Quick and Easy Bhatura Without Yeast

Round wooden box with four bhature in it seen from the top.

5 from 9 votes

Quick and Easy Bhatura Without Yeast

This bhatura recipe allows you to create the perfect Indian fried bread in under an hour, without yeast. Using yogurt, baking powder, and sugar, the texture is soft and lightly chewy, while the outer part crisp.

Prep Time40

Cook Time15

Total Time55

Course: Bread, Breakfast, Brunch, Snack

Cuisine: Indian

Diet: Vegetarian

Servings: Bhature

Calories: 183kcal

Author: Elle John

Ingredients

150 g White Flour
30 g Semolina
¼ teaspoon Salt
¼ teaspoon Baking Soda
¼ teaspoon Baking Powder
2 teaspoon Granulated Sugar
50 g Plain Yogurt Curd, Full Fat Set Yogurt
½ teaspoon Sunflower Oil or Vegetable Oil
Water as needed room temperature or slightly warmer not cold
Sunflower, Canola, or Vegetable Oil For frying

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Prepare the Dough

Sieve the all purpose flour into a large mixing bowl.
To the flour, add all the other dry ingredients: sugar, fine semolina, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
Mix all the ingredients together until uniform.
Next, add curd [yogurt] to the dry mixture. Mix well using your hands, until you obtain a crumbly like mixture.
Start adding the warm water slowly and knit the dough well until a uniform, soft consistency is achieved. The amount of water required will depend on multiple factors, but especially the temperature and humidity levels of where you are located.
Keep on knitting the dough for 5-8 minutes; if using a stand mixer, knit for 5-6 minutes. This will allow the dough ball to develop a little chewiness.
You want a soft but not sticky dough.

Rest the Dough

Form a ball with the dough and a little sunflower oil to ‘wet’ the surface of it. This will prevent the dough from becoming dry while it rests.
Allow the bhaura dough to rest 30 minutes in a warm place. Alternatively, you can use a damp tea towel to keep the bhatura dough moist while it rests; simply wet it under running water, and squeeze away any excess moisture.

Deep Fry the Bhatura

Heat oil for deep frying. Usiong fresh oil will ensure the bhature end up crispy outside, soft inside, and won't have excess oil. You should cook the bhatura on medium high heat.
Divide the dough into four equal parts and knit each part into a ball. Allow these dough balls to rest for a further couple of minutes.
With a rolling pin, roll the dough of each ball to about 1/10 inch (3mm) thickness in an oval shape. Use oil on the rolling board to prevent the dough from sticking, rather than plain flour; this will keep the oil clean and the flour won't brown on the outer part of the bread.
Test that the oil is hot by dropping a crumb of dough in it. If it raises to the top straight away and turns golden quickly, the oil is ready.
Deep fry the rolled bhatura in the hot oil until golden brown then flip and finish cooking. Do not drop the bhatura disks in the oil, but slide them from the side.
As the baking powder and soda react to the oil, the bhatura will fluff up as the dough forms pockets of hot air.
Once one side of the bhatura is golden brown [approximately 2-3 minutes], turn the bhatura and continue frying until fully cooked. The cooking time will depend on the size and thickness of the bhatura, so adjust accordingly.
Once the bhatura is ready, remove it from the frying pan and rest it on a piece of paper towel or a cooling rack, so to remove the excess oil. A cooling rack will allow the oil to drain and won't make one part of the bhatura soggy.
Repeat the same process until you use all the dough up.
Serve bhatura immediately while hot with your favorite curries, like chana masala, chole, or anything you like!

Notes

Self Raising Flour: You can use it instead of only all purpose flour and baking powder, as it simply is a combination of these two ingredients. Use the baking soda in any case, as it helps with the extra fluff.

Semolina: If you don't have fine semolina, you may substitute it with coarse one but you MUST blend it before use. Note that not all blenders are suitable for this purpose, and coarse semolina won't work in this recipe as it is.

Whole Wheat Flour: Should you wish, you can use some whole wheat flour, however, this will require more water. As the bran will try to absorb more water as time passes, this will also require longer kneading.

Sugar: I wouldn't recommend using brown sugar instead of white in this recipe, as its flavor is much richer. Should you wish, you can skip this ingredient, but the end result will change slightly.

❄️ Storing & Reheating

In the fridge: You can store the raw dough in the fridge overnight, however, you will need to allow it to get back to room temperature before frying. If you can prepare the dough and use it within 2-3 hours, this recipe is the best, as it is made to be quick and to avoid overnight fermentation. Fried bhature can be stored in the fridge for a day.

In the freezer: I wouldn't recommend freezing the frozen bhature or the dough.

Reheating: These can be reheated on a frying pan with a little oil, or in the microwave. They won't be as crunchy as when initially fried, but will still be tasty.

Note: The calories shown are an estimate for the ingredients used, and do not include the oil that is absorbed during the frying process.

Nutrition