Puris - three way

I rarely fry at home. It is usually limited to special occasions like birthdays, Diwali or Gudi Padwa. It is winter time and the temperatures are dipping. My teenage daughter likes fried food. So I gave in to her food choice and decided to make puris today. Now that I have decided to fry puris, how can I make them a bit healthier? I used wheat flour instead of refined flour and decided to add vegetables.

My fridge had all the vegetables in stock and it was easy for me to choose vegetables for puri. I used spinach (Palak) and Kasuri Methi for one puri variety. Beet root is one of my least favorite vegetable. I know it is a great source of iron so why not use it in Puris? That was my second variety - Beet root puris. For the third variety, I chose carrot (Gajar). Beet root and carrot both are root vegetables and sweet to taste. I decided to make one sweet variety and the other two savory.

So, here is Puri recipe - three way.

Ingredients:
For carrot puris:
1 large carrot - boiled and mashed,

1/2 cup of sugar,

A pinch of salt

1 cup wheat flour

water to knead the dough

For spinach puris:
1 cup of spinach leaves - blanched and cut finely,

1 tbsp of sesame seeds,

1 tbsp of carrom seeds (Ajwain),
1/2 tbsp Kasuri methi,
1 tsp chili powder,
1 tsp garam masala,
Salt as per taste,
1 tbsp besan flour,
1/2 tsp fenugreek powder (Methi) (optional)
3/4 cup wheat flour,
1 tbsp yogurt,
water to knead the dough

For beetroot puris:
1 medium sized beetroot - peeled, boiled and mashed,
1 tbsp of sesame seeds,
1 tsp chili powder,
1/2 tsp fenugreek powder (Methi) (optional),
1 tsp chili powder,
salt as per taste,
3/4 cup wheat flour,
1 tbsp yogurt,
water to knead the dough

Oil for frying

Cut carrot, boil it and drain the water. Mash the boiled carrots. You can retain this boiled vegetable water for soups. In a flat vessel,  add sugar to the mashed carrots, a pinch of salt and add wheat flour slowly. Mix little wheat flour and keep kneading. Add more wheat flour to get dough consistency. The dough is soft like paratha dough. Keep it covered for 15 minutes. Make small balls and keep it ready for rolling.

Peel beet root, cut it into pieces and boil. Drain the water from beet root and store it for vegetable stock or soups. Mash the boiled beetroot. Take a separate plate or a flat vessel for mixing this dough. Add sesame seeds, chili powder, fenugreek powder, yogurt and salt. Mix it well and slowly start adding wheat flour. Keep mixing and add more water if needed to get a good dough. Adjust water and wheat flour to get the right dough consistency - like paratha or chapati dough. Keep it covered for 15 minutes. Make small balls and keep it ready for rolling.

Blanch spinach and chop it fine. In a separate bowl or plate, mix spinach with kasuri methi, sesame seeds, carrom seeds, chili powder, garam masala, fenugreek powder, yogurt, salt and besan flour. Mix it well. Add little by little wheat flour, mixing it well. Add more wheat flour or water as needed to get the right dough consistency. Keep it covered for 15 minutes. Make small balls and keep it ready for rolling.

Keep two separate kadhais for frying puris - one for sweet carrot puris and the other for savory beetroot and spinach puris. Heat kadhai and add oil. Keep the flame on medium and start rolling puris. I chose to finish rolling sweet puris first and then started rolling savory puris. Once the oil is hot, test the oil by putting a tiny portion of the dough in boiling oil. It should come up to the surface instantly. This means the oil is well heated for frying. Fry all varieties of puris and let it cool down. Once cooled down, store them in tight air lid containers.

Tip: If you want to make these puris vegan, skip the yogurt and just use water for kneading the dough.

You can have these puris as snacks or with a vegetable gravy as meals. They stay fresh for at least a week (that is if they are not finished by then). :)

Enjoy!