{{Short description|Deep-fried flatbread made of wheat flour}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}} {{Infobox food | name = Luchi | image = File:Puri - Digha - East Midnapore - 2015-05-03 9778.JPG | image_alt = A stack of flatbreads filled with air bubbles. | caption = Luchi | country = | region = | creator = | type = Flatbread | served = Hot | main_ingredient = Maida flour, ghee, water | variations = Puri, Kachori | calories = | other = | national_cuisine = Bengali cuisine }}
'''Luchi''' is a flatbread that is deep-fried, popular in Bengali cuisine. It is made of maida flour, water, and ghee. It is similar to puri, which is made with atta rather than maida. Luchi is eaten with dishes such as aloo dum or dal. Originating from a dish called {{lang|bn-Latn|shaskuli}}, luchi was first attested in 1660. It is commonly eaten during festivals. Variations of luchi include kachori and {{lang|bn-Latn|khasta luchi}}, and local variations exist across Bengal.
== Preparation and serving == [[File:Luchi Alur Torkari - Home - Kolkata - West Bengal.jpg|thumb|Luchi served with (clockwise from top) potato tarkari, rasgullas, boondi and sandesh]] Luchi is a flatbread made of maida flour, water and ghee.{{sfn|Davidson|Jaine|2014|loc=Luchi}} It may additionally use semolina.{{sfn|Bladholm|2000|pp=39–40}} The dough is kneaded, shaped into a circle, and deep-fried,{{sfn|Davidson|Jaine|2014|loc=Luchi}} typically in a karahi pot.{{sfn|Banerji|1997|p=[https://archive.org/details/bengalicookingse0000bane/page/108 108]}} Each luchi is fried individually, filling with air as the oil is spooned over it, after which it is flipped and cooked until golden brown.{{sfn|Bladholm|2000|pp=39–40}} The diameter of luchi is typically 12.5–15 centimetres (5–6 inches),{{sfnm|1a1=Banerji|1y=1997|1p=[https://archive.org/details/bengalicookingse0000bane/page/108 108]|2a1=Davidson|2a2=Jaine|2y=2014|2loc=Luchi}} though it ranges from 7.5 cm (3 in) to 12.5 cm (5 in). It is served while hot and fresh.{{sfn|Banerji|1997|p=[https://archive.org/details/bengalicookingse0000bane/page/108 108]}}
Luchi is commonly served with payesh, {{lang|bn-Latn|begun bhaja}}, dal, aloo dum, or mutton.{{sfn|Mukhopadhyay|2019|pp=19–20}} The luchi is torn and eaten with the side dishes.{{sfn|Bladholm|2000|pp=39–40}} In upper-class Bengali Hindu culture, the traditional method is to tear it using the thumb and first two fingers.{{sfn|Mukhopadhyay|2019|pp=19–20}} Luchi may be eaten for breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, or dinner;<ref name="Telegraph">{{Cite news |last=<!--not stated--> |date=2 October 2016 |title=An occasional treat |url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/culture/an-occasional-treat/cid/1320597 |access-date=13 July 2025 |work=The Telegraph}}</ref> it is traditionally part of a Bengali dinner.{{sfn|Achaya|1998|p=[https://archive.org/details/indianfoodhistor0000acha/page/130 130]}}
Luchi and the similar puri of North Indian cuisine are distinguished by the flour, as puri is made with atta.{{sfnm|1a1=Banerji|1y=1997|1p=[https://archive.org/details/bengalicookingse0000bane/page/108 108]|2a1=Davidson|2a2=Jaine|2y=2014|2loc=Luchi}} Puri also uses less water, causing it to be firmer,{{sfn|Bladholm|2000|pp=39–40}} and does not have fat in the dough, causing it to be thinner and more air-filled.{{sfn|Achaya|1998|p=[https://archive.org/details/indianfoodhistor0000acha/page/138 138]}} Kachori is luchi with a stuffing such as peas.{{sfn|Davidson|Jaine|2014|loc=Bangladesh}} A traditional variant of luchi is {{lang|bn-Latn|radhabollobi}}, filled with dal; this typically uses urad dal, as opposed to {{lang|bn-Latn|dal puri}}, which uses chickpeas.<ref name="Telegraph" /> {{lang|bn-Latn|Khasta luchi}} is made with extra ghee for a flaky, rather than puffy, texture.{{sfnm|1a1=Banerji|1y=1997|1p=[https://archive.org/details/bengalicookingse0000bane/page/108 108]|2a1=Bladholm|2y=2000|2pp=39–40|3a1=Davidson|3a2=Jaine|3y=2014|3loc=Luchi}} Less common variations of luchi include {{lang|bn-Latn|moricher luchi}}, made with black pepper, {{lang|bn-Latn|keema puri}}, made with ground meat, and colourful versions using beetroot or spinach.<ref name="Telegraph" />
==History and etymology== The word ''luchi'' or similar words do not appear in Sanskrit or Prakrit texts. According to one theory, ''luchi'' comes from the Hindi word {{Transliteration|hi|locha}} ({{lang|hi|लोच}}), referring to something slippery, named for the way luchi slips from one's hands. According to another theory, it comes from the Sanskrit word {{Transliteration|sa|lochak}} ({{lang|sa|लोचक}}), meaning ''pupil'', due to its round shape.{{sfn|Mukhopadhyay|2019|pp=19–20}} As per the {{ill|Hindī Śabdasāgara|hi|हिंदी शब्दसागर}}, the word ''luchi'' is derived from the Sanskrit word {{Transliteration|sa|ruchi}} ({{lang|sa|रुचि}}), meaning something which is appetizing.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dasa |first=Syamasundara |date=1965–1975 |title=Hindi sabdasagara |url=https://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/app/dasa-hindi_query.py?qs=%E0%A4%B2%E0%A5%81%E0%A4%9A%E0%A5%81%E0%A4%88&searchhws=yes |access-date=2023-03-31 |website=dsal.uchicago.edu}}</ref>
The original form of luchi was called {{lang|bn-Latn|shaskuli}}. It was described by the eleventh-century Pala medical writer Chakrapani Datta in his book {{lang|pi-Latn|Dravyaguna}}, which wrote, "Kneading wheat flour with ghee, rolling it out, and frying it in hot ghee results in {{lang|bn-Latn|shaskuli}}, whose qualities are like {{lang|pi-Latn|phenika}} [<nowiki/>khaja]."{{sfn|Ray|1987|pp=32–34}}<ref name="Bandyopadhyay">{{Cite news |last=Bandyopadhyay |first=Amitava |date=1 May 2016 |title=Rabibasariya Magazine |script-title=bn:রবিবাসরীয় ম্যাগাজিন |url=https://www.anandabazar.com/supplementary/rabibashoriyo/rabibasariya-magazine-1.373326 |access-date=8 July 2025 |work=Anandabazar Patrika |publisher=}}</ref> In the Pala era, three varieties of {{lang|bn-Latn|shaskuli}} were common: {{lang|bn-Latn|khasta}}, which was kneaded with fat, {{lang|bn-Latn|sapta}}, which was kneaded without fat, and puri.<ref name="Bandyopadhyay" />{{sfn|Ray|1987|pp=73–74}} The {{lang|bn-Latn|khasta}} of the Pala era became the luchi popular in Bengal, while puri became popular in North India.{{sfn|Ray|1987|pp=73–74}} Luchi was traditionally made without water, using ghee or bananas instead.<ref name="Telegraph" /> The first mention of luchi in Bengali literature was in a 1660 Vaishnava text titled {{lang|bn-Latn|Rasikamangala}}.{{sfn|Goswami|2023|p=232}} In the Mughal empire, deep-fried foods such as luchi were common among the upper class.{{sfn|Sangar|1968|p=208}}
In the 1854 play {{lang|bn-Latn|Kuleen Kulasarbbaswa}} by {{ill|Ramnarayan Tarkaratna|bn|বাংলার খাবার}}, luchi is described as the finest component of a light meal.{{sfn|Ray|1987|pp=73–74}} In Bengal, wheat-based foods such as luchi were primarily for special occasions before wheat became a staple food, alongside rice, during the 1943 famine.{{sfn|Mukherjee|Biswakarma|2025|p=172}} Luchi became popular in Assam during the British Raj era, when Bengali people comprised much of the regional administration.{{sfn|Sharma|2011|p=97}} In Bihar, luchi (or {{lang|bh-Latn|luchuī}}) was recorded by 19th-century British sources.{{sfn|Achaya|1998|p=[https://archive.org/details/indianfoodhistor0000acha/page/140 140]}} During this time, luchi was commonly eaten for afternoon tea among aristocratic households.{{sfn|Banerji|1997|p=[https://archive.org/details/bengalicookingse0000bane/page/108 108]}} Luchi was incorporated into Anglo-Indian cuisine by the post-independence era; an Anglo-Indian diarist in the 1970s listed it as a typical component of a big breakfast.{{sfn|Das|2025|p=565}}
== Consumption == [[File:Luchi Thali.jpg|thumb|Luchi, aloo dum, and payesh]] Luchi is popular in Bengali cuisine, even though rice is the main staple in the region.{{sfn|Banerji|1997|p=[https://archive.org/details/bengalicookingse0000bane/page/108 108]}} According to the ''Bengali Culinary Dictionary'', by Milon Datta, luchi is Bengali people's favorite salty food.{{sfn|Datta|2015|pp=371–373}} Luchi is eaten during the festivals of Durga Puja, Lakshmi Puja, and Kali Puja, served with dal and potato curry.{{sfn|Bladholm|2000|pp=39–40}} A sweet version served during Durga Puja is {{lang|bn-Latn|poddo luchi}} ({{lit|lotus luchi}}, which is stuffed with dried fruit and khoa.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Saha |first=Somdatta |date=5 October 2022 |title=Dashami 2022: How To Make Poddo Luchi - The Unexplored Bread (Poori) Of Bengal |url=https://food.ndtv.com/how-to/dashami-2022-how-to-make-poddo-luchi-the-unexplored-bread-poori-of-bengal-3404759 |access-date=26 March 2026 |work=NDTV}}</ref> Luchi became part of religious festivals as it was in the traditional category of cooked food, served to priests. According to chef Sharad Dewan, "Luchi is the perfect celebratory food. On normal days, people eat their staples, rice or rotis, or other cereals. But luchis are for special occasions".<ref name="Telegraph" />
The typical diameter of luchi is six to eight inches in rural Bengal and three to four inches in Kolkata. Luchi served in Malda District, West Bengal, is plate-shaped and over twelve inches wide. Kantajew Temple in Dinajpur District, Bangladesh, once served bowl-shaped luchi to be torn with both hands. Near the city of Malda, the cremation ground of Sadullapur serves "elephant's foot luchi", shaped like an elephant's foot, which is sold by weight to pilgrims bathing in the Bhagirathi River. According to researcher Pranab Ray, the smallest luchi in India is likely found in the village of Palashi, Midnapore district (near Radhamohanpur railway station), where it is offered as bhoga at the Nandi family estate, with a diameter of one to one-and-a-half inches.{{sfn|Ray|1987|pp=32–34}}
==See also== * List of Indian breads * Indian cuisine * Bangladeshi cuisine
==References== {{reflist}} === Works cited === * {{Cite book |last=Achaya |first=K. T. |author-link=K. T. Achaya |url=http://archive.org/details/indianfoodhistor0000acha |title=Indian food : a historical companion |date=1998 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Delhi |url-access=registration |via=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-19-564416-6}} * {{Cite book |last=Banerji |first=Chitrita |author-link=Chitrita Banerji |url=https://archive.org/details/bengalicookingse0000bane |title=Bengali Cooking: Seasons and Festivals |publisher=Serif |year=1997 |isbn=1897959508 |url-access=registration |via=Internet Archive}} * {{Cite book |last=Bladholm |first=Linda |title=The Indian Grocery Store Demystified |date=12 August 2000 |publisher=Macmillan Publishers |url=https://archive.org/details/indiangrocerysto00blad/page/58/mode/2up?q=bhature |url-access=registration |via=Internet Archive |isbn=1580631436}} * {{Cite journal |last=Das |first=Arindam |date=2025-07-03 |title=Family recipe diaries and consumption of transcultural Anglo-Indian identity |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14631369.2024.2444266 |journal=Asian Ethnicity |volume=26 |issue=3 |pages=552–576 |doi=10.1080/14631369.2024.2444266 |issn=1463-1369|url-access=subscription }} * {{Cite book |last=Datta |first=Milon |title=Bangalir Khadyakosh |date=October 2015 |publisher=Dey's Publishing |isbn=9788129524164 |location=Kolkata |language=bn |script-title=bn:বাঙালির খাদ্যকোষ |trans-title=Bengali Culinary Dictionary}} * {{Cite book |year=2014 |title=The Oxford Companion to Food |editor-last=Davidson |editor-first=Alan |editor-link=Alan Davidson (food writer) |editor-last2=Jaine |editor-first2=Tom |edition=3rd |doi=10.1093/acref/9780199677337.001.0001 |isbn=9780191756276}} * {{Cite book |last=Goswami |first=Pritam |chapter=Rise of Gaudiya Vaishnavism and Evolution of Bengali Platter in 16th to 18th Centuries |date=2023-02-22 |title=Religion, Landscape and Material Culture in Pre-modern South Asia |pages=223–241 |edition=1st |place=London |publisher=Routledge India |doi=10.4324/9781003095651-14 |isbn=978-1-003-09565-1}} * {{Cite book |last=Mukherjee |first=Rituparna |last2=Biswakarma |first2=Juthika |url=https://brill.com/view/title/71007 |title=Memory Studies in India: Texts and Contexts |chapter=Constructing the Ontology of Food Narratives during the Bengal Famine 1943 through Postmemory Practices |pages=169–181 |editor-last=Parui |editor-first=Avishek |editor-last2=Raj |editor-first2=Merin Simi |date=2025-04-28 |publisher=Brill Publishers |isbn=978-90-04-72248-4 |doi=10.1163/9789004722514_012}} * {{Cite book |last=Mukhopadhyay |first=Debasish |title=Khai Kintu Jani Ki |date=January 2019 |publisher=Patralekha |isbn=978-93-81858-54-7 |edition=1st |location=Kolkata |pages=19–20 |language=bn |script-title=bn:খাই কিন্তু জানি কি |trans-title=We Eat, But What Do We Know?}} * {{Cite book |last=Ray |first=Pranab |title=Banglar Khabar |date=July 1987 |publisher=Sahityolok |location=Kolkata |language=bn |script-title=bn:বাংলার খাবার |trans-title=Food of Bengal}} * {{Cite journal |last=Sangar |first=S. P. |date=1968 |title=FOOD AND DRINK IN MUGHAL INDIA: Summary |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |volume=30 |pages=207–211 |issn=2249-1937 |jstor=44141480}} * {{Cite book |last=Sharma |first=Jayeeta |title=Empire's Garden |date=2011 |publisher=Duke University Press |isbn=978-0-8223-9439-6 |doi=10.1353/book.64093}}
{{Bangladeshi dishes|state=collapsed}} {{Indian Dishes|state=collapsed}} {{Indian bread|state=collapsed}} {{Flatbreads|state=collapsed}}
Category:Bangladeshi cuisine Category:Bengali cuisine Category:Deep fried foods Category:Flatbreads Category:Indian breads Category:Cuisine of Odisha Category:Assamese cuisine