Bedmi Puri

Crisp fried wheat puris stuffed with a spiced paste of ground black gram, fennel, and coriander seed, served with a thin, sharp potato curry

Origin: Agra, Mathura & Delhi, India

From the journey of Black Gram.

Bedmi puri is the breakfast of the western Gangetic plain: deep-fried wheat breads with a filling or a dough of coarsely ground black gram, spiced with fennel, coriander seed, chilli, and asafoetida, and eaten hot with aloo ki sabzi, a thin, sour, peppery potato curry for dipping. In Agra it is sold from stalls near the Taj Mahal, in Mathura it comes in bowls of stitched leaves, and in the lanes of Old Delhi it is a morning queue. Whether it belongs to Delhi or to Uttar Pradesh is argued with some feeling, and the argument has not been settled. What is not in dispute is the region: the Doab, the land between the Ganges and the Yamuna, from Delhi down through Mathura and Agra, where it is also cooked for temple offerings and festival mornings. It is the black gram that makes it a bedmi rather than an ordinary puri. The ground pulse fries into a close, savoury, slightly crunchy layer inside the bread, and the fennel and coriander seed in it are the flavour people recognise. Some cooks fold the paste inside the dough as a stuffing; others knead it straight into the flour. Both are correct, and this recipe stuffs it.

Ingredients

Filling

  • 100 g split skinless urad dal, soaked for 4 hours
  • 1 tbsp fennel seeds, crushed
  • 1 tbsp coriander seeds, crushed
  • 1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
  • 1 piece fresh ginger, 2 cm, grated
  • 1 whole green chilli, finely chopped
  • 0.25 tsp asafoetida
  • 0.75 tsp salt

Dough

  • 250 g wholemeal wheat flour (atta)
  • 40 g fine semolina
  • 0.5 tsp salt
  • 1 tbsp ghee or oil
  • 150 ml water, approximately
  • 1 litre neutral oil, for frying

Aloo Sabzi

  • 500 g floury potatoes, boiled, peeled, and roughly broken
  • 2 tbsp mustard oil or ghee
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 0.25 tsp asafoetida
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • 1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
  • 0.5 tsp ground turmeric
  • 2 whole tomatoes, finely chopped
  • 1 tsp amchur (dried mango powder)
  • 700 ml water
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves

Method

  1. Drain the soaked urad dal and grind it with the ginger and green chilli to a coarse, thick paste, adding no more than a tablespoon of water.
  2. Stir in the fennel, coriander seeds, chilli powder, asafoetida, and salt.
  3. Mix the wheat flour, semolina, salt, and ghee, add water gradually, and knead into a firm, smooth dough. Rest it for 20 minutes under a damp cloth.
  4. For the sabzi, heat the mustard oil, add the cumin and asafoetida, then the ground spices and tomatoes, and cook until the tomatoes collapse. Add the potatoes, water, salt, and amchur, crush a few pieces of potato into the liquid, and simmer for 15 minutes until the gravy is thin but slightly thickened. Finish with coriander.
  5. Divide the dough into 16 balls. Flatten each into a cup, put in a teaspoon of filling, gather the edges to seal, and roll gently into a disc about 9 cm across.
  6. Heat the oil to about 180 °C and fry the puris one or two at a time, pressing them gently under the oil with a slotted spoon until they puff, then turning until both sides are crisp and golden.
  7. Serve hot with the aloo sabzi, and pickle or a little sweet halwa on the side as in Old Delhi.

Notes

For the kneaded version, grind the dal to a coarse paste, knead it straight into the flour with the spices, and roll the dough into plain discs. The sabzi is meant to be thin and sharp, for dipping; do not thicken it into a dry potato dish. Bedmi puris are best eaten within minutes of frying.

The Gastrographer

The Gastrographer

Mapping Culinary History

To explore — select an ingredient below.

Journey Point Map Key

Ingredient originTrade or transit route
Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control
© 2026 The Gastrographer. All original research, narratives, and illustrations. All rights reserved.