Bhatura

This is something that I normally only eat at restaurants... and among my favorite dishes. Though I know it's rather unhealthy - what with it being deep-fried, refined flour, there is something delicious about the chewy, slightly tangy, puffed up bread and with a spicy chole/ channa masala on the side, it couldn't get any better. I was thinking that it has been very long since I had this... slightly more than 2 years to be precise. Though I make pooris once in a while, bhaturas are something that I pretty much reserve as an item to eat out.

On a whim, I set about kneading the dough for this and after about 4 hours or so, the batter looked fluffy and seemed to have grown in size a bit.. so the yogurt apparently lends to some fermentation. Very soon, I was rolling them out into small bhaturas and was so happy when they puffed up beautifully. This and channa masala made for a very satisfying, albeit filling dinner. The following makes about 6 to 7 small bhaturas.

BHATURAS


Ingredients:
All purpose Flour (Maida) - 1.5 cups
Rava (Semolina) - 1 tbsp
Yogurt - 2 tbsp (a bit sour would be good)
Baking powder - 3/4 tsp
Salt - half tsp, or to taste
Sugar - a pinch
Water - as required to make a dough
Oil - to deep fry

Method:
1) Knead the above with water as required to make a stiff dough. Cover and allow to rest for atleast 4 hours. The dough seemed softer & fluffier after this resting period.

2) Pinch off small balls of dough, dust in all purpose flour and roll out into slightly thick rounds.

3) Heat oil in a pan to deep fry (ensure that it's not too hot) slip in the rolled out dough, and press gently so it puffs up all around. Flip over and let the other side cook as well. This won't be totally brown but will have a pale colour. Repeat with the rest of the dough.