, leading to less wastage of dough). Remove the additional sides of dough, ensuring puris are separated well. The removed dough shall be kept again under the wet cloth.

12.   Gradually roll the entire dough and cut puris. This shall make like 80 – 100 puris. Place all the puris on plate, not touching each other and cover with wet cloth while you finish the rolling of the total dough.

13.   Heat the oil to medium hot oil. Drop a ball of dough and it shall gradually come up, ensuring oil is rightly hot. Reduce the flame to medium low and slowly drop puris into it. Put 4-6 at a  time so that you can manage well. The moment you drop the puris in , they will puff up into nicely and come on the surface. Keep flipping them and let them be in oil till they turn nice golden brown ( a little more on brown side and not golden in color). This coloring not only will ensure good look and feel but also a good crunch as well.

14.   Let the puris cool down on cooking cloth / kitchen towel and once down, shift them to air tight lid

15.   Enjoy these puris well as pani pari or dahi puris or sev bateta puris during this period of quarantine, when you know you cant go out and access such luxuries.

Stay safe and stay happy. Keep it desi.