Ingredients
Dough
- 300 gmaida, plain white flour
- 2 tbspghee or oil
- ½ tspsalt
- about 150 ml warm water
To fry
- oil or ghee, for deep frying
To serve
- aloo dum or alur dom, spiced potato curry
- cholar dal
- or with a simple potato and cauliflower curry
Sometimes
- with begun bhaja, fried aubergine
Directions
- Rub the ghee into the flour and salt with your fingertips first. That fat rubbed in before the water is called moyan, and it shortens the dough and keeps the finished luchi soft rather than leathery.
- Use as little water as will bring it together, since a soft wet dough absorbs far more oil and will not puff cleanly. It should be noticeably firmer than a chapati dough. Knead it for five to eight minutes until completely smooth. Knead it properly, since an underworked dough tears when rolled and a torn luchi will never puff.
- Cover it with a damp cloth and rest it for thirty minutes. Luchi are small, about ten centimetres across, and that small size is characteristic. Roll each ball smooth between your palms with no cracks on the surface.
- Roll each ball out on a surface greased with a little oil rather than dusted with flour. Dry flour on the surface burns in the oil, blackens it and speckles every luchi that follows, so oil is used instead.
- Roll them evenly to about two millimetres thick. Even thickness is what makes them puff, since a thin patch lets the steam out before the bread inflates. Roll from the centre outwards and turn the disc as you go. Roll them all before you start frying, keeping them under a cloth.
- Heat the oil until a small piece of dough dropped in rises to the surface immediately and sizzles briskly. The oil must be genuinely hot, since it is the sudden heat that turns the moisture inside to steam and inflates the bread.
- Oil that is too cool lets the luchi sink and soak, giving a heavy greasy flat disc. Oil that is too hot browns it instantly, which for a luchi is a fault. There is a narrower window here than for puri because the bread must stay pale.
- Press lightly and evenly around the edges rather than pushing hard in the centre. It should puff up into a sphere within five or six seconds. Turn it over and give it another few seconds on the other side. Take it out while it is still pale, since a few seconds too long turns it golden and it is no longer a luchi. The whole frying takes fifteen to twenty seconds per bread.
- Lift it out with a slotted spoon and drain it on a rack or paper. Now serve them immediately, since they begin to deflate within a minute. Serve them with alur dom, the Bengali spiced potato curry, which is the classic pairing.
Technique
- Luchi uses white maida where puri uses wholemeal atta.
- They should stay pale rather than browning.
- The rolling surface is oiled rather than floured.
Substitutions
- Plain white flour is exactly what is wanted here.
- Oil in place of ghee, though ghee is better.
Variations
- Radhaballabhi, stuffed with spiced lentil paste.
- Made slightly larger, closer to puri in size.
- Fried in ghee entirely, for a festival version.
Frequently asked questions
What is Luchi?
Luchi is a bread & pastry from Bangladesh: small puffed white-flour bread fried in oil, eaten with potato curry.
How long does Luchi take to make?
Luchi takes 20 min plus 30 min resting of preparation and 20 min of cooking. The recipe makes about 16. It is rated medium to make.
What can I substitute in Luchi?
Yes, within limits. Plain white flour is exactly what is wanted here. Oil in place of ghee, though ghee is better.
What is the most important thing to get right in Luchi?
Rub the ghee into the flour and salt with your fingertips first. That fat rubbed in before the water is called moyan, and it shortens the dough and keeps the finished luchi soft rather than leathery.
