Luchi

This fried bread from the eastern region of India is the perfect vehicle for enjoying delectable curries.

When it comes to fried dough, Indian cuisine has several options – luchi, puri, bhatura, and if you expand the category to include puff pastries, you can also add kachori and samosa. If you visit the markets of Delhi, you’ll find vendors deep frying stuffed parathas — a bread that is otherwise made in a skillet. India’s love affair with deep-fried foods extends from the north (think gulab jamun) to the south (medu vada), from the west (ghevar) to the east, where we have luchi.

The luchi is a lot like the puri, except for one thing — the flour that is used in the dough. While puri is generally made with whole wheat flour, luchi is made with all-purpose flour aka maida. Luchi hails from the eastern states of India, especially Assam, Bihar, West Bengal, Odisha and Tripura. It is also traditionally eaten in the neighbouring country of Bangladesh.

Luchi, by itself, is a plant-based bread but it is often eaten with curries that may or may not be vegetarian. A popular accompaniment for luchi is a potato dish called aloor dum, but you can eat it with any of your preferred curries. When you dip a piece of luchi in a curry, it absorbs the curry’s flavour. That’s why it goes well with almost every spicy dish.

This recipe of luchi is part of my Delicious Fried Bread series, that includes a recipe for the Balkan bread mekici, and a recipe for the Panamanian bread hojaldres.

Do try out the luchi recipe below and let us know how it turns out in the comments!

Luchi recipe

Ingredients:
120 grams all-purpose flour (maida)
A pinch of baking powder
Salt
Oil 
Water

Method:
In a bowl, sieve together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add a few teaspoons of water and begin mixing all the ingredients into a dough. As you knead, add only a few teaspoons of water at a time. This is because the final dough needs to be firm and not soft. 

Once your dough is ready, divide it into equal portions. One by one, roll each portion into a ball and then flatten it into a circular shape by using a rolling pin.

Heat a pan on a stove with the flame on medium. Fill half the pan with oil. When the oil is heated, slide the flattened dough into the oil gently. It should turn light golden brown in colour and puff up in the oil. Once that happens, take it out with a spatula and drain on tissue paper. 

Serve hot with aloor dum. Enjoy!

Pro tip
The temperature of the oil is very important when you are deep frying. If your oil is not hot enough, you will end up with an oily, flat luchi. If your oil is too hot, the surface of your luchi will turn brown very quickly, but it would not have cooked within. So how do you know if your oil is hot enough to start frying? Take a really really small bit of the dough and drop it into the oil. If it starts sputtering, then you know your oil is ready for frying.