Beet Puri

We have had all kinds of puris..haven't we? How about some beet ones...I tried these first from a lady, who was my daily tiffin provider for lunch; a common practice in Mumbai to carry home-cooked tiffin/lunch to work.Though I've never had this in my packed tiffin; I happen to get a taste of it from her kitchen. I really liked the idea of adding beet in puris and visually they look great. It's definitely an eye catcher on your dining table.

2cups wheat flour
1cup beet purée (boiled & puréed in a blender)
2tbs roasted sesame seeds
salt to taste (optional)
any refined or groundnut oil for frying


Take  flour and mix beet purée make a soft dough. I opted out the option of adding salt as beet already contains sodium  and I prefer to use less salt in my cooking.Once you've got the dough to the right consistency, add 2 tbs of oil and continue to knead. The dough will become silky in texture. Cover with a damp cloth now and keep aside in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.

Remove from refrigerator and divide the dough into golf ball-sized portions.Roll round balls and roll it into a circle using a rolling pin (roll each ball into a 5" circle). For convenience, roll out as many Puris as you like, stacking them, ready to cook with a layer of cling film between each Puri.
Roll into a circle of desired thickness and take care not to make it too thin. Heat the oil for deep frying in a thick-bottomed flat pan on a medium flame.
Deep fry the Puris one at a time, pressing very gently on each side with a slotted spoon. This will help the Puri to puff up! Fry one the first side till golden then turn over and fry the same way on the other side. Drain on paper towels and serve hot.
Serve them with any vegetarian curry or your favorite pickle. I served mine with Peas curry (will share the recipe soon). I got about 15 puris.

A handy tip: For foods like gujias, samosas or puris, that are made of or have an outer covering/wrap of flour-dough and need deep-frying, prepare in advance and chill them in the refrigerator. This way when you do fry them they will consume less oil and therefore have a lower fat content!

My tastebuds: I've always eaten beet fresh and never in any fried form. I liked the combination of the sesame seeds and beet. Few bites of the seeds, gives it a nice flavour.

This is my submission to this month's event, Food Palette - Red, hosted by Torview and to Complete My Thali, hosted by Torview and Joy of Cooking.