Kuttu ki Poori

For the Hindu majority population of India, vegetarianism is an ancient cultural identity and a refined holistic way of life. An important teaching from the archaic texts is the need for occasional fasting to cleanse the body of its impurities. No wonder it is a traditional custom in Hinduism to fast on special days of worship like the Janmashtami, Mahashivratri, Navratri and Ekadashi. While strict Hindu disciples reject even water during these days of abstinence, most people today prefer replacing cereals and iodised salt in their platters with non-cereal food like the Indian buckwheat (Kuttu).

Born out of this necessity, Kuttu ki Poori is a relished Indian pancake made by kneading the buckwheat dough with mashed potatoes, shaping them into small circles, and deep frying them in groundnut oil. The delectable flaky Puri has a typical dark-brown hue, and besides being extremely satiating, especially after a period of Vrat (fasting), the pancakes provide a vegan, gluten-free alternative, rich in healthy phytochemicals and vitamin complexes, nutritious to the last finger-licking bite.

Though buckwheat preparations are globally spread and gaining steadfast popularity, Kuttu ki Poori is mostly localised to northern states of India and finds variations in interpretations in all provincial cuisines, from Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh. The dish is best enjoyed with a side of Vrat Wale Aloo, which can either come stir-fried in a host of endemic spices or in a tomato and yoghurt-based rich gravy.

While the exact origin of the Poori has not yet been deciphered, an approximate idea of its advent can be traced by studying the global cultivation patterns of the chief ingredient. The buckwheat is the world’s highest-growing staple believed to have originated in inland Southeast Asia around 6000 BCE. Archaeological remnants from ancient China indicate that buckwheat cultivation began in the land of the Yangtze River. Owing to China’s historically prevalent trade relationships, the staple quickly spread to Central Asia and Tibet, and then to the Middle East and Europe. Known for repeated onslaughts by Mongolian and Persian descendant conquerors, it is most likely that buckwheat came to the mountainous terrains of Himalayan India along with foreign merchants and invaders. The recipe too could have come the same way from foreign preparations of the buckwheat pancake like the Russian Blini and the Nepalese Kachhayamba, or the buckwheat noodles of China and Tibet.