Jolada rotti (bhakri)

Jolada rotti as we call it in Kannada, is a staple menu item in North Karnataka and few parts of Maharashtra. It is known as jawarichi bhakri in Marathi.

Having grown up eating this rotti, I bring kilos of jowar flour with me from India. The flour that we get here in the USA is not sticky enough to make good rottis.

I love to eat these rottis especially with sabasgi pallya (dill curry), tumb badanikayi (stuffed brinjals), menthya pallya (fenugreek) shengad hindi (peanut chutney), agasi hindi (flax seeds chutney) more than anything.

In North Karnataka, they make very thin rottis and dry them on the kitchen countertops to get a crispier version that can be saved for days together. They are called khati rotti!

Soft or crispy, rotti is my favorite bread!

Ingredients:

1 cup jowar flour and some for dusting

Hot water

Some cold water in a shallow bowl

Paper towel or small clean cotton cloth

Method:

1. Boil some water to 100 degree Celsius. The water should be thoroughly boiling

2. Using boiling water as required, knead the flour firm dough.

3. Preheat a griddle on high flame

4. Make a tennis ball sized (or any size you are comfortable with) ball from the dough and dust it with flour on one side

5. Also dust the rolling platform with flour and place the dough ball with the non-dusted surface facing the sky 

6. Gently pat the dough with your palm into a disc of 4 to 5 inch diameter. Do not flip the sides of the rotti while patting. You may gently dust the rolling surface with some flour occasionally. Also take care that the non-floured surface has very minimum flour on it if at all needed. This helps to keep the rotti from charring while baking.

7. Place the rotti on the griddle with the flour dusted surface facing the sky. Make sure that the stove is on high flame

8. Dip the paper towel or cloth in some cold water and gently wipe out the dry flour from the top surface of the rotti

9. Flip the rotti to the other surface and cook on high flames

Gently press the corners of the rotti with a cloth or flat spoon, this helps it to puff.

10. Keep the rottis wrapped in a cotton cloth in an air tight container

11. Repeat steps 4 to 10 for the rest of the dough

Note: The dough cannot be saved for later use; it has to be used immediately.