Ok, I agree this is not the most exciting post in this blog, but hear me out will ya? This is about making healthy rotis healthier. I like to add as much protein to our diet as possible since we’re mostly vegetarian. I say mostly cause I love my chicken wings and the husband loves chicken tikka. But it stops there. We’re the type who’d buy chicken biryani, eat the rice and leave the pieces. go figure! It has no logic to it, but that’s the way it is! I don’t like my food tasting too meat-ey. Ok, enough of that. Back to the rotis.
I like to add other flours in addition to regular whole wheat chapati flour while making the dough. Millet flour, soy flour, moong flour, flax meal, sorghum flour etc can all be incorporated fairly easily. I sometimes see a bag of multigrain flour at the Indian grocery store, but I like to buy individual packets that last longer since I can make my own mix of any combination.
If you’re new to making rotis, it might take a few tries to make soft ones. I went through that too. Initially, we had to eat them within 20 minutes of me making them if not they would become hard. True story! A few tips for soft rotis:
- Use warm / almost hot water to mix the dough.
- The dough should be a little wet and pliable and not dry. I find that a slightly wet dough yields softer rotis.
- Add about 2 tbsp of yogurt to the dough.
- Adding oil to the dough makes it a bit brittle since the oil comes to the top and fries it while cooking.
- When rolling out, add just a little flour so it wont stick to the rolling pin. Too much flour would make it dry.
- The tawa/gridle/pan must be very hot and cook each side for 10 seconds and frequently turn over.
- A few drops of oil on each side keeps them soft.
I’m still learning so will update this list if I come up with any more ‘tips’. Who knew making rotis would be complicated? I guess practice makes perfect.
I’m going to share a recipe today using soy, millet and whole wheat flour. Multi grain rotis are best eaten immediately after making them. Keeping them out longer might harden them up. You can vary the amount of wheat flour to the others depending on your taste and preferences.
You can add any combination of flours you like, the only thing to remember is that you have to have enough wheat flour to help form the gluten that binds the dough together. If not, the dough would get crumbly and lose the elasticity that helps it roll out. If you’re just starting the incorporate flax seed into your diet, start slow like a tbsp or two since it can cause gas in the tummy.
The multi grain rotis look and taste very much like normal ones. You can make stuffed parathas with the dough too!
Multi-Grain Roti / Chapati
Ingredients:
- Whole Wheat Flour - 1 cup
- Millet Flour - 1/2 cup
- Soy Flour - 1/2 cup
- Flax meal - 1 1/2 tbsp
- water - 3/4 cup
- Plain yogurt - 2 tbsp
- salt - 1/2 tsp, if desired
Instructions:
- Mix the flours and flax meal together in a bowl or a food processor with the salt.
- Add the oil and start kneading. Add 1/2 cup of water and then slowly start adding the rest while kneading the whole time.
- If you're using the food processor, start it and slowly keep pouring the water/milk into it.
- Add a little more if needed until the dough comes together in a soft ball. Knead for another 5 minutes.
- Lightly coat the dough with a few drops of oil, cover and let it rest for at least an hour in the refrigerator.
- When ready, divide into small balls, and roll out into thin circles
- On a HOT gridle/tawa heat each side for 10 seconds and keep turning until light brown spots appear. If you leave it too long on one side it will get hard. be careful!
- Serve hot with sides of your choice. Some panneer curry maybe? =
And I put oregano, basil, rosemary – whatever I feel like adding when I make the dough. It’s quite fun
ooh, I should try that sometime!
I bought a bag of Ahirwad atta from the desi store which said new multigrain – has soy,millet,jowar blah blah!.Looks like it was quite recently introduced.
I’ve seen those as well. I haven’t tried it cause I prefer mixing my own according to taste and it ends up lasting longer. Do the rotis turn out well? Ok, i’m going to ping you now!