Bhatura - AFF Indian Subcontinent #6

Bhatura or Bhatoora is a deep fried flat bread leavened with baking soda, originating from North India.

It is similar to Poori, something that we are more common with. Poori is made with whole wheat flour or atta flour, whereas bhatura is generally made with plain flour.

For a visually successful bhatura, it should inflate during frying and stay inflated when cooled. Out of 11 that I fried, only 1 was fully inflated. At the end of the frying... I still couldn't figure out how and why. I'm really happy that at least one ballooned up. My heart was thumping with joy when I saw that one puffy piece.

The flat ones were not wasted. My kids munched on the crispy flat breads, literally FLAT breads and I received good comments for taste and texture.

If you prefer not to deep fry, you can pan fry (without oil) them and the outcome will be kulcha instead.
I served my bhaturas complete with chole masala, onions and lemon. This combination is called Chole Bhatura.

Bhatura
Source: Rak's Kitchen

260gm plain flour (9.8% protein)
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 Tbsp sugar
Scant 1/4tsp baking soda
125gm natural yogurt
1.5 Tbsp oil
2 Tbsp milk or more if needed

1. Sift flour with baking soda.
2. Mix everything together and knead until a smooth dough forms. Let the dough rest for 2 hours.
3. Form balls of dough weighing around 40gm, let them rest for 5 to 10 minutes. Flour and roll each thinly to about 2mm in thickness.
4. Deep fry the bread until they puff up and turn golden. (I'm not good at this!)

The flat ones.... hehehe. No waste no waste!

I am submitting this to Asian Food Fest Indian Subcontinent Month, 

hosted by Alvin of Chef and Sommelier