Maria NasirRoti has only two ingredients – wheat flour and water – but it requires a perfect dough and a few little tricks for these ingredients to work their magic.
As a child, I was always fascinated by the way my mother changed the flour into a pliable dough and then into perfectly round, thin and appetising rotis.
As the moist, uncooked roti hits the hot griddle, an amazing aroma spreads all over the house which is no less captivating than the scent of rain on dry soil – the true, unadulterated perfumes of nature.
In many South Asian homes the tradition of joint family system still prevails, and the women of the house take turns to make rotis for the whole family at meal times.
Imagine, a woman standing in the heat of South Asia in a smouldering kitchen making rotis nonstop for a family of 10-12 people till everyone is satiated. And when these are coming hot and fresh straight from the stove, nobody eats just one!
The most intimidating thing for me while making roti has always been kneading the dough. So I decided to figure out a simple and quick way of making roti at home.
After a few experiments I realised that almost 75% of the battle is won if you get the dough right. So I came up with a standard quantity of flour and water to be mixed in a food processor that yields perfect roti dough making.
You can use the same quantities to knead dough by hand but I’ll stick to the easier version.
Important: This recipe works only with a food processor, not a blender.
Utensils:
Food processor (not blender)
Rolling pin
Skillet or Tawa
Ingredients:
1+1/2 cups iced water
extra flour for dusting
This Is What You Do:
Turn the processor off. The whole process takes maximum 2 minutes.
Take the dough out of the food processor and keep it covered with a plastic wrap in the fridge till you need to use it. It can stay there for two days.
Heat a skillet on medium heat. Dust the work top with some flour (not too much or the roti will dry out).
Make dough balls, slightly smaller than a tennis ball by rolling the dough between your palms.
Flatten a dough ball on your work top and roll it out into as thin and even as you can.
The skillet should be really hot before you put roti on, or it will stick to the skillet. Spread the roti on the skillet, give it 30 seconds, turn.
Cook the other side for a slightly longer time. There should be a tiny brown marks all over it.
Now transfer the roti to the direct flame with first side facing down. This will make the roti puff up.
When the roti is done, immediately wrap it in a tea towel. Repeat with all the dough. Keep warm till you serve.
Hi, i have question- my food processor has a dough blade and a chopping blade; which one do you recommend to make chapatis, rotis etc? (I have a Breville sous chef 16 cup food processor) thanks so much 🙂
Definitely the dough blade, Swati. Hope you will enjoy this convenient way of making roti dough. 😊
Hello. I’ve been reading your blog recently and really like the recipes which are mostly simple and easy.
1. What power/model food processor you use? (I’m planning to buy one that has 800watt, I hope that’s good enough for roti dough)
2. Can the dough be used as soon as made or does it need some time to rest. If yes, then how long should I wait before making chapati?
3. Everyone raves about a stand mixer for roti dough but they are pretty expensive and we are just two people and a small kitchen, I don’t want to get that for just Dough. So does the dough made in food processor as good and soft enough?
4. Someone recommended a bread maker machine for kneading roti dough, any idea if it’s better than a food processor? (I’d prefer buying a food processor as I can use it for other things too!)
I’ll be very grateful if you answer my questions. I have a small baby who just started crawling and I can’t spend too much time in kitchen.
First of all, thank you so much for stopping by the blog and taking time to browse through my posts! 😊
I’m glad you find the recipes quick n easy to do, as most of them were created when my elder daughter was also a toddler. So, believe me, I know what you must be going through these days trying to shuffle the baby and kitchen work these days. 💜
I have a Braun K700, 600 watts food processor that I bought at least 6-7 years back. And yes, I would highly recommend getting a multifunction food processor rather than individual roti or dough makers because so many different machines take a lot of worktop space.
I even make most of my cake and even choux pastry dough in my food processor. It has various blades and two jugs. I keep the smaller for chutney and curry pastes and the bigger to make mince, grate vegetables and make doughs.
I use the dough almost as soon as it’s done,maybe it rests for the 5 minutes that take me heating the skillet and preparing the work top.
You can make rotis in bulk and freeze too. Don’t cook them completely, only till they are just firm and not doughy anymore. Layer them with sheets of plastic wrap or butter paper between them and store in an airtight container.
When required, take out as many as you want, moisten them a little and toast again on a hot skillet till completely done.
Hope this will help 😊
Hugs!
Thanks for your quick and detailed reply. If a blogger replies to a 3 year old post this quick, it’s a sure sign that the blog is very well-maintained. 😊
I have finally ordered the food processor. Let’s see how my dough turns out in it.
About the half-cooked frozen roti, I tried this method last year but wasn’t very happy with the results. The roti would dry out on full cooking. Then I started making and freezing individual roti dough balls. It was better but still had to thaw and wasn’t really good. The last method that I just tried and works best is rolling out the rotis and freezing them as such uncooked. When I need them, I simply heat up the skillet and cook the frozen rotis directly without thawing. Results are the closest to freshly made Rotis without much mess (I’m very lazy!).
I hope the food processor helps me to be more productive in the kitchen. ☺️
Aww! I’m glad I could be of help and hope cooking becomes easier and more fun with your new food processor.
I started this blog to share my cooking experiences, my family recipes and whatever I have learnt over the years from cooking for my husband, two kids and many many friends 😊 It’s not for commercial purposes but something I enjoy doing.
Freezing raw dough has never worked for me either, I usually forget to thaw it on time 😆 I don’t cook rotisserie half way, just on the Hawaiian for a couple of seconds each sides to firm them up. It works for me.
Never tried freezing completely raw rolled out rotis, will definitely try soon 😊
nice info thank you for tell us methood that recipe
good sharing.
Sounds simple and delicious…a must try