There are a few dishes in India that fosters the sense of unity in us and gives a sense of brotherhood when travelling; puri and sabzi is one such dish. Simple in taste and appealing in size, a plate of puri sabzi never fails to excite you and elicit your taste buds.

Having come from the Eastern part of India, my introduction to puri was in the form of luchi. Luchi is a term that denotes puri in Eastern India; the primary difference is that it is made of maida/refined wheat flour. Maida ensures that luchi is more soft and fluffy then puri, and a little high on the taste quotient. The best accompaniment with luchi is aloo/potato dum (slow-cooked curry) or ghughni/yellow chickpea curry. Ghughni is an Eastern Indian name for the yellow chickpea curry, whereas aloo/potato dum is a popular dish in Northern and Eastern India.

In West Bengal, there is also a tradition of eating luchi with kosha mangsho (mutton and chicken curry).

As luchi travels to Northern India, maida is replaced with atta (wheat flour) and it assumes the name of puri. A puri made of atta is crispier and the flavor of wheat flour is stronger. In Delhi, a variant of puri is called Bedmi Puri.  Among other things Bedmi Puri is made of wheat flour, semolina (suji) and urad dal. Bedmi puri with aloo sabji is a vegan dish made without garlic and onion. The aloo sabji accompanying the Bedmi Puri has a slight sour taste to it because of tomato, some also mix a little bit of curd in it.

A famous Old Delhi breakfast is Nagori Puri and Halwa. Nagori puris are smaller in size and crispier because they are made of semolina, and it is paired with suji halwa. It is a ritual for many to travel to the alleys of Old Delhi on Sunday mornings to dig into Bedmi Puri, aloo sabji and Nagori Puri and Halwa. Shiv Mistan Bhandar, Shyam Sweets and Ram Swaroop Halwai are some of the famous places to enjoy Bedmi Puri in Old Delhi.

Talking about the puri culture in Delhi, one cannot afford to miss the small puris that are served as part of the lunch thali in the Andhra Bhavan Canteen near India Gate. Puris are a regular feature of the lunch thali here. The accompaniments keep changing every day, but the dry aloo sabji is a mouth-watering combination.

Apart from being served in the restaurants, puri sabji is also widely prepared in homes, and different variants of stuffed puri sabji is a regular feature of many household kitchens. Examples of stuffed puri include dal puri, palak puri etc.

North India has some dishes wish are a slight aberration of the humble puri such as the Chole Bhaturey and Kachori.