Bhatura
Large, puffed, deep-fried Indian breads of yoghurt dough rested for 2 hours and fried for 15 minutes until golden, served with chole.
Photograph credit: Battura by Adilakv · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons · this resized copy is shared under the same licence
Making Bhatura Ahead
Best eaten at once. Not suitable for keeping.
Bhatura: The Method
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Mix the flour, semolina, baking powder, sugar and salt. Add the yoghurt, water and 2 tablespoons oil and mix to a dough.
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Knead for 10 minutes until smooth. Cover and rest for 2 hours.
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Divide into 6 balls and roll each into an oval about 3 mm thick.
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Heat the frying oil to 180°C / 355°F. Fry the bhatura one at a time for 1 minute on each side, pressing down so it puffs, until golden.
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Drain on kitchen paper and serve hot.
Related guide: Prep, cook and total time.
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Worth Knowing
- Rest the dough for the full 2 hours.
- Keep the oil at 180°C / 355°F; cool oil gives greasy, flat bread.
- Fry one at a time and press it under the oil to puff.
Behind the Recipe
Here is what goes wrong with homemade bhatura: the dough is rushed, so it fries flat and tough instead of puffing into a big golden balloon. The cure is time, and a dough that has rested for two hours puffs reliably in hot oil. Time fixes it.
The dough is flour, a little semolina for crispness, yoghurt, baking powder, sugar and salt, kneaded smooth with just enough water. It is sticky at first. Knead for ten minutes until it holds together and feels elastic, then cover and leave it somewhere warm. The yoghurt works slowly on the flour as it stands, and the dough turns soft and stretchy.
Divide into six, roll each into an oval about the thickness of a coin, and fry one at a time in oil at 180°C / 355°F, pressing it under the surface with a slotted spoon. It will puff up in seconds. Turn once, fry until golden and drain. Serve at once with chole and pickled onion.
Serving Ideas
Chole · Pickled onions · Lassi · Green chutney
Quick Answers
How long does Bhatura take to make?
20 minutes of preparation and 15 minutes of cooking, plus 2 hours of Resting, so allow 2 hours 35 minutes from start to finish. The recipe serves 6.
Bhatura Nutrition
No nutrition figures are given for this recipe: they cannot be worked out reliably from its ingredient list (how much frying oil the food takes up cannot be known from the recipe). Why some recipes have none.
Your notes on this recipe
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.
First published .
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