Chiroti

Deep fried puff pastry

• 175 gm plain flour
• 25 gm  ghee
• 1/4 tsp salt
• A dash of any spices and herbs you fancy
• 1/3 cup water, or as needed
• 2 tbsp ghee (additional) melted
• 2-3 tbsp rice flour
• Oil for frying in a wok or kadhai

Melt the ghee, and mix with the flour, salt and water. Knead to a smooth, elastic dough. Divide the dough into three even sized balls.

Roll out one ball of dough into a thin disc, about 10-12″ wide. Brush the surface with melted ghee, and sprinkle over an even layer of rice flour. Roll out a second disc, and place it over the first. Repeat this process, finishing with another brushing of ghee and rice flour.

Carefully roll the layered discs into a log, taking care to avoid air pockets.Trim the ends with a sharp knife, and cut into approximately 18 slices.

Roll each slice out lightly into 4 – 4 1/2″ wide circles, making sure you don’t lose the layers.

Fry on moderate heat until golden brown.

Eat as a snack, or with your favourite curry.

To make a sweet version, leave out the spices and herbs and dredge the fried chirotis with powdered sugar while still warm.

And if you’d  like to try your hand at the version with semolina, my mother’s recipe calls for a cup each of fine semolina (suji or rava) and plain flour, 3 tbsps of ghee and a pinch of salt, kneaded together into a firm dough with about 1/2 cup of water. This is left to rest for 3 – 4 hours, then kneaded firmly again, before proceeding as above, with melted ghee and rice flour between layers. It’s more effort, but if you prefer a chiroti that is more crisp paratha than flaky pastry, this is the one for you.