Puri or Poori is the quintessential deep fried, puffed bread in the Indian subcontinent made with whole wheat flour dough. Of the many variations like Luchi, Bhatura, bedmi, etc., Vade is the Maharashtrian special. These unique pooris are traditionally made of rice flour (also called Tandalache Vade), and sometimes with a mix of various lentil and cereal flours. The classic combination is to pair the Rice Puri with a robust curry, especially that of legumes/sprouts/lentils or with an usal. The recipe of this spiced Rice Vade is easy and can be made in place of your regular wheat puris too, once a while.
About Rice Puri
Whenever I make Rice Puri or bhakri at home, I usually make the black peas curry or Usal that goes as a perfect accompaniment with these breads.
As rice is called as ‘tandul’ in Marathi, the Rice Poori is also referred to as the Tandalache Vade in Maharashtra. You can also call them as Rice Vada (singular) or Rice Vade (plural).
But don’t confuse Vade with the vada, which can be varieties of batter-coated spiced fritters like Batata Vada, Dal Vada, Sabudana Vada and the likes, or the popular South Indian savory donut Medu Vada.
Rice Vada is also a specialty in the Malvan-Konkan regions of the Indian coastal belt. Gluten free and vegan too.
Make these rice vade and pair them with a sprouts or legumes curry or usal accompanied with onions, lemon slices or a pickle and a serving of the refreshing Solkadhi.
More on Rice Vada
The main ingredient in these Vade is obviously the rice flour, which is mixed with spice powders like coriander, cumin, fennel, fenugreek and salt. This mixture is then kneaded into a smooth and even dough with hot water. Finally, the dough is kept to rest for about half an hour or more.
This is how even my mother makes Rice Puri as well as rice bhakri (rice flatbread). The only modification is that the bhakri dough does not have spices.
One of the incentives to opt for gluten free flours like rice or millet flour is that the kneading time reduces. Thus, a rice flour dough is made faster than a whole wheat flour dough.
There can be some variations in the preparation of the Rice Vada. Mine is a quick and easy recipe. It does not have urad dal (black gram) flour and gram flour as well. Hence, not the typical Malvani Vade.
The crisp outer texture and the soft inner texture makes the Rice Vada a perfect bread for any coconut-based curry or vegetable dish. Vegetarian options also include pairing these with Kala Vatana Usal.
How to make Rice Puri
Prepare dough
1. Mix the spice powders – 1 pinch fenugreek powder, ½ teaspoon coriander powder, ½ teaspoon fennel powder, ½ teaspoon cumin powder and salt with 1.5 cups of rice flour in a bowl.
2. In small pan, heat 1.5 cups water till its begins to boil. Add the hot water to the rice flour mixture and with a spoon, stir well.
Cover the bowl with a lid and keep it for 20 to 25 minutes or till the mixture become warm.
3. Add 1 teaspoon oil or ghee to the rice flour mixture. Begin to mix everything with your hands.
4. The mixture will be a bit hot or warm while kneading. Knead till smooth and even keeping in mind that the heat can be handled by you.
Apply a little oil on your palms while kneading. Cover and let the dough rest for 25 to 30 minutes or more, till it cools completely.
Make Rice Puri
5. Make small or medium balls from the dough. Keep the balls covered with a lid. Keep oil for deep frying in a kadai or pan.
Then, apply some oil in your hands or on the ball. Place the ball on a zip lock bag or plastic sheet.
6. With your fingers or palms, flatten the ball to a round size till you get the shape of a poori. The poori should not be thick nor thin.
7. Apply more oil if required while flattening the dough. You can also keep the dough between two sheets of plastic or zip lock bags and then roll gently with a rolling pin.
Fry Rice Vada
8. Gently remove the puri from the plastic sheet and slide into the hot oil.
9. Add only 1 or 2 puris, depending on the size of your kadai. Wait for the puri to begin puffing up. Then, gently press and nudge the puri in circular motion, so that it puffs completely.
10. With a slotted spoon, turn over the puri and fry the other side. On this side also, you can press and nudge the puri, if it did not puff completely the first time.
11. Flip the puri once or twice more, till you see a pale golden color.
12. Remove and drain the puris on paper towels to remove excess oil.
13. Serve Rice Puri or Rice Vada hot with any beans or legumes curry like usal or amti.
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Rice Puri | Rice Vada
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups Rice Flour
- 1.5 cups water or add as required
- ½ teaspoon Coriander Powder
- ½ teaspoon cumin powder – optional
- ½ teaspoon fennel powder
- 1 pinch fenugreek powder
- 1 teaspoon oil – for the dough
- salt as required
- oil for deep frying, as needed
Instructions
Making dough
- Mix the spices and salt with the rice flour. Heat water in a pan till its begins to boil. Add the hot boiling water to the rice flour mixture.
- With a spoon stir well. Cover with a lid and let this mixture become warm, for about 20 to 25 mins.
- Add 1 teaspoon oil or ghee. Then begin to mix everything with your hands.
- The mixture will be a bit hot or warm while kneading. Knead till smooth and even.
- Apply a little oil on your palms while kneading.
- If the dough looks dry and crumbly, then add a bit of more warm water and continue to knead.
- Cover and let the dough rest for 25 to 30 minutes more or till it cools completely.
- Make small or medium balls from the dough. Keep the balls covered with a lid or with a kitchen cotton napkin.
Frying rice poori
- Keep oil for deep frying in a kadai or pan.
- Then apply some oil in your hands or on the ball. Place the ball on a zip lock bag or plastic sheet.
- With your fingers or palms, flatten the ball to a round size till you get the shape of a poori. The poori should not be thick nor thin. Apply more oil if required while patting the ball.
- Gently remove the poori from the zip lock bag and slid it into hot oil. Make sure the oil is medium-hot while frying.
- Add only one or two rice puri, depending on the size of your kadai. Wait for the rice puri to start getting puffed up.
- Then gently press and nudge the puri, in circular motion, so that it puffs completely.
- With a slotted spoon, turn over the puri and fry the other side. On this side, also you can press and nudge the puri, if it did not puff completely the first time.
- Flip the rice puri once or twice more, till you see a pale golden color. Remove and drain them on paper towels to remove excess oil.
- Serve Rice Puri or Rice Vada hot with any beans or legumes curry.
Notes
- Knead to a smooth and soft dough. If the dough is not soft, the puri won’t puff while frying and will result in chewy or dense texture.
- The oil has to be medium-hot while frying.
- Remember to flatten the dough evenly while shaping the rice puri. Uneven flattened dough won’t puff while frying.
- Scale the recipe to make a smaller or larger batch of puri as you prefer.
Nutrition Info (Approximate values)
This Rice Puri recipe post from the archives first published in July 2014 has been republished and updated on 18 July 2022.
the recipe was awesome!But its name is RAUNTAUS in konkanis of kerala.I love your recipes and always refer this for cooking.I am a student and beginner in cooking.My family loves the food I make and the credit goes to dassanaji for your wonderful recipes
thanks navami for this wonderful feedback. glad to know. also thanks for sharing the konkani name. happy cooking.
Hey D , I made these last night for the first time . They were a bit more on the crispy side , but me and my 2 year old loved them . Thank you for cranking out all these relish recipes ! You have become a life savior for me in preparing healthy dishes for my daughter . I especially loved all your dal recipes . They are simply delish .
thank you preethi. these are crisp but not very crisp. if you fry on a medium or medium-high flame, they will be just crisp. but i am glad that you and your daughter enjoyed them.
Hi! Just found your amazing site today and i’m going straight to the kitchen to prepare a special dinner with your recipes. You inspired me! It’s a hard work, but you really help those of us that don’t have the knowledge of your tradition, the photos are extremely helpful.
My husband can’t eat gluten, is there any type of Indian bread without gluten?
Can’t thank you enough!
thanks a lot claudia. feeling good after reading your comment. in india, we do have some gluten free breads. with rice flour, we also make rice breads. the method is same as shown above. just that we roast the bread on a skillet/tawa instead of frying. i have posted some links of more gluten free breads. you should be able to get sorghum flour and finger millet flour in a indian grocery store.
jowar bhakri (made from sorghum flour) – https://www.vegrecipesofindia.com/jowar-roti-recipe-jowar-bhakri/
bajra roti (made from finger miller flour) – https://www.vegrecipesofindia.com/bajra-roti-bajra-bhakri/
kuttu ki roti (made with buckwheat flour) – https://www.vegrecipesofindia.com/kuttu-ka-paratha-kuttu-ki-roti/
singhare ki poori (made with water chestnut flour) – https://www.vegrecipesofindia.com/singhare-ki-poori/
ragira paratha (made from amaranth flour) – https://www.vegrecipesofindia.com/singhare-ki-poori/
I’m amazed how you find time to cook, produce this great site and still find the time to answer to our questions in a personal manner! Definitely my favourite cooking site from now on, I’ll keep learning from you!
Wish you all the best. Thks!
thankyou claudia for your kind and positive words 🙂 some time always could be removed to reply for our followers and readers. glad you like ur site and you are always welcome.