Rotlis

I was working from home today and wanted to have keema for my lunch. In order to do this, I need to make rotli. This is what we call the unleavened bread which accompanies almost all Indian meals. It is also sometimes referred to as chapati, although to me, the former is far superior to the latter.

Shop bought chapatis are doughy and thick. The home made rotli is light, airy and very fine.

What you will need

180g of atta, otherwise known as chappati flour
Approximately 100 ml warm water
1 teaspoon of oil

Place the flour into a bowl and slowly add the warm water, until the dough reaches a bread dough consistency. Add more or less water, applying your own judgement. This stuff has great elasticity. Add the oil and a pinch of salt to the dough and knead to bind all the crumbs together.

This should make about 8-10 rotlis. A serving would normally be 2-3 per person, although my brother is known to get through about 6.

Seperate the dough into even lemon sized balls and roll the rotlis out on a floured suffice. The rotli rolling pin is traditionally thin, but a normal sized rolling pin should surface, or my other rolling pin which is a cleaned wine bottle. They should be rolled very thin, about 1mm thick You may need more flour for the board and rolling pin to stop them sticking.

As children, this is how we would help with dinner. Rolling out the rotli always involved the game 'name that country', so don't worry if they are not perfectly round.

Again, I use my tawa, but you can cook these off in a non stick frying pan. They only take seconds each side. After which, using tongs, give them a blast on the live gas flame to finish. They should inflate.

One cooked, spread each with a little bit of butter. These can be eaten immediately or put aside and reheat later.

Serve these delicious breads with your chosen curry. For me, at lunch time, it was the vegetarian keema.