Rajgira Puri (Farali Puri)
Rajgira puri is a fried, puffed bread that is made from rajgira flour and consumed during Hindu fasting like Navratri vrat, Ekadashi, Gauri vrat, Jaya Parvati vrat, etc. At home, we call this ‘farali puri’ or ‘rajgara ni puri’ in the Gujarati language.
What Is Rajgira Flour?
It is made from the seeds of the amaranth plant. In India, it is widely consumed during Navratri vrat & Shravan month. As it is a non-cereal flour, this amaranth flour is gluten-free. It is rich in calcium and soluble fires. This flour has a slightly sweet, nutty and earthy flavor.
🧾 Ingredient Notes For Rajgira Puri
Here is the pic of the ingredients used in making this rajgira puri recipe. You’ll need only 4 ingredients to make the dough and oil for deep frying.
- Rajgira (Amaranth flour) – It is easily available in any Indian grocery stores here in the USA. Plus, it is also available in American stores in the Gluten-free flour section.
- Boiled potatoes – These are mashed and used while kneading the dough. Since this rajgira flour has no gluten, this potato acts as a binding agent.
- Rock salt – During the Hindu fasting days, regular table salt in not allowed. But rock salt (sendha namak) is allowed.
- Oil (not shown in the pic) – Because this is farali puri made for vrat, please use peanut (ground nut) oil. Other oils like vegetable or seed-based (sunflower) oil are not suitable for fasting.
👩🍳 How To Make Rajgira Puri? (Stepwise)
1) Take flour and salt in a bowl, mix. Add mashed potatoes.
2) Mix well by rubbing between your finger and thumb. If you pinch a small portion together it should form like a dry dough.
3) Depending on how much moisture is present in your boiled potato, you may or may not need any extra water. If yours look dry like mine, then add only 1 teaspoon of water and knead. If still, it feels dry then again add 1 teaspoon of water and continue kneading. Be careful while adding water. If you add all at once, it becomes sticky and pasty, we do not want that. Make a smooth, non-sticky dough. Cover and let it rest for 10-15 minutes.
4) Divide the dough into 10 equal portions and make smooth round balls. Work with one ball at a time. Now for this pooris, you cannot roll easily like regular pooris. So use any ziplock bag or parchment paper to avoid sticking to the surface.
5) Pat it with your fingers and make a round shape with medium thickness. (poori should not be too thick or too thin otherwise they will not puff.) You can use the rolling pin but be very gentle.
6) If the edges are breaking then seal it and pat it again to get even thickness. Prepare 4-5 pooris and keep it covered in a plate.
7) Now heat the oil in a pan for frying on medium-high heat. Oil should be hot (not medium). If oil is not hot then poori will absorb too much oil. Once hot add one poori at a time and rajgira puri will puff up nicely.
8) Once browned from the bottom side then flip it and cook another side
9) Once cooked then drain the excess oil using a slotted spatula, remove it to the paper towel lined plate and fry rest of them.
💭 Expert Tips For BEST Farali Puri Recipe
- Water amount: Depending on your boiled potato’s moisture content, you may or may not need any water. Do not use over-boiled potato which as too much moisture and can result in sticky dough.
- If water is needed then add very little water (about ½ to 1 teaspoon) at a time and knead. If you dump all the water at once, the dough will be sticky and pasty. If by mistake this happens then add a little more rajgira atta and knead. The dough should not be sticky.
- Roll or pat the puri at medium thickness, meaning not too thick not too thin. If it is thick then it will sink into the oil, will take more time to cook and may not puff up. If it is thin then it may break, soak up too much oil and will not puff.
- Use the Ziplock bag or parchment paper while rolling the puri. Otherwise, it will stick to the surface.
- Fry the pooris into the HOT oil. If the oil is not hot enough, then it will absorb too much oil and will not puff well.
🍽 Serving Ideas For Farali Rajgira Puri
- Serve rajgira puri with farali sukhi bhaji as a meal during your upvas or vrat. This makes a filling meal (as showin in the pic).
- This farali puri can be served with other vrat sabzi like vrat wale aloo, sweet potato sabzi, dahi aloo, suran sabji, etc.
Check Out Other Puri, Paratha For Vrat
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Rajgira Puri Recipe (Farali Puri)
US measuring cups are used (1 cup = 240 ml)
Ingredients
- ¾ cup Rajgira ka atta (Amaranth flour)
- ⅓ cup Potatoes , Boiled and mashed
- Rock Salt (sendha namak), to taste
- 1 tablespoon Warm water, or as needed
Instructions
Kneading The Dough:
- Take flour and salt in a bowl, mix. Add mashed potatoes.
- Mix well by rubbing between your finger and thumb. If you pinch a small portion together it should form like a dry dough.
- Depending on how much moisture is present in your boiled potato, you may or may not need any extra water. If yours look dry then add 1 teaspoon of water at a time and knead into a soft, smooth dough. Be careful while adding water. If you add all at once, it becomes sticky and pasty, we do not want that. Cover and let it rest for 10-15 minutes.
Rolling & Frying Poori:
- Divide the dough into 10 equal portions and make smooth round balls. Work with one ball at a time.
- To avoid sticking to the surface, use a ziplock bag or parchment paper. Place one ball on it, cover with another piece of ziplock or paper and pat it with your fingers and make a round shape and keep the medium thickness. You can use a rolling pin but be very gentle.
- If the edges are breaking then seal it and pat it again to get even thickness. Prepare 4-5 pooris and keep it covered in a plate.
- Now heat the oil in a pan for frying on medium-high heat. Oil should be hot (not medium). Once hot add one poori at a time. It will puff up. Once browned from the bottom side then flip it and cook another side.
- Drain the excess oil using a slotted spatula, remove it to the paper towel lined plate and fry rest of them.
Notes
- Water amount: Depending on your boiled potato’s moisture content, you may or may not need any water. Do not use over-boiled potato which as too much moisture and can result in sticky dough.
- If water is needed then add very little water (about ½ to 1 teaspoon) at a time and knead. If you dump all the water at once, the dough will be sticky and pasty. If by mistake this happens then add little more rajgira atta and knead.
- Roll or pat the puri at medium thickness, meaning not too thick not too thin. If it is thick then it will sink into the oil, will take more time to cook and may not puff up. If it is thin then it may break, soak up too much oil and will not puff.
- Use the Ziplock bag or parchment paper while rolling the puri. Otherwise, it will stick to the surface.
- Fry the pooris into HOT oil. If oil is not hot enough, then it will absorb too much oil and will not puff well.
amazing post. really thanks for sharing good post with us.
Hey kanan, good to see you back and to see all the new posts again. Hope you had a fun time with your in-laws. Nice recipe for the puri, thanx for sharing
Thank you Anjana. Yes we visited many places and had lots of fun.