Bhatura – Crisp and Fermented Fried Bread
One of our (the husband and mine) favorite Indian roadside treats is eating Choley with Bhatura. Now the Bhatura for the uninitiated is a seductive, fermented slightly chewy, slightly tangy, fried bread. Bhatura is a native from the Northern State of Punjab. Traditionally, I imagine, done without yeast and refined flour. Most recipes tend to use all purpose flour and semolina with yeast for quick results. My recipe here uses sourdough starter, and whole wheat flour and the instant pot to ferment the batter. The result is pure magic! Delicate in its texture! And absolutely perfect for this crazy cold and snowy weather. I made some over the weekend, and baring the fermentation this is delight without a lot of effort.
What exactly is a Bhatura
In simple terms, it is much like an Indian fry bread. Traditionally, even without the sourdough, some leavening, usually a combination of yogurt and baking soda is used. Traditional ingredients include semolina, yogurt and baking soda, resulting in a puffy and slightly crisp texture.
My Story About Sourdough Bhatura
And, for the fermentation, the oven with the pilot light, or frankly any good warm place in the house would work. And for me, until I can hit StreetSide stalls in India again, this will get me through. A note of the planning like most things, that I need to ferment, such as dosa or idly, I just plan on this at night and let the yeast do an overnight party. It guarantees good results and makes good use of human sleeping hours.
Some tips and Tricks
A few things for the Bhatura dough, texture and puffiness.
- Do give the dough enough time to rest and rise. It needs to double happily and feel soft and puffy.
- When rolling make sure there are no little holes in the Bhatura dough, it is easy to get fooled with its puffy composition.
- To ensure that your Bhatura’s puff up you need to make sure that your oil is hot, hot, hot.
And I am happy to report that my recipe collection of sourdough flatbreads on this site is growing. For good measure try,
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A sourdough fermented whole wheat version of this signature bread from North India.
Ingredients
- 3 cups whole wheat flour (atta)
- 1/2 cup semolina (sooji)
- 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
- 2 tablespoons yogurt
- 1/2 cup sourdough discard
- water as needed for rolling the dough
- 2 to 3 cups of neutral oil such as Canolla
Instructions
- Mix the wholewheat flour with the semolina. Stir in the salt. Add in the yogurt and the sourdough discard to form a shaggy dough. Add in enough water to make a smooth but not overly soft dough.
- Place in a container with enough room to allow the dough to rise and grow and place in a warm place. For instant pot proofing, place this in the instant pot. Set on yogurt mode for 8 hours.
- The dough should have doubled by now. Push down and allow this to rise for a couple of hours. Break into 10 to 12 balls. Roll into 4 to 5 inch circles, about 1/4 cm thick. It is a little thicker than puri.
- Heat the oil in a large wok (large enough to comfortably allow the bhatura to rise and cook).
- Again the oil should be very hot.
- Add the bhatura's one at a time, allow them to puff up. Cook them until golden brown on each side and turn.
- These will be a little darker than what you find in a restaurant, or roadside as they are made with wholewheat flour.
- Serve hot with your favorite chickpea recipe.