HKC 4.10: PURIS

Add ghee solids to flour and mix with hands until flour is consistency of coarse corn meal. Add water a little at a time; keep mixing. Knead dough about 10 to 15 minutes. Cover with a dampened cloth and let sit about 1/2 hour. For rolling, rub a little ghee on a table top and onto rolling pin. Pinch off bits of dough into balls 1 1/2" in diameter. Roll into round, flat, thin puris. It takes a little practice to get them perfectly round.

Place puri in hot ghee. Push it to the bottom and bathe it in ghee. It will rise up and puff up, like a balloon. Turn over quickly; remove with tongs. To drain them nicely, prepare in advance a cardboard box lined with paper toweling. Stand puris up in long lines to drain. Puris are traditionally served plain, but they may be sprinkled with confectioner's sugar or spread with chopped walnuts, raisins and honey. They are delicious served with fruit chutneys or with wet cauliflower and potatoes.