Fried Food?!

Not many people can say ‘no’ to fried food and the ‘poori’ is one among them for me. I stay away from eating fried food outside but don’t mind eating a little once in a few months. Potato chips is the hardest for me to say ‘no’ to. In the past few years I have deliberately stayed away from eating a lot of food which doesn’t make me feel great. Unless I am stressed, I can say ‘no’ to fried food because I know how it makes me feel after. Now I can even resist the craving of fried potato chips 🙂

However, thanks to being Celiac , gluten free poori is not something I can find in a restaurant or anywhere else. So, if I want to eat poori’s , I have to make them, as a result I eat them very rarely and it fits in with my food philosophy as well. If you are reading this and you don’t know what a poori is, its just an Indian flatbread which is deep fried and eaten with a spicy curry.

I have experimented with a lot of flours to make ‘poori’s’ over the last 10 years of being a Celiac. So this time around , I tried a new approach. I used a little yoghurt ( like in a naan/bhatura ) , sourdough discard and I am happy with the texture and crunch. I gave a little to my husband and asked him to guess what it is and pat came the reply ‘ It tastes like poori’. Mission accomplished! He grew up North, loves poori/ bhatura and all the fried food you get there, and he knows what good authentic North Indian food should taste like and since he approved it I know , I got it right. So, here is how I made the poori’s.

Recipe

What you will need : A wide bottomed pan for frying,a bowl for mixing the dough, a flat surface for rolling out the poori’s and a rolling pin.

Servings – 10 -12

Ingredients

  • Gluten free flour – 1 cup
  • Sorghum / Jowar flour – 1/2 cup
  • Salt – a pinch
  • Yoghurt/curd – 2 tsp
  • Sourdough discard – 3 tsp
  • Water – 1/2 cup
  • Oil for frying – 1.5 cup

Method

  • Take the bowl and mix in the gluten free flour and sorghum. Add to the mix yoghurt, sourdough discard and water.
  • Mix and knead to get a pliable dough.
  • Cover the dough and keep in a warm spot for an hour or atleast half an hour.
  • Divide the dough into lime size balls.
  • On a flat surface or board flour the surface with gluten free flour.
  • Roll each dough ball into a circular discs.
  • Take the wide bottomed frying pan and heat the oil. To test if the oil is hot enough, first drop a little dough into it and if it starts sizzling, your oil is hot enough for the poori’s.
  • Serve the hot poori’s with a potato baji or chole masala , or you can eat it plain.

Notes

  1. I used Schar’s gluten free atta. You may use any gluten free flour mix or your own mix.
  2. If you don’t have sourdough discard you can use yoghurt and baking soda. The same quantity of yoghurt plus 1/4 tsp of baking soda.
  3. You can also bake this. Brush the poori’s with oil and bake in a preheated oven at 200 degree Celsius for 10 minutes. The texture is better off when you fry it.