Stuffed flatbreads called roti (round) or paratha (square) are among the most common street food you can find in Mauritius. Dholl puri is an enhanced version of this flatbread, with cooked yellow split peas added to the recipe. The process of preparing the flatbread itself is interesting, and I recommend watching a demonstrative video in English (the recipe for dholl puri also includes a video):
Due to the more demanding preparation, the flatbreads are prepared in advance. However, the next steps are the same as with roti or paratha flatbreads – the flatbread can be filled with a huge variety of different fillings, whether vegetarian mixes or mixes containing meat.
You can easily find dholl puri flatbreads in Port Louis, most likely at the central market. I didn’t see any dholl puri sellers in Flic en Flac.
Dholl puri is often sold by tiny street stalls, and it’s one of the most affordable dishes with a very short preparation time. The flatbread is already cooked, it just needs to be filled with the chosen mixture, possibly with chili sauce, and within 20 seconds the dish is ready.
Although the preparation of dholl puri bread is more demanding than that of paratha flatbread, you can come across stalls on the streets of Port Louis offering vegetarian-filled flatbread for as little as 15 MUR (approximately 0.30 EUR). Due to the quick preparation of the flatbread and high demand, you can notice a clever division of roles – in the photo, a man in a gray t-shirt only takes orders and payments, while a man in a yellow t-shirt fills the dholl puri flatbread with the selected mixture. Their pace was unbelievable.
If you like stuffed roti flatbread, be sure to try dholl puri flatbread as well.
Enjoy!
