Today I am taking a little break from all of my Instant Pot cooking to bring you a Guyanese staple, Dhal Puri. If you've been following me, you know that I am doing a whole series of recipes this month, showing you how you can use your Instant Pot to make tasty Caribbean dishes quickly and efficiently. To see a list of those recipes, click here. To learn more about the Instant Pot and all that it can do click here. But I've been working on the dhal puri recipe and video for quite some time and wanted to share it with you so that you can make delicious dhal puri at home.
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Two Types of Dhal Puri:
There are two types of Dhal Puri (In my opinion). The one my mom made at home and the ones that you bought from street vendors. My mom's dhal puri was delicious when freshly made but somehow it got really stiff once it cooled. It was also never paper thin and as soft of the street vendor's. Dhal puris from street vendors were paper thin and stuffed with the right amount of peas. And all they ever needed were hot mango sour! That's the kind of dhal puri I strived to make and that's the recipe I am sharing with you today!
The YouTube Dhal Puri Video:
Check out this youtube video first to see how I make the dhal puri and for tricks and tips!
The Dhal Puri Recipe:
Printable Recipe Card
Dhal Puri
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups of yellow split peas
- 5 cups of water for boiling split peas
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- ½ tablespoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon of roasted ground cumin or geera
- 3 cups of all purpose flour plus 1 cup for dusting
- 1 teaspoon of baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon of instant or rapid rising yeast
- 1 teaspoon of brown sugar
- 1 ¼ cup of warm water
- ½ cup of oil for cooking like canola or sunflower oil
Instructions
- Rinse split peas and add to a large sauce pan with 4 to 5 cups of water and 1 teaspoon of salt.
- Bring to a boil uncovered on high heat then reduce to medium heat and cook until peas are tender enough to be crushed without any graininess
- While peas are boiling mix the dough for the puri by combining 3 cups of flour, the yeast, baking powder and sugar in a large mixing bowl
- Mix together with a whisk, then form a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add 1 ¼ cups of warm water
- Combine to form a smooth dough ball, kneading for about 5 minutes before setting aside to rise for 30 minutes
- When the peas boils to the right texture, remove from the heat, drain with a colander and rinse peas with cold water.
- Add peas to a food processor and process until a smooth paste forms
- Season split peas paste with garlic powder, onion powder and ground cumin and set aside
- After the dough has been resting for 30 minutes turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead for 2 to 3 minutes then divide into 15 equal pieces
- Knead each piece into a smooth round ball and set aside
- Then take each ball, roll into a flat disk, brush with some oil, then stuff with 2-3 tablespoons of the split peas mixture
- Seal the dhal puri balls up by pinching the dough together, then set aside
- Continue to do this until all the dough balls are filled with the split peas mixture
- To cook the dhal puri, take a stuffed dough ball, cover it with flour, then place it on a floured surface
- Roll with a rolling pin dusted with flour until it is a thin flat disk
- Add to a tawah or flat skillet on medium to low heat
- Cook for about 1 minute then flip and brush with oil
- Immediately flip again then brush with oil
- Continue to cook for another minute until the dhal puri inflates and puffs up
- Remove from the heat and cover with a clean kitchen towel
- Repeat steps 14-20 until all the dhal puris have been cook
- Serve warm
Dhal Puri pairs well with any type of curry. Try my Instant Pot Beef Curry for a quick and easy Curry recipe.
Emr says
YEAST!!! I just discovered your blog today, and I'm already in love with you. My husband is guyanese, and my mil loves her dahl puri but has always struggled with it. I bet the addition of that little bit of yeast would make the dough stretchy enough that the dahl would not break through - our perennial problem when making them. Totally going to try this - thank you for sharing the recipe! Much love from canada xoxo
Althea Brown says
Welcome, Welcome. Thank you for your kind words. You are right the yeast makes the dough more stable and stretchy! Can’t wait to hear how perfect your dhal puris come out!
Margue says
Hello i leave in french guiana what kind of cup do you use please
Althea Brown says
Hi I use a standard measuring cup but you can use google and convert the cups to grams
Em Mitch says
Once again I accepted the challenge to make something from metemgeeblog.
Making dhal puri took alllll of my energy. My feet hurting and all but I am glad I did it because I can explain to others.
So I am not a cook and I never made this nor roti before so from a complete amateur I will say it came out so nice and soft but you can see my mistake was putting way too much peas inside.
My family laughed at me using a rolling pin (lemme tell ya I thought u had to press down so hard like if u fighting for life so the dough wrapped itself all around the rolling pin) was a session
The taste is DELICIOUS and my son ate 2 and still talking about how delicious it is.
Althea Brown says
Thank you so much for sharing. It is really a labor of love but so worth it. And wow never making roti and trying Dhal Puri, you are awesome!
kelly says
you sound like a bajan lol
Oma says
Althea, I enjoy reading the comments for the dhal puri. One question, I live in Colorado, how can I adjust the ingredients to the flour so the roti turns out soft.
Alicia says
Hi, i tried making this yesterDay , my dough came out great without the yeast but its just like bread .lol with peas . Niw i came across your blog because a friend posted it on fb . Thank god for you cause im definitely trying it your way. Thank you!
Althea Brown says
Was your dough thick when stuffing with the peas? That’s generally the reason why it comes out stiff. Let me know how it comes out with my recipe. It took me years of trial to get to this point. I’m confident you will love the results.
Marva Elizabeth Ambrose says
Lady,
There is a peacefulness about you no wonder your food is so gooddd!
Bless you for sharing your recipies with us!
I made the dahl puri…..It was the best !!
Bless you and thank you.
Marva
Althea Brown says
Thank you so much. Really glad you enjoyed it.
gigi says
Omg!! So glad I found your channel tonight!! I am going to try this tomorrow!! We are home and my 2 boys and I are going to try this!! I am Haitian but Grew up around many Guyanese in Ft Lauderdale with tons of shopsto buy from!!
I love this especially since they have no Guyanese stores or restaurants near me! Thank you!!
Althea Brown says
Can’t wait to hear how it comes out!!!
YASUA says
Delicious recipe
Althea Brown says
Thank you
Gem says
I always want to fine a good guyanese cooking chennel and I found u today .. can't stop looking at your videos will start tying the recipe this weekend
Althea Brown says
Yay! So glad you found me. Happy Cooking and Baking
Eloïse says
I made the dal puri today with the recipe you given, was so so GOOD, THANK YOU SO MUCH!
MICHELE says
Hello,
I TRIED YOUR RECIPE AND THEY CAME OUT PERFECT!! I WOULD LIKE TO MAKE THESE 1 DAY AHEAD OF TIME AS I WOULD LIKE TO BRING THEM TO MY MOTHER IN LAWS FOR LUNCH THE NEXT DAY.. CAN YOU LET ME KNOW HOW I CAN STORE THEM AND THEN HOW THEY SHOULD BE REHEATED?
THANKS SO MUCH!
Althea Brown says
If you’re making them one day ahead you can easily just put in a ziplock bag and keep in the fridge. To reheat, wrap them in a kitchen towel or damp paper towel and microwave for 30 seconds until desired warmth.
Carol Trotman says
Lovely texture. I did not get them round like yours 😄. Thank you
Althea Brown says
Getting them round takes practice but glad you tried the recipe.
Phylicia says
Hi ! Am I able to use dry yeast instead of active/instant?
Deon Daniels says
This recipe was simple and tasty. I had a few hiccups but it still came out well. A lot of flour was needed to avoid sticking 😬. Looking forward to my next time. Thank you for sharing and showing how you do it!
Althea Brown says
Thank you for trying. It gets better with practice.
sam says
hello,I love your dahl puri,can you please let me have in grams who much grams of flour is 1 cup you have used
and how much in ml of water you have in your type of one cup(but you have 1 and quarter cup.
I know cups measurement seem to differs from country to country.
specify.
gm per your cup
ML water per your cup.
look forward to your other video.
many thanks
Valdora says
About how big are these? I'm looking to make the big roti to fill with curry.
Althea Brown says
They are about 10 inches in diameter.
Riselle Rechais says
Thank God for choosing you to assist me in perfecting my roti skills. I never use yeast before and your technique was very impressive. It came out exactly like yours.
Thanks again for your assistance .
Ann T says
Hi, love the recipe. Have to try this. Where did giutget the Rolling pin.
Helen says
Love this recipe and your wonderful video! So happy to have found your videos, it's the best. Thank you.
Althea Brown says
Thank you so much
Chef pumpkin says
Hey althea I've tried dhal puri twice before and failed. So happy I found your receipe. Tried it today and it taste great and it's so soft, I'm yet to perfect the look of it . Thanks I'll be saving this receipe for my next try. Keep up the great job!
Anna says
Hi Althea,
Could you tell me where you got your food processor as mine doesn’t grind the peas into a paste like you showed.
Thank you.