Friday, November 13, 2009

Millet Flour Flatbread (Bajari Rotlo)


Millet is possibly the first domesticated cereal grain. Recent evidence suggests that it has been grown in East Asia since 8000 BC and was the staple grain before the popularization of rice. Its cultivation is mentioned in the Bible.

Today millet is the sixth most cultivated grain in the world, but is largely unknown in North America and Europe. India and Nigeria are the world’s largest producers, followed by China and several African countries. It is a hardy crop that grows well without fertilizer and in water-poor environments. As a result it is widely cultivated in the global South, especially among the poorest people in these regions. It is generally not traded in the international markets.

Millet is gluten-free and non-allergenic. It is high in protein, fiber, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium and B-complex vitamins. It is popularly used to make porridge in Russia and China, and is an important alcohol grain in Nepal, China, Balkan countries and India.

In Gujarat and other parts of India, where my family has its roots, millet is used to make the traditional local staple flatbread (known as rotlo or bhakri). Rotlo is thicker, coarser and more rigid than chapati, with which it has now largely been replaced. This recipe is a spicy version, but rotlo is traditionally made only with both flours, salt, oil and water (one can make the recipe below with just those five ingredients). My mother tells me that as a baby, I loved to eat yogurt with crushed rotlo. I guess some things never change...


Ingredients
3 cups millet flour (also known as bajari)
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons dried fenugreek leaves, chopped
1 teaspoon red chilli powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 1/2 teaspoons ginger paste
1 1/2 teaspoons garlic paste
4 green onions, thinly chopped
1/4 cup cilantro leaves, chopped
3 tablespoons oil (olive or vegetable)
1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cups water

Directions
1. In a large bowl, use your hands to mix all the ingredients (except the water).
2. Add 1 cup of water to form a dough. Add additional water slowly until all the flour is incorporated and you have a soft but firm dough.
3. In the meantime, heat a large non-stick skillet on medium-high heat.
4. Separate dough into four balls.
5. Place one ball on an unused J cloth or silicone baking mat on a flat surface.
6. Flatten the ball using your fingers to press dough towards the edge. Continue until the bread is about 1/4 inch thick and about 7 to 8 inches in diameter. Make sure it is even in thickness.
7. Lift the J cloth or mat to transfer the bread onto one of your hands (flat side up) and run under a small stream of water until wet.
8. Place the bread (wet side down) on the skillet. Cook for two minutes.
9. Moisten the top of the bread and flip. Cook for an additional two minutes.
10. Flip back to original side and cook for one further minute. Using a flat spatula, remove to a plate. Eat warm and serve with yogurt or vegetable curry.

4 comments:

Preets said...

Is this dough hard to work with? The sorghum (jowar) roti are really hard to shape because the flour has no gluten in it, so the dough doesn't hold together like wheat dough -- this seems like it would pose the same challenge... ?

Anonymous said...

yes the dough is a little harder to work with. best to flatten the dough on a cloth or mat which makes it easier to transfer to skillet. the final rotlo is firm and a bit inflexible. if you follow the instructions, though, it should work out well.

akr

I want to be you. said...

The Wheel of Buddhist Terms Poster as immersive ethics holographic augmented reality semantic search AI learning tool.

http://globalcide.livejournal.com

The Wheel Of Buddhist Terms Poster http://bit.ly/TWoBTP2 and GTD flowchart Poster http://bit.ly/GTDflowchart2

Matthew Lane Tripp EXTINCTCULTURE

http://bit.ly/TWoBTP2

The Wheel Of Buddhist Terms Poster http://filefactory.com/file/a1dh78a/n/DEST2899.jpg and GTD flowchart Poster http://filefactory.com/file/a1dh8b0/n/DEST2900.jpg

http://bit.ly/GTDflowchart2

Brainwash yourself; ubiquitous immersive ethics logistics of permaculture sustainability augmented reality education infrastructure fair trade technology transfer there is no intelligence if the measurement is always changing the genius sperm + egg * 4000 surrogate mothers with 2 fertilized embryo's each, U ,, am here to pollute your mind with information that is not relevant to your personal ability to adapt to the conditions which are available for you to have the prosperity you can share with the life around you without suffering projectvisitor. I want to mix the wheel of buddhist terms poster art of war flashcard deck MS onenote, there.com, nature.com, sociology, situational awareness wikipedia article the 48 laws of power, all academic databases, + smartphone application, augmented reality, + GTD flowchart with permaculture logistics of sustainability, take TWoBT poster to have it scanned into a file + blow it up into a wall mural by blockposters.com yesmagazine.org /planet/a-living-built-environment software engineers of permaculture logistics, which has nothing to do with the flowchart wall mural, that she doesn't know how to write the projector display software try looking through the lists created by the people i follow (you will need an account to look) http://twitter.com/Globalcide/following

http://TradeSkillsLLC.blogspot.com

Evan Frey said...

Great bllog