Phulkas or Rotis are the staple food of North Indians. It slowly found its way into the Southern part of India . It is usually prepared using wheat flour. My mom is a very good phulka maker. She learn it from her Hindi neighbour. Whenever ,she makes the phulka to puff up on direct flame, we will always be amazed. Cooking them on direct flame, makes them puff up and softer. Phulkas are served with dal or any curry. We can either cook the phulka on direct flame or on top of a hot grill, as I have used. These grills ,can be found in any Indian store for $5. Bought this when ,I was in MN. These grills has to be pre heated to red hot, for the phulka to puff up quick.Check my other varieties in rotis.
* Roti
Preparation time : 10 mins
Cooking time : 10 mins
Serves : 4
Ingredients:
1.Wholewheat Flour - 2 cups
2.Water - to knead
3.Salt - as needed
4.Ghee - optional
Add flour,salt and water to a mixing bowl and knead it into a soft dough.Phulkas get thier softness from the ways the dough is kneaded. Always knead the dough till it achieves maximum softness.Cover the mixing bowl with a damp cloth and let it sit on the counter for atleast 10 mins. This resting time makes the dough softer. Even if we had time, refrigerate the dough. After refrigeration, the dough will be very soft.I have not added any sort of fat into the dough. But if you want,you can add ghee to the dough.
Divide the dough into equal sized balls.Smooth out the balls, so that they don't have any cracks. all the balls has to be of equal size.
Dust the working surface with flour. Flatten the dough into thin discs. Roll it into thin rotis. The rotis can be quarter inch thicknessed roti.
Roll out other rotis similarly. Let them sit on the counter ,till we are done cooking. Arrange the rolled rotis ,without touching each other.
If you are going to cook the phulkas in open flame , then this step can be skipped. If you have induction stove like me, then heat a griddle red hot. That is the griddle has to be really hot ,for the phulkas to puff up.Let the griddle be like this, till we are done with the rotis.
Cook the rotis on a dry tawa, on both sides. Till you see brown spots on both sides.
Now place the rotis on the red hot grill. After a minute, it will puff up like in the picture. a perfectly rolled roti will puff up. If you roll it unevenly, then the phulka will not puff.Immediately remove from fire and place them on plate.Don't leave the phulkas longer on the grill, if not the phulkas will become hard.
Apply ghee or butter on top of the phulkas.If have not used any ghee or butter.Let the phulkas sit in a plate, till they are warm. Once they are warm, transfer them to a kitchen towel and wrap them properly. Cover them inside a hotpack.
Serve phulkas with dal or curry. When we keep the phulkas sealed in the freezer, it helps us to save time ,when we are busy.
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Notes:
* Phulkas has to be served when hot.
* Don't leave the phulkas long on the grill, if not they will become hard.
* While kneading the dough, you can add little oil or ghee.
* Always spread ghee or butter ,after the phulka is puffed on the stove.
* Rest the dough for atleast 10 mins for softer phulkas.
* we can also freeze the rotis and cook them when needed.
* These phulkas stay soft, even in the morning.
* If the grill is not red hot, then the phulkas will become hard.
Good idea to put up this step by step process. This could be of help to many.
ReplyDeleteso soft roti / pulka.. love it
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