Puri (also poori) is a type of deep-fried flatbread, with an unleavened wheat dough. Puri originated from the northern Indian subcontinent, where it is one of the most common flatbreads; it is a staple food in parts of the subcontinent. It resembles chapati but is deep-fried. Similar deep-fried breads from the region include bhatura, luchi, and kachori.

Puri is made of wheat flour, typically atta, which forms a dough with oil and water. This is rolled into circles that inflate while deep-frying. Due to the cooking method, puri is high in fat and calories. Puris are commonly served as a breakfast or snack, typically paired with other foods. It may be paired with savory foods, such as potato or chickpea curry, or with sweets. Variants of puri may use different types of flour or add puréed vegetables to the dough. Other variants are stuffed. Small, spherical puris are used for panipuri and sev puri, while flat puris are used for papri chaat and bhel puri; these dishes are classified as chaat.

Foods resembling puri may have existed in ancient India, and recipes were recorded by the fifteenth century. Puri is often served on holidays and other events. It is also served as in Hindu prayer as prasadam, offerings to deities.

Name

The word puri, or poori, entered English from Hindi (). It originates from the Sanskrit word (), meaning either 'cake' or 'blown up'. The Sanskrit word described a fried gram flour food more similar to modern papri than puri.

Preparation

Puris are flatbreads prepared with wheat flour along with either oil or ghee, enough water to form a stiff dough, a type of pot whose rounded shape uses less oil and avoids spillage. Common frying oils include rice bran oil and soybean oil. The dough is fried for about 30–40 seconds at about or for 60–180 seconds at . The cooking time depends on volume, thickness, and the amount of moisture and oil. While deep frying, puris puff up because moisture in the dough changes into steam, expanding to ten times the initial volume. As steam forms, a puri floats to the top of the oil, causing it to cook on one side at a time. This requires it to be flipped, and it is often pushed down to be coated in oil. The steam pushes the crust away from the crumb and results in partial starch gelatinisation between the layers, which is high due to the high temperature. Puri has a much denser crumb than yeast breads.

Puri is cooked until browned, and the oil is drained. It is served hot. The texture is soft due to the oil. Madhur Jaffrey writes, "it takes years of practice to make really fine, soft pooris. It is said in Benares that if twenty five pooris were stacked on a plate and a coin dropped on the lot, the sound of the coin hitting the plate should be heard with clarity." Another similar bread is bhatura, which is made with yeast and yoghurt in the dough, while puri is made from unleavened dough. Kachori, commonly described as a stuffed puri, typically uses a filling of pulses and does not inflate as much as puri.

Serving

<!--thumb|Aloo puri (puri and potato curry), served as a morning snack in [[Varanasi, India]]-->

Puri may be a breakfast, a light meal, or a snack. Like other Indian breads, puri is usually eaten with other foods, though it may be eaten on its own. It may be eaten with sweet or savoury foods.

The most common accompaniments are curries of chickpeas or potatoes. Puri served with potato curry comprises the North Indian breakfast . A Punjabi breakfast may pair puri with both potato and chickpea curries. Another potato curry served with puri is the Gujarati and Parsi dish . The chickpea curry chana masala, a common street food, is served with puri. Other savory accompaniments include pickle or fried vegetables.

Sweets that are commonly served with puri include the East Indian pua and the Western Indian shrikhand, doodhpak, and aamras. The sweet jalebi is often eaten alongside puri for breakfast, served with halwa in North India. The Tamil sweet consists of puri dipped in kheer.

Nutrition and chemistry

A typical Bangladeshi puri, which is made of 50&nbsp;grams of atta and 5&nbsp;grams of oil, contains 219 calories. Due to being deep fried, puri contains more fat than other South Asian flatbreads, which makes it high in calories. The fat content is between 21% and 24%, or sometimes up to 30%, including about 7.6% of trans fats, while the moisture content is about 20%–23%. Puri has a protein content of about 12% and a starch content of about 40%, including a high level of insoluble dietary fibre. One puri contains about 300 milligrams of sodium.

Compared to chapati, puri is low in minerals, though this may be increased using fortifications such as amaranth. Though the flour used in puri contains vitamins, the cooking process results in a loss of 50% of folate and 40% of other vitamins, including riboflavin and niacin. Loss of water as steam results in significant loss of vitamin B<sub>12</sub> and fast degradation of vitamin D<sub>3</sub>.

thumb|alt=Puri with a golden colour|The [[Maillard reaction causes the colour of puri.]]

Puris may vary in size, method, and oil uptake. Oil uptake is high in puris, and it is higher in puris with lower water content. As puri floats to the top of the frying oil, it absorbs less oil than foods that are fully immersed while frying (as with a deep fryer). In Odisha, a large puri is made during Bali Yatra, which is called . Additionally, members of the Bene Israel community of Jews in India eat puri on Purim. Puri is also eaten at weddings across India. It is eaten with halwa at Sikh funerals.

Puris are commonly given as prasada offered to Hindu deities in North India. Sweet puris are also used as prasada. In the folk religion of the Jad people of the Himalayas, puri is offered to certain deities who do not receive animal sacrifices, including Rengali.

Types and variants

There are many variants of puri. The dish known as paratha in the Paranthe Wali Gali area of Delhi is more similar to a stuffed puri or bedmi than a typical paratha.

Some versions of puri are sweet. Gujhia is a sweet puri stuffed with milk, wheat, coconut, and nuts, and folded into a crescent. Panipuris have a filling that may include chutney, potatoes, and chickpeas; different ingredients are used for regional variants such as golgappa and phuchka.