Serves: 4

One of best meals Nat and I had in India on a recent trip, was a meal at Kwality Restaurant in Connaught Place, New Delhi.

We had spent days and days eating the most wonderful, traditional Indian foods. Incredible foods from the tandoor, delicate momos, street foods, incredible breakfasts of spiced puffed rices and eggs. And my goodness, the potato.

And yet here we were in a Colonial Indian restaurant for the first time, living our best 1950s life. An ornate, dark dining room with secluded tables and waiters in whites.

1950.

We thought it might be a trap, though the food was incredible. We literally laughed at how good the whole sum of the parts was.

The food, the wine, the service, the ambience.

The starter – a subtle, spiced, chicken mince paddy shallow fried and finished in cream and butter – was a recipe they gave me, and one I will type up in due course.

Though their most famous dish – Chhloe Bhatoore – was a recipe they could not share.

Bhatoore: a fried bread made with potato that blows up to be balloon of the most moorish pastry you can imagine. Sweet almost.

And then with the Chhloe – their signature twist on spiced chickpeas left overnight. Together, one of those seminal moments in food for us.

Incredible. Just perfection.

Plenty of recipes for both Chhloe and Bhatoore out there, though how to find the recipe of Kwality?

Well, Nat found it. And yes, it was the potato in the Bhatoore and not the traditional addition of yoghurt that made the difference.

Nat’s tips here are firstly to fold the dough before rolling to get as many air bubbles as possible. And to ensure your oil is bloody hot.

And a few test runs in, we were there. (Check out this guy’s video on the technique.)

Nat has become the queen of bread in our house and this was her finest yet.

Our next Indian banquet, this is going to bowl people over.

Incredible.

Ingredients

1/2 c plain flour
1/2 c potatoes, boiled and grated
1 1/2 vegetable oil
Salt
Oil for deep-frying

Method

1. Combine the flour, potato, 1 1/2 tsp of oil and salt and need into a firm dough without using any water.
2. Knead the dough very well until it is smooth. (We used a KitchenAid.) Cover with a wet muslin cloth and rest the dough for 10 minutes.
3. Divide the dough into 4 equal parts and roll out into circles of 12.5cm diameter. (Nat’s tip, fold in on itself a few times to really help those air pockets form.)
4. Deep-fry in hot oil until the bhaturas puff up and both sides are golden brown.
5. Serve with chhloe, sliced red onion and lemon wedges.