Cholle Bhature/ Bhatura / Indian fried bread.

Bhatura / Indian fried bread.

Cholle bhature

Bhatura/ Indian fried bread made of maida/ plain flour is served along with cholle or spicy chick peas an Indian delicacy from the north.

Bhatura/ Bhature

Cholle bhature is one of my favourite brunch recipes. Indian bread and other breads have nothing in common except the kneading step. Otherwise there’s a huge difference in the way they are made and the way they all look and of course the taste. There is one more thing about Indian breads, they taste the best when they are homemade and steaming hot, especially if it’s fried and it’s a bhatura. But what if you have no time and patience for that don’t worry here’s a recipe that will suit all the fussy eaters whether you like it hot or at room tempt soft or crispy it’s all possible in one recipe.

I am using the self-rising flour to give it that little rise and softness that would last even when the bhaturas are cold. Don’t have self- rising flour just add baking powder. Sieving is an extra step that you could skip but I do it so everything’s well incorporated and it just adds to the fluffiness of the bhaturas.

Semolina is usually added to make the bhaturas crispy, so it’s entirely up to you skip it reduce it or just add the amount stated in the recipe for a balanced bhatura.

Semolina/ Suji

Add in the yogurt, oil first before adding any water. Adding yogurt works in many ways, one of them is that bhatura will be white. Now, if you’d rather prefer them more colored then go ahead and reduce the amount of yogurt.

Mix till all comes together as dough and knead the dough.

Cover with a damp cloth and let it rest. Resting step is very crucial a minimum of 2 hours is needed.

Finally knead the dough again, it will now be nice and soft (use a drop of oil if required) and roll it out to an even thickness (use some flour to prevent it from sticking but make sure to dust off as much as you can before frying)

 

Roll it out to an even thickness

And finally fry it!

 

Fried Bhatura

Serves: 4

Makes: 12 medium bhatura

Ingredients:

 Self-rising flour – 1 ½ cup + more for dusting/rolling out

Or

Plain flour - 1 ½ cup + more for dusting/rolling out

Baking powder - ¼ tsp.

Other ingredients:

Baking soda – ¼ tsp.

Yogurt – 4 tbsp.

Semolina – 1 tbsp.

Salt to taste

Water.

Oil – 1 tbsp.

Oil for deepfrying

Cheese cloth or kitchen towel.

Method:

 Sieve the flour, baking soda, salt in a mixing bowl.

Add semolina (optional) to the dough and stir it in

Add Oil, yogurt and mix until everything comes together as dough, use water if required to knead the dough (it should neither be tough nor be too sticky).

Cover with a damp cheese cloth or kitchen towel and let it rest for a minimum 2 hours.

After the resting step, Heat oil for deep frying (medium heat).

 Knead the dough, pinch medium sized balls and roll out into medium thickness bhaturas.

Test oil by throwing a dot sized dough ball, if it floats up slowly but immediately (as opposed to settling down), oil is ready for frying bhaturas.

Fry the bhaturas, until crisp and golden, serve hot with chana or cholle/ Chickpeas.