Puris are an Indian flatbread made by deep-frying dough in oil. They can be eaten for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, or even as a snack. Adding ajwain gives them a hearty and warm twist!
Ajwain puris are quite delicious, and go well with potato bhaji or even shrikhand and amras. You can make quite a variety of puris by adding different ingredients. Have you ever tried beetroot puris, these are yum and a great way of getting your kids to eat beetroot. Or why not try our ajwain puri recipe below…
What is Ajwain? What Are The Other Names For Ajwain?
Ajwain is actually a fruit, not a seed, but is often called a seed because it looks like one. It is mainly found in India and Iran. Ajwain is also called ajowan, ova, bishop’s weed, thymol seeds, or carom seeds. Ajwain tastes sharp, pungent, and has a tinge of bitterness.
Why Add Ajwain to Puris?
Ajowan or ajwain is used to add flavor to food. It provides internal heat to the body, is anti-inflammatory, and also cures a number of diseases.
What Ingredients Do You Need to Make Ajwain Puri?
All you need to make ajwain puris is oil, salt, water, wheat flour, and ajwain aka carrom seeds, and also oil for frying.
How to make Ajwain Puris?
Mix the oil, salt, water, and wheat flour and knead into a dough. Also, add in the ajwain or carrom seeds. Add as much or as little water as needed to form a non-sticky firm dough.
Make small balls of the dough and roll them into puris. This is done by making flat circles like chapatis. Deep fry these puris in oil and when they are cooked remove them, try to drain out as much oil as possible, and place them on a thali with paper towels to drain any excess oil.
And that’s it, the warm puris are ready to serve!
Ajwain Puris: Deep-fried Indian Flat-Breads
Click the stars to add your rating! Left you don’t like it, right you love it!
Ingredients
- 250 g Flour – Wheat Flour
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- Water as needed
- 1 Tablespoon Oil
- 1 teaspoon Ajwain (Ova) Ova or Carom Seeds
- 250 ml Oil For deep frying the Puris
Instructions
- Knead the wheat flour, salt, oil, ajwain and water into a firm dough.
- Make small dough balls and roll the dough balls into 5-inch flat circles or puris. You can make smaller or bigger ones if you wnat to.
- Heat the oil in a deep pan or wok. We call it a kadai.
- Drop a few puris in the oil.
- Fry the puris while stirring occasionally.
- Use a sieve spoon to remove the puris, and place them on a kitchen towel to drain any excess oil.
- If you can, store the puris in thermal container or roti casserole till you serve.
Please click to rate the recipe! Left you don’t like it, right you love it!
Notes
- Use powdered salt as this mixes easily in the dough and you don’t have salt chunks.
- To save time, roll the dough into a big circle and cut it into triangles.
- For a sweeter puri that appeals to young ones, try this beetroot puri recipe.
Stuff You Might Want to Use
Nutrition (Per Serving)
Disclaimer: Nutrition Information per serving is estimated by a third party software based on the ingredients used, and is for informational purposes only. It will vary from product to product, based on methods of preparation, origin and freshness of ingredients. Please consult the package labels of the ingredients you use, or chat with your dietician for specific details.
This printable recipe card is for home use only. For more recipes head over to AbbysPlate.comCooking Tips & Tricks
- Use powdered salt if you can to avoid getting any large chunks that don’t dissolve.
- You can also make larger size puris or circles and cut them into quarters like we do for our regular pooris.
- No, you can’t make them gluten-free.
- Roast the ova or ajwain before adding to the dough. This gives it more flavor.
- Use paper towels to drain the excess oil from the puris.
- You can also try to make beetroot puris.
Questions about Cooking Ajwain Puris
If I Cannot Find Ajowan, Can I Use Some Other Spice?
Yes, of course. You can use any spice in these puris. Just change the name of the puri by annotating the name of the spice you use. That’s how it works.
- If you use cumin (jeera in Hindi), call it jeera puris.
- If you use caraway (shah jeera in Hindi), call it shah jeera puris.
- If you use chili powder, call it masala puris.
How Long Can You Store Fried Puris?
You can store puris in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for about a week and almost six months in a freezer.
How Do I Make The Puris Softer?
To make softer puris, use yogurt or milk cream instead of oil.
If you want our traditional East Indian recipes on hand, the Abby's Plate Cookbook Series books are available online or in-store in most countries.
Latest Book:
East Indian Celebration
Festive Recipes from Abby's Plate
See the full list of books here!
Other recipes you might like
- Refreshing Guava Salad
- More than 4 dozen ways to cook mushrooms
- How to make enchiladas
- Indian Bottle Gourd Halwa (Dudhi Or Lauki Halwa)
- Sarah’s Homemade Apple Pie Cookies
Although Sarah has worked in travel for 15 years and specializes in Africa, she loves music, wine, food, and travel. Armed with her Canon, she’s on a mission to photograph food showcasing her East Indian community’s traditional recipes on the blog. And Abby is forever grateful!
