Food Lorists

• 2 cups Atta (Whole wheat flour)
• 1/8 teaspoon Salt
• ¾ Cup Warm water (near 100ºF)
• Melted Ghee for basting
• Some Flour for dusting and rolling
  

Mix salt and flour. Make a mound with a well in the center. Add warm water and start mixing dough and knead. If the dough is too sticky, add about 1 Table spoon of flour. If the dough is too hard, add up to one Tablespoon of water (one teaspoon at a time) to get the right consistency.
Gather dough in to a ball. Cover with damp kitchen towel or a plastic film. Let it rest 20 to 30 minutes at room temperature.

Roll the dough out to form a 6" diameter disc about the thickness of a Nickel (5¢ coin) for Roti or Chapati. For Phulka, you need to roll the dough out to form a 5" diameter disc about the thickness of a Dime (10¢ coin). The way you roll the dough will also determine whether the bread will puff up evenly or not.
Pinch dough to make one bread and form it into a ball. Now flatten it to form a patty about 2" to 3" round. This will guide you in maintaining the round shape when using the rolling pin. Always apply the rolling pin from the middle of the patty towards the edge. It takes practice to roll out a round disc. If you are a novice, use a lid of a tin of coffee and a sharp knife to form the round disc.
Always use the rolling pin on one side of the dough. Do NOT turn the dough over and roll again, it is called re-rolling. Avoid re-rolling. If you look at the cross-section of a finished puffed flat bread, you will notice one side is thicker than the other side. The thinner side corresponds to the side which was in contact with the rolling pin. We will call it the skin surface.

Heat the griddle (Tawa). Put a test bread about the thickness of a Dime (10¢ coin) on the Tawa. If the bread sticks to griddle, you need to increase the heat. If the bread gets brown spots too quickly, it is too hot. It should develop brown spots on the underside in 30 seconds. The bread is cooked in three steps.
Put the rolled bread on the griddle with skin surface down. Cook for 45 seconds. Use a palet knife to lift a corner to see that the underside has a few brown spots.

Turn it over and let it cook for a minute this time. You will notice a steam bubble trapped in the dough. Again using a pallet knife to lift a corner to see that the underside has a brown spots.

Turn it over. Press with a clean dry kitchen cloth as the steam bubble will get larger and larger to encircle the whole area.

Brush the the skin surface with melted Ghee

The more you eat, the less flavor; the less you eat, the more flavor.

Chinese Proverb

Vegetarian, Nut free