Roti / Phulkas

Submitted by Girl from India

"This is my daily routine as we have these soft, light and dainty Indian whole wheat flatbreads everyday. I also make rolls for the brown bag with these as they stay soft for hours and hours. They do take a little practise but will try and explain the process as clearly as possible. The puffing up of the rotis ensures that they are soft. Yield is approximate depending on the size of the rolls. Cooking time includes resting time and assumes that you are rolling out as the roti cooks :)."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 10mins
• Ingredients: 6
• Yields: 20 phulkas
• Serves: 3

ingredients

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 cup water, lukewarm or 1 cup tap water
• salt
• 2 teaspoons oil
• some more whole wheat flour, to help in rolling
• clarified butter (ghee) or butter (optional)

directions

1. Put the flour in a mound on a kneading surface.
2. Make a well in the centre and add salt into it.
3. Then adding a little water at a time incorporate it into the flour and knead the flour into a soft smooth dough with water (a finger pushed in presses without much pressure) Then coat it with the oil and leave to rest for 30 minutes covered in a damp cloth.
4. Shape into smooth a little bigger than walnut sized balls/ medium lemon sized balls (You can go bigger too if this seems like too much of trouble as the lesser the size the more rolls) Roll these into a ball between your palms well to make sure there are no cracks.
5. Flatten a bit between your palms.
6. Coat with flour on both sides.
7. On a well dusted surface, roll these into 1/8” thick rounds which should be around 6 inches in diameter.
8. (Keep the pressure while rolling as light as possible and soon you with practise the roti starts rotating with the rolling pin movement and you do not have to turn it manually to get a perfect circle).
9. Place on a plate with butter paper between each.
10. Place the griddle over the fire, and heat till a drop of water thrown over it, evaporates immediately with a sizzling sound.
11. Place a rolled chapatti over the hot griddle for around 10-15 secs.
12. till flecks appear on the underside.
13. Lower flame and turn over and cook for 40 secs or so.
14. With practice you can use this time to roll out the next ball so you do not need to roll them all out to start with.
15. As soon as brown flecks appear on the underside again increase the flame to full and remove the tava and turn the roti over.
16. Now slide the tava out and with a pair of metal tongs place the lesser cooked side over the nakes flame.
17. The roti will puff out immediately like a ball.
18. Turn to the other side of neceesary (I don't as the fine rotis should cook).
19. Take off the flame and brush with a drop of ghee/ butter immediately (if using) Now on the high flame put the tava back on and the next roll.
20. Proceed to finish the whole lot.
21. Alternatively if you are not comfortable with cooking on a direct flame: When you cook the second side on low for 40 secs.
22. Flip over on the tava itself.
23. Put on high and use a cloth towel to press the roti down at various points.
24. It should fluff up this way too.
25. Steam the rotis wrapped in foil to reheat.
26. or roast on griddle but this takes away the softness.
27. Note: The remaining unused dough should be refrigerated (not frozen) in a plastic bag for use later (but please use within a couple of days.

Reviews

[luvcookn]

This is almost exactly how I was taught to make roti, way back in the 70's. I made your recipe as written and finished them they way I do them...on an electric stove. I use a cast iron fry pan to cook the roti and then on another element on high I have an open rack that I put over the element ( 2" above the element...and finish them off on there. As they come off...I lightly butter them and keep them warm. Thank for you for posting.

 

[stranger229]

I am old now but when I was growing up I could not make round phulka. So I devised a method of flattening larger roti and cut out a smaller round disc and made perfect roties instead of different states of India or iin the shape of different countries of the world. Of course I have gotten better over the years but stI'll they are never perfect rounds like my mother's. Directions are good to excellent except I let them puff up on the griddle rather than open flame. My grandmother used to use chulha and she used to put partially cooked chapati on the side inside and they used to puff up also except her phulka tasted much better than everything I have eaten.

 

[Gerlinde.Hitzenberg]

Very easy to make and they taste wonderful! Thank you for posting!

 

[JNS]

Wow ! These were easy and fun to make. Your precise instructions made the job straight forward. I didn't have wholemeal so I just used plain white flour and they were still fantastic. I cooked mine on a non stick fry pan which worked well. I would never buy ready- made again. Thank you for this recipe.

 

[Roosie]

These are delious and much easier than you would think! It's a lot of fun 'puffing' your rotis up over the flame. I followed your advice and used 1:5 soy flour to whole wheat flour, which gave it a nice texture. We served these as a side for Roasted Red Lentil Soup (#81287), which was nice. I did spread them with butter, but I felt that they were better without- the butter made them a little soggy and didn't add much to the flavor. I actually had to use 2 1/2+ cups flour, but all different flours are diffently absorbant so I won't blame that on you. I love the well-written and comprehensive directions! These are so easy, tasty and healthful; they may become regulars in my kitchen! Thanks Fay!!!