Bhatura – Leavened Fried Bread #BreadBakers

I wrote and rewrote the introduction to my bread, Bhatura, for this post. You see, this post is for the “Bread Bakers” group. And I did join the group to bake breads with them, for I do love baking breads immensely and baking with friends gives me a chance to learn new things. But my today’s bread is not baked! So after writing and rewriting the introduction to it, I just decided it would be better if I told you why I chose this bread. Our first event is hosted by the lovely Renee Dobbs from Magnolia Days and she chose the theme for this month’s Bread Bakers – “Bake your favorite bread”. Needless to repeat that I ignored the Bake part, sorry Renee !!  I have a reason – hear me out. I was focussing on the word favorite. And Bhatura is my daughter’s favorite bread. She loves the bhatura with some chole. Always has. Though it is a bread she enjoys a lot and I often make it for her, I never thought about posting recipe on the blog. Because simply said “ everyone has their own recipe” for making bhatura. Then, a couple of weeks ago I met a few International friends over for drinks. This is a very well travelled, multi-cultural set of people who have recently made the US their home – just like me. The topic of conversation suddenly was food (surprise!!) and quite a few of them mentioned that they LOVED eating the “puffed up fried bread” at Indian restaurants or homes. It was a revelation of sorts. They did mention the fabled Naan, but most of them said they craved the bhatura and puri. So that settled it. I simply had to make some and share. And I thought, why not share the recipe with them and all of you as well. After all, it is the favorite bread month and I simply chose the favorite bread of friends and family. There are various methods people follow to make bhatura. Some add yeast, some knead it in yogurt only, some make a sort of a sourdough starter and some like me simply add baking soda & baking powder. The flavors in each method vary. I personally do not enjoy the yeasty smell in a fried bread so I stay away from yeast. I usually don’t make these preplanned, so there goes the overnight rise. Therefore I use a bit of yogurt and some baking powder and baking soda, and give the dough a couple of hours to rest up. The dough does its magic in the fry pan.  

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme.  Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send Stacy an email with your blog URL to foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com. Here are this month’s favorite breads as shared by BreadBakers. Stop by and enjoy.

• Bhatura – Leavened Fried Bread by Anshie at Spiceroots
• Cinnamon Bread by Tara at Noshing With The Nolands
• Fiona’s Wonderful Bread by Stacy at Food Lust People Love
• Kashmiri Naan by Jenni at Pastry Chef Online
• No Knead Whole Wheat Bread by Holly at A Baker’s House
• Overnight Country Sourdough by Karen at Karen’s Kitchen Stories
• Peach, Prosciutto and Gorgonzola Pizza by Robin at A Shaggy Dough Story
• Potato Bread with Raisins by Kathia at Basic N Delicious
• Pumpkin Challah Bread by Sophie at Sweet Cinnamon & Honey
• Raincoast Crisps Bread by Kimberly at Rhubarb & Honey
• Yogurt Almond Bread by Cindy at Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
• Walnut Wheat Bread by Renee at Magnolia Days

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Bhatura – Leavened Fried Bread #BreadBakers

Ingredients

• 400 gms All purpose flour
• 100 gms Semolina
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/4 C plain yogurt
• 1 C water
• 4- 5 tsp oil
• Oil for frying Avocado/Peanut/Grapeseed I used peanut oil

Instructions

1. Mix the flour with semolina, baking soda, baking powder, salt and sugar.
2. Now add the yogurt and mix.
3. Slowly add in the water a few tbs at a time and mix it in. You may not need the entire cup of water or you may need a bit more. This will depend on how the conditions are where you live.
4. As soon as the dough comes together and there are no dry spots left, stop adding water.
   
5. Knead for a few seconds until combined, then cover and let it rest for 15 minutes.
6. After 15 minutes, add in the oil to the dough and knead it in.
7. Cover and let it rest for another 10 minutes.
8. Now knead the dough until soft and then cover and let it rest for at least 2 hours. Then knead again and divide the dough into 16 portions. Keep these portions covered while you get the oil heated up.
9. Heat oil to about 350 *.
10. Flatten each portion of the dough and roll it out into a spherical shape of about 3-4 inches in diameter with an even thickness on all edges.
11. Deep fry in oil and wait for it to puff up and then turn and fry until brown.
    
12. Serve hot off the fry pan. Ideally with chole, but goes well with curries too.

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