The old me used to be a lazy person. Lazy to cook specially. I used to think that cooking is a laborious, boring and useless activity which is given unnecessary importance. I believed that when any kind of food one wants is available in the restaurants, cooking was a waste of time!
Things got into perspective when I had gained an unhealthy amount of weight during pregnancy and post that! Once I had a toddler whose nutrition I had to take care of, cooking became a necessary evil. I still did not like cooking, but came to understand that it was the only way I could ensure that we as a family ate healthy and stayed healthy!
Then as I embarked on weight loss - I was constantly faced with the challenge of eating something that was low on calories , yet high on taste! I discovered the joy of the cooking healthy challenge! As we went along I modified even more - I began to make more soups, cook different types of pulses and also began experimenting with different grains!
Brown rice khichdis, broken wheat "fried rice", different kind of parathas, whole wheat pasta
are now dished out of my kitchen with a lot of gusto! Chittu also gets a staple breakfast of a combination of various millets made into a porridge on a regular basis!
One of my readers also suggested that I take to millets in its various forms. When I was grocery shopping, my eyes chanced upon "bajra flour"(pearl millet flour) and I grabbed a packet without thinking much what I would do with it! I have heard of bajra roties being made and so I decided to experiment.
When I kneaded the bajra flour, I ended up with a brittle textured dough. So I could not roll the chappatis like I roll the regular wheat roties. So I added some wheat flour to it and kneaded with some warm water and made flavourful roties with it. Yes my roties were not too soft. Little on the crisper side and I topped with a bit of ghee too! But both- the husband and toddler loved the roties:
.JPG)
.JPG)
How to make bajra roties:
Take bajra flour and wheat flour (70:30)
Add salt
Knead with warm water into chappati dough consistency
Add 1 spoon oil in the end
Roll with rolling pin
Grill on tava like a regular roti
Serve with a smidge of ghee (clarified butter)
Other pointers:
I will try to add some onion/ grated carrots/ grated radish/ cabbage or other veggies the next time
Read the nutrition info for bajra here take a look at the iron content & the fat too!!
The satiety is pretty high!
These rotis are on the chewy side and you'd have to spend time chewing it. So you really cant wolf down too many at a time
I loved the rustic texture of these rotis. The smell of the ghee infused rotis really made me feel like I was eating the healthiest meal in town!!!
Things got into perspective when I had gained an unhealthy amount of weight during pregnancy and post that! Once I had a toddler whose nutrition I had to take care of, cooking became a necessary evil. I still did not like cooking, but came to understand that it was the only way I could ensure that we as a family ate healthy and stayed healthy!
Then as I embarked on weight loss - I was constantly faced with the challenge of eating something that was low on calories , yet high on taste! I discovered the joy of the cooking healthy challenge! As we went along I modified even more - I began to make more soups, cook different types of pulses and also began experimenting with different grains!
Brown rice khichdis, broken wheat "fried rice", different kind of parathas, whole wheat pasta
are now dished out of my kitchen with a lot of gusto! Chittu also gets a staple breakfast of a combination of various millets made into a porridge on a regular basis!
One of my readers also suggested that I take to millets in its various forms. When I was grocery shopping, my eyes chanced upon "bajra flour"(pearl millet flour) and I grabbed a packet without thinking much what I would do with it! I have heard of bajra roties being made and so I decided to experiment.
When I kneaded the bajra flour, I ended up with a brittle textured dough. So I could not roll the chappatis like I roll the regular wheat roties. So I added some wheat flour to it and kneaded with some warm water and made flavourful roties with it. Yes my roties were not too soft. Little on the crisper side and I topped with a bit of ghee too! But both- the husband and toddler loved the roties:
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG) |
| Bajra Roti with Tondli subzi! |
How to make bajra roties:
Take bajra flour and wheat flour (70:30)
Add salt
Knead with warm water into chappati dough consistency
Add 1 spoon oil in the end
Roll with rolling pin
Grill on tava like a regular roti
Serve with a smidge of ghee (clarified butter)
Other pointers:
I will try to add some onion/ grated carrots/ grated radish/ cabbage or other veggies the next time
Read the nutrition info for bajra here take a look at the iron content & the fat too!!
The satiety is pretty high!
These rotis are on the chewy side and you'd have to spend time chewing it. So you really cant wolf down too many at a time
I loved the rustic texture of these rotis. The smell of the ghee infused rotis really made me feel like I was eating the healthiest meal in town!!!
Nice innovative recipe Sugar! The way we Maharashtrians make is we don't put wheat flour, BUT we also do nor roll it with the rolling stick- we pat it flat on a non stick say plastic bag and then transfer it on to the pan its called Bhakri!
ReplyDeleteI know.. i used to watch my maid in pune do that... But I can never get that huge roti ever!!!
Deletethis one is a little quick and comes out with a nice crisp favour too. In fact I wa sthinking I could spice it up a bit and have my own home made khakras :)
Hey I am glad you are experimenting in the kitchen and adding more grains to your diet. Looking forward to more of your recipes.
ReplyDeleteJust as sheetal mentioned, we make a 'Bhakri' here in mumbai. It tastes very good with chilli pickle or garlic chutney.
If you want the rotis to be softer, bring water to a boil, take off heat, add salt and oil in it and then add the flour.
yes I shall try that version soon!
Delete