Luchi

Name: Luchi
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 1 h
Ingredients: 250 g all-purpose flour; 2 tbsp ghee; ½ tsp salt; ½ tsp sugar (optional); 120 ml water, room temperature; 750 ml neutral vegetable oil

Vegetarian

লুচি · luchi

Pale, puffy, deep-fried breads of white flour shortened with ghee, a little smaller than a palm. Bengal's festive and weekend-breakfast bread, eaten with alur dom or cholar dal.

Luchi is a Bengali bread from India, ready in about 1 hour and made with all-purpose flour and ghee. It serves 4 and is rated intermediate to cook.

Start cooking

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Prep: 20 min
Cook: 20 min
Rest: 20 min
Total: 1 h
Serves: 4
Level: Intermediate
Calories: 386

Ingredients

4 servings (5 luchis each)

250 g All-purpose flour (opens in a new tab)Maida (plain flour) gives the classic white luchi.Contains wheat, gluten
2 tbsp (27 g) Ghee (opens in a new tab)The moyan (shortening) that makes luchi tender.Swap: Neutral vegetable oilContains milk
½ tsp (3 g) Salt (opens in a new tab)
½ tsp (2 g) Sugar (opens in a new tab) (optional)
120 ml Water (opens in a new tab), room temperatureAbout 48% hydration — a firm but smooth dough.

For deep-frying

750 ml Neutral vegetable oil (opens in a new tab)Only about 45 g is absorbed by the batch.Swap: Sunflower oil

Equipment

Method

1
Step 1
Rub the ghee (opens in a new tab) into the flour, salt and sugar (opens in a new tab) with your fingertips until the flour holds together when squeezed. Add water gradually and knead 6–8 minutes into a firm, smooth dough. Cover and rest 20 minutes.
- 10 min
- Mixing bowl (opens in a new tab)
How it looks · Photo: Klaus Nielsen on Pexels
2
Step 2
Knead briefly and divide into 20 small balls (about 18 g). Smear a drop of oil on each and roll — using oil, not flour, which would burn in the frying oil — into 9–10 cm circles of even thickness.
- 12 min
- Rolling pin (opens in a new tab)
3
Step 3
Heat the oil in a kadai or wok (opens in a new tab) to 180–185 °C; a pinch of dough should rise immediately. Slide in one luchi; as it rises, press gently with the back of a slotted spoon (opens in a new tab) so it balloons, then flip and fry 10 seconds more. It should stay pale, not brown.
Food safety: Deep-frying: use a deep, stable pan no more than half full, keep water away from the oil, never leave it unattended, and slide the luchis in away from you.
How it looks · Photo: Aesthos AR. Photography on Pexels
4
Step 4
Drain on a rack or paper and serve at once.
- 1 min
How it looks · Photo: Willians Huerta on Pexels

About this dish

Origin: Bengal, West Bengal, India · Well documentedAlso eaten in Bangladesh, Odisha and Assam.Also popular in BangladeshMore food from India
Dish: Breakfast · Brunch · Lunch · Breads & flatbreads
Cooking method: Deep-fried
Taste: mild, buttery
Diet: Vegetarian (lacto-ovo) · No nut ingredients
All labels
Vegetarian (lacto-ovo) · Eggetarian · Lacto-vegetarian · Pescatarian · Flexitarian-friendly · Egg-free · No nut ingredients · Alcohol-free · Pork-free · Beef-free
Without the optional extras: No added sugarWith the listed swaps: Vegan, Plant-based, Ovo-vegetarian, Dairy-freeWorked out from the ingredients. How labels work
Good for: Festive & celebration
Cook more with: All-purpose flour · Ghee
Techniques: Deep-frying · Kneading

Allergens

Contains, can be adapted: Milkfrom ghee
Contains: Wheatfrom all-purpose flour
Contains: Glutenfrom all-purpose flour

Based on typical versions of these ingredients and not verified allergen-free. Brands differ and cross-contact happens, so always check labels. For severe allergies, follow your clinician’s advice.

Nutrition

386 kcal per serving

Calculated

1 serving ≈ 105 g · recipe makes 4

Where the energy comes from

Protein 7%
Carbohydrate 50%
Fat 44%

Nutrition per serving and per 100 g
Nutrient	Per serving	Per 100 g
Energy	386 kcal	368 kcal
Protein	6.5 g	6.2 g
Carbohydrate	47.7 g	45.4 g
Net carbohydrate	46 g	43.8 g
Sugars	0.2 g	0.2 g
Added sugars	0 g	0 g
Fibre	1.7 g	1.6 g
Fat	18.6 g	17.7 g
Saturated fat	5.1 g	4.8 g
Trans fat	—	—
Cholesterol	17 mg	16 mg
Sodium	293 mg	279 mg
Salt equivalent	0.7 g	0.7 g

Vitamins & minerals per serving

Potassium: 67 mg
Calcium: 13 mg
Iron: 2.9 mg
Magnesium: 14 mg
Vitamin A (RAE): 57 µg
Vitamin C: 0 mg
Vitamin D: 0 µg
Vitamin B12: 0 µg
Folate (DFE): 182 µg

How these numbers were made

Calculated from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) per-100 g values and the listed quantities.
Optional ingredients are not included: sugar.
“—” means the value isn’t known for enough of the ingredients; it is never zero by default.
Values are estimates for guidance, not for medical dosing. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov.

Good to know

Tips

Roll all the luchis first and keep them under a damp cloth, then fry in one go.

Common mistakes

Oil too cool: luchis soak up oil and don't puff. Too hot: they brown before puffing.

Serve with

Serve with alur dom, cholar dal, begun bhaja or kosha mangsho; or with mishti like payesh.

Storage

Best eaten within minutes; they deflate and toughen as they cool.

Reheating

Not recommended.

Variations

Koraishutir kochuri: Luchi dough stuffed with a spiced green pea paste, a winter favourite in Bengal.

Original editorial recipe · FriendsPantry editorial · Not yet independently reviewed · Added 29 Oct 2026 · Updated 8 Nov 2026

Sauces, chutneys & dips for this dish

Kancha aamer chutney (Bengali green mango chutney)Chutney

Recipe DNA

How this dish is built

Compare with

Built from the recipe’s own sections. Each band’s width is its share of the dish by weight. Choose a component to see what it does.

What the dish is built around

Main ingredient

All-purpose flour250 g
Ghee2 tbsp · 27 g

Used in step 1

Baker’s notes

Customise in Bread & Bakery

Timeline and readiness cues

Mix and knead · about 40 min
Weigh everything. Knead until smooth and elastic: a small piece stretches thin enough to see light through (the windowpane test).
Rest · about 20 min
Covered so it doesn't dry out; relaxed dough rolls and shapes without springing back.
Start to finish: about 1 h. Times are a guide — warmth changes everything; follow the cues.

The dough

The dough in baker's percentages. Flour = 100%.
Ingredient	Role	Weight	Baker’s %
All-purpose flour	Flour	250 g	100%
Water	Water	120 g	48%
Ghee	Fat	27 g	10.8%
Salt	Salt	3 g	1.2%

Total flour: 250 g
Hydration: 48%
With milk, eggs…: 48%
Wholegrain: 0%

Hydration = water ÷ flour × 100. Milk is about 87% water and eggs about 75%, so they’re shown separately as “with milk, eggs…”.

Stiff dough (under 55% hydration) — firm, easy to roll; typical of bagels, pretzels and many flatbreads.
Salt 1.2% — on the low side (1.8–2.2% is typical for bread).
Fat 10.8% — a rich, tender dough.

If something goes wrong

Pale crust
Likely causes
- Oven too cool
- Too little sugar or no milk/egg for browning
- Over-fermented (yeast ate the sugars)
What to do
- Check the oven with a thermometer
- Brush with egg wash or milk
- Shorten the fermentation
Burnt bottom
Likely causes
- Tray too close to the heat
- Dark tray absorbs more heat
- Too much sugar in the dough
What to do
- Bake on the middle shelf
- Double up trays or use a light-coloured one
- Lower the temperature 10–15 °C and bake a little longer
Tough or chewy flatbread
Likely causes
- Dough too stiff
- Not rested
- Cooked too slowly on too cool a pan
What to do
- Add water until the dough is soft and slightly tacky
- Rest 20–30 minutes covered so the gluten relaxes
- Cook on a very hot tawa or pan — quickly

Reviews & corrections

Reviews come from signed-in cooks and appear after a moderator checks them. We never show made-up ratings.

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