Traditional dholl puri: the Mauritian street bread stuffed with yellow split peas, served with bean curry and chutney

Dholl puri is what Mauritians eat at any hour: at breakfast, at the midday snack, on the way home from work, bought for a few cents at street stalls and sold in pairs, one on top of the other, wrapped in paper. It came from India with the indentured workers who arrived on the island in the 19th century for the sugarcane plantations, and became something entirely Mauritian.

It is a soft wheat dough hiding inside a layer of yellow split peas cooked and ground with turmeric and cumin. The skill lies in rolling the stuffed disc very thin, without tearing, and cooking it on the griddle in less than a minute, so it stays soft and flexible. On top go rougaille, the Creole tomato sauce with ginger and thyme, white bean curry in a thin sauce, and cilantro and chili chutney.

It is vegan by nature and feeds like a meal. The recipe makes twelve breads and takes an afternoon's work, but the breads freeze well and the sauces keep for days in the fridge.

Recipe card

• Origin: Mauritius
• Category: Stuffed bread, street food
• Difficulty: Medium
• Preparation time: 1 hour (plus soaking the peas)
• Cooking time: 40 minutes
• Serves: 12 dholl puri, 6 portions

Ingredients — dholl puri

• 1 cup dried yellow split peas, soaked for 4 hours
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon salt (for the dough)
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric (for the dough)
• 1 tablespoon oil, plus more for brushing
• 1 cup warm water

Ingredients — rougaille and bean curry

• Rougaille: 4 tomatoes chopped, 1 onion chopped, 2 garlic cloves, 1 teaspoon grated ginger, 1 sprig thyme, 1 chili, 2 tablespoons oil, salt
• Curry: 1 can white beans (400 g), 1 onion chopped, 1 tablespoon curry powder, 1 teaspoon turmeric, 1 tablespoon ginger-garlic paste, 1 tomato, curry leaves, 1 cup water, oil, salt
• Chutney: 1 bunch cilantro, 1 green chili, 1 garlic clove, juice of 1 lemon, salt, blended with a little water

Method

1. Cook the drained peas in water with the turmeric for 25 minutes, until soft but still whole. Drain very well, let cool and process with the cumin and salt until it becomes a moist, loose flour.
2. Mix the flour, salt, turmeric, oil and water into a soft dough. Knead for 8 minutes, cover and rest 30 minutes.
3. For the rougaille, sauté the onion in the oil, add the garlic, ginger, thyme and chili, then the tomato and salt, and cook for 15 minutes until it becomes a sauce.
4. For the curry, sauté the onion in the oil, add the ginger-garlic paste, curry powder, turmeric and curry leaves, then the tomato, beans and water, and cook for 15 minutes. Mash some of the beans to thicken.
5. Divide the dough into 12 balls. Open each in the palm of your hand into an 8 cm disc, place 1 heaping tablespoon of the ground peas in the center and close like a purse, pinching well.
6. Dust each purse with flour and roll out gently into a very thin 18 cm disc, without letting the peas break through the dough.
7. Heat a griddle or frying pan on medium-high, place the disc, cook for 30 seconds, flip, brush with oil, cook another 30 seconds, flip again and brush the other side. Remove when it has golden spots and is still soft.
8. Stack the breads covered with a cloth to keep them soft. Serve in pairs, with the curry, rougaille and chutney on top, folded in half.

Tips and variations

• The peas must be very dry and loosely ground; too moist, they leak through the dough when rolling.
• Very soft, well-rested dough is what allows rolling thin without tearing.
• Do not leave the bread on the griddle more than 1 minute in total: it hardens and breaks when folded.
• Unstuffed roti (farata) uses the same dough and is the simpler sibling.
• The cilantro chutney can take grated coconut or mint.
• Finished breads freeze separated by paper and reheat on the griddle in seconds.
• A little Mauritian pickled chili is the final touch of the stalls.

Dholl puri is the Mauritian sandwich without being a sandwich: thin pea bread, bean curry, tomato and chutney, eaten by hand on the street. Laborious the first time, and then it becomes an addiction.