Bhatura- deep fried Indian flatbread

Bhatura- deep fried Indian flatbread

Bhatura is the deep fried bread from the famous north Indian breakfast combo- Chole-bhature. Making them is very simple yet the rolling them needs time. A roti maker/tortilla maker is really helpful in this step.

The dough is quick and simple. Mix flour, salt, sugar, oil, baking powder and buttermilk in a stand mixer and knead at medium speed for 5-6 minutes. The dough will be very soft. Wait for 10 minutes before handling the dough. The dough really comes together and is much easy to handle if you wait it out. You can use thinned out yoghurt or even milk in place of buttermilk. Oil your hands and make the dough into a ball. Let it rest at least for 30 minutes. You can go ahead without waiting but then the dough will shrink back when you try to press it in the roti maker.

Divide the dough into 15-20 dough balls. You can make really big, restaurant style ones but they need a lot of oil to fry. So we make smaller bhature. Heat up the roti maker and press each ball into 5-6 inch circles. Bhature are a little thicker than chapathi. Heat oil in a wok for deep frying. Fry the bread till golden. Enjoy with chole or your favourite curry/yoghurt/pickle.