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Spinach Puri / Palak Puri

By Jigna
This delectable Spinach Puri is aromatic, flavorful, beautifully green from spinach, and goes perfectly well with any vegetable curry. It also tastes well with pickles or a cup of tea or coffee!
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Resting Time 15 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Cuisine Gujarati, North Indian
Course Breakfast, Side Dish
Diet Vegan, Vegetarian
Servings 20 - 22 Puri

Ingredients
  

  • 3 cups water
  • 3 cups (100g) spinach
  • 2½ cups (300g) whole wheat flour
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
  • 2 tablespoon oil
  • ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
  • ½ teaspoon carom seeds
  • Water to knead the dough
  • Oil for frying

Instructions
 

Making The Dough

  • Remove the stems from the spinach. If the stems are very tender, and if you prefer, you can keep them. I always discard the stems and use only spinach leaves.
  • Rinse the spinach thoroughly with running water, and remove any dirt or sand from the leaves.
  • Bring 3-4 cups of water to boil in a large pot. Once the water starts boiling, add spinach leaves and cook for a minute. Then turn off the heat.
  • Take ice cubes (or cold water with some ice cubes) in a medium bowl. Remove spinach from the pot and place it immediately in the bowl of ice.
  • Placing the spinach into an ice bowl will retain the color and stop further cooking of spinach.
  • Squeeze out as much excess water as possible from the spinach, and make a paste using a food processor or blender.
  • Add flour, spinach paste, salt, ginger, cumin, carom seeds, and oil in a large mixing bowl. Mix to combine everything well.
  • Add water gradually and mix until a semi-soft dough is formed. You may need only a little water; I needed to add 2 tablespoon of water to bind the dough.
  • Knead the dough for 2-3 minutes, then cover it with a damp towel and set aside for 15-20 minutes.

Rolling and Frying The Puri

  • Meanwhile, in a medium to large pot, heat oil for deep frying on medium to high heat
  • Make small balls of the dough, about 20-22. Roll them between the palms of your hands to make a round ball, and then flatten them gently. Keep them aside.
  • Using a rolling pin, roll each ball out round into about a 4-5 inch diameter circle to make the puri. If the dough sticks to the surface, apply oil to the rolling pin and the surface.
  • While rolling into Puri, do not tear or pierce them; they will not puff up if damaged.
  • You can roll one by one Puri and fry, or roll out 4-5 Puris at a time, keeping them on a plate. Then, fry them all before rolling out the next batch.
  • Once the oil is ready, add each puri to the oil.
  • As soon as it rises to the surface, with a spider skimmer or slotted spoon, gently tap around the edges to encourage puffing.
  • When it has puffed up, turn it over and fry the other side until golden browned. Remove it from the oil and drain on a kitchen paper towel on the plate.
  • Roll out the other puri and fry them one or two at a time.
  • Serve the puris with your favorite curry, pickle, plain yogurt, or Raita.

Notes

  1. Making The Doug: Adding oil to the flour while making the dough makes the puri soft and helps it puff while frying. So, do not skip oil in the dough. The dough for puri should be slightly stiff, not too soft, and not too hard.
  2. Water: I added only two tablespoon of water to bind the dough. So, after adding oil and spinach pulp, mix everything well and eventually add water as required. You may not need water to make the dough, depending on how thin your spinach puree is.
  3. Resting The Dough: Allow the dough to rest for 15-20 minutes. Resting the dough helps in rolling the puri easily.
  4. Rolling The Puri: Do not use dry flour to roll the puri. If you have difficulty rolling the puri, apply a little oil on the rolling pin and the dough ball. Also, do not roll the puri too thick or thin.
  5. Checking Oil Before Frying: It is essential that the oil is really hot before beginning to fry the spinach puri. To check, add a small pinch of the dough to the oil. If it quickly rises to the oil surface, the oil is ready to fry the puri.
  6. Frying The Puri: Once the oil is hot, fry the puri on high-medium heat to ensure it puffs up fully. If frying the puri on low-medium heat, it will absorb much oil and not puff up.

Nutrition (Approximate Values)

Calories : 90kcalCarbohydrates : 11gProtein : 2gFat : 5gSaturated Fat : 0.4gPolyunsaturated Fat : 1gMonounsaturated Fat : 3gTrans Fat : 0.02gSodium : 64mgPotassium : 85mgFiber : 2gSugar : 0.1gVitamin A : 485IUVitamin C : 1mgCalcium : 12mgIron : 1mg
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