Pita bread

Ingredients:

1. Wheat flour/ Atta- 1/2 cup
2. All-purpose flour/ Miada- 1 3/4 cup
3. Yeast- 2 tsps
4. Sugar- 1/2 tsp
5. Salt- 1 tsp
6. Olive oil- 2 tbsp


Method of Preparation:

1. In a large mixing bowl, pour 1 cup luke warm water. Add yeast and sugar. Stir to dissolve.
2. Add the wheat flour and 1/4 cup all-purpose flour and whisk together.
3. Place bowl in a warm place for about 15 minutes, uncovered, until mixture is frothy and bubbling.
4. Add salt, olive oil and nearly all remaining all-purpose flour (reserve 1/2 cup).
5. With a wooden spoon stir until mixture forms a mass.
6. Dust with a little reserved flour, then knead in bowl for 1 minute.
7. On a plain surface, keep the dough and knead lightly for 2 minutes. Cover and let rest 10 minutes.
8. Then knead again for 2 minutes, the dough should be soft and rubbery.
9. Cover and keep the dough in the bowl wrapped inside a moist clean cloth. Keep bowl in a warm place.
10. Leave until dough has doubled in size, about 2 hours.

11. Make balls out of the dough bigger balls than a roti and flatten it with a rolling pin.
12. The dough should not be flattened too thin. Thick parata is better.
13. Heat oven to 475 degree farenheit, and keep the pitas on a tray with aluminium foil.
14. The baking tray shoul be kept on the highest rack.
15. Breads will puff up like pooris.
16. Serve hold with salads or curries or make rolls with veggies,mayonnaise and chicken.

Roomali Roti

This is avery famous North-Indian Roti, usually served with mayonnaise and grilled chicken. Very easily made at home with the restaurant perfection,folded like a kerchief and served warm with non-vegetarian/Vegetarian gravies or Tandoori chicken,chicken tikka etc. I followed the method from vah re vah chef and it came out perfect. My husband's all-time favorite.

This roti got its name from its handkerchief like appearance. Roomal means handkerchief in Hindi. This Roti is thin and very large in size than the normal chapattis.

Ingredients:
1. Maida/All Purpose Flour-1 Cup
2. Wheat Flour/Atta-1 Cup
3. Ghee
4. Rice flour, to dust in between the rotis
5. Salt,to taste

Preparation Method:
1. In a large bowl, take wheat flour,all-purpose flour and salt.
2. Mix them well and knead it into a big soft and elastic ball like roti dough by adding enough water. Do not add any oil/ghee at the end of kneading as we do for roti.
3. Now make 2 equal sized balls out of the dough and flatten each of them into the size of a poori or a large circular lid by dusting with all-purpose flour in between.
4. Now apply 1/4 tsp of ghee on to one side of both the circles and dust that side slightly with rice powder.
5. Now stick both of them together with the oiled-dusted side sticking to each other.
6. Now both of the circles become one to a thicker poori/circle.
7. Now flatten it into a very large roti which must be very very thin as a tissue/roomal/kerchief, by dusting with all purpose flour. Any one can easily do it into thin circles unlike normal roti.
8. Heat the roti thawa into super hot by keeping the flame high throughout.
9. Keep the roti over it and toast one side its three-forth done in high flame.
10. Now flip and toast the other side, do not turn them over and over again,flipping must be done only once. Keep that in mind and flip only when one side is almost done,you must not turn them over if you feel its not properly done.
11. Now switch off the flame and keep the roti onto a plate. Now you will be able to seperate the two layers by simply lifting one of the rotis that we had sticked together during the flattening process, the two different layers on the edge will be visible after toasting. Care must be taken while pulling off the two rotis, not to tear and it will be steam hot. Do separate the layers when its still hot or warm.
12. Fold them like handkerchiefs to form a triangular shape, the same way we used to keep our kerchief pinned with our name-plates during our nursery school days. Only the exposed portion will be toasted and the inside portions which stuck to each other will not be toasted but wil be cooked definitely as its paper thin, so don not worry about its appearance,the raw looking side willbe soft and cooked and never chewy or gooey.
13. Transfer them to a closed box/vessel or a casserole so that it becomes soft due to the steam inside.
14. Serve them after sometime warm with Indian curry gravies or dry recipes like chicken tikka, grilled chicken,tandoori chicken etc with a mayonnaise combo.

Deep Fried Puffed Wheat Bread/Poori

Ingredients:
1. Atta Flour- 2 cups
2. Salt- 1/2 tsp
3. Water,to knead the dough
4. Oil- 1 tsp
5. Oil,to deep fry the puris

Preparation Method:
1. Add the salt into the flour and Knead the dough well with enough water, the same way you make rotis.
2. Finally add the oil and knead well by pressing with hands and make a big ball and cover them with a damp cloth.Keep aside for 15 minutes.
3. Make very small balls out of the dough.
4. Flatten the bread into equal rounds with the rolling pin, do not make it too thin like you flatten the rotis,it will not puff up and will be very thick flat bread. It must a little thick but not too thick also.
5. Heat oil in a wok,when it is piping hot,slide in each rounds one-by-one and fry it each side for some seconds by turning both sides just once.
6. Strain it and keep them into a paper towel without overlapping, so that all the oil will get absorbed into the towel.
7. Serve immediately with any gravy dishes.It goes best with chole or the poori-masala which I will be posting soon. Do not let it cool, the puffiness will be gone and it will turn tasteless.

Healthy Spinach Roti

This is a very healthy version of roti which can be served both as a breakfast or for dinner. The best method to feed some healthy leafy vegetables to those who really dont like them. Even enough amount of spinach will be present in each roti,you wont even feel that something is incorporated inside a normal roti except for in its appearance. The green veggies delivers a bunch of vitamins and minerals. The healthy way of eating leafy vegetable also by just toasting both the sides without completely cooking and loosing their essential nutrients. Actually you can add whatever leaves you like or a combination of all together like Watercress/Methi, Collards, Dill, Cilantro(Coriander leaves) or any combination of green leafy veggies like mint, green onion leaves etc. Hence it becomes a package of Nutrients and delight to the soul.


Ingredients:
1. Any Leafy Vegetable
I used Spinach, very finely chopped- 1 cup
2. Wheat Atta Flour- 2 cups
3. Salt- 1/2 tsp
4. Oil- 1 tsp
5. Water to make dough

Preparation Method:
1. Mix leaves and wheat flour in a wide open bowl and mix well.
2. Now add salt and toss well.
3. Make a pit in the middle and pour in water little-by-little and knead the dough with hands well into a big soft ball.
4. pour in the oil and knead well with hands and coat it well with oil and keep aside for 10-15 minutes. You can cover it with a damp cloth if you will be using it later than 15 minutes.
5. Make small balls out of the dough and roll each of them it into equal very thin flat rounds just like roti and keep aside.

6. Heat a griddle/thava and toast both the sides into soft-crisp leafy rotis.
7. Serve warm with any vegetable gravy.
I totally forgot to take some snaps of the end product as I was a little eager to know the taste, but both of us ended up in finishing off the rotis. ;)

Cilantro Roti/Malliyela Chapathi

This is a trick to incorporate leafy vegetables in a roti to make the ones who does not like the greens to eat. You will never specifically taste the leaves, but the dish becomes highly nutritious due to the addition of the leaves the same way as the cilantro dosa. This can be done using many leafy vegetables.

Ingredients:
1. Atta/Wheat flour- 2 cups
2. Oil- 2 tsp
3. Cilantro/Coriandre leaves-1 cup,very finely chopped
4. Salt- 1 tsp
5. Water, to knead the flour.

Preparation Method:
1. In a wide bowl, add the flour and salt. Mix well.
2. Now add the cleaned washed leaves chopped finely into this and mix well.
3. By adding enough water,knead the dough well into a chapathi dough.
4. Finally coat them with 2 tsps of oil and knead lightly.
5. Make medium sized balls and roll them into flat circles.

6. On a griddle/thava, sprinkle some oil and toast the rotis till done.

7. Serve warm with any vegetarian/Non-veg gravies.

Aloo Parata

Ingredients
1. Cooked potato-1
2. Onion chopped into very thin- 1 tbsp
3. Vegetable oil-1 tsp
4. Jeera- 1/2 tsp
5. Garam masala- 1/4 tsp
6. Salt to taste
7. Dry fenugreek leaves crushed- 1/4 tsp
8. Green chillies,finely chopped-1

For dough
8. Atta/Whole Wheat Flour- 2 cup
9. Oil,to knead the dough- 1tsp
10. Salt to taste

Preparation Method:
1. Cook the peeled potatoes in water with some salt,mash them finely and keep aside.
2. In a pan, heat oil,add jeera,green chillies and onion. Saute for a minute.
3. Add all the other ingredients and potato and mix well. Adjust salt if required.
4. Add 2 tsps of water, stir and mix for a minute. Dry it well and keep aside to cool down.
5. Make small sized balls of this mixture and keep aside.

For Dough:
5. Knead together all the ingredients into a chapathi dough.
6. Make medium sized balls from it, a bit larger than the usual chapathi balls.
7. Roll it into the size of a buri, using a rolling pin with help of wheat four just like chapathi.
8. Keep the smaller ball of masala into it, close the ball with the wheat dough sealing the masala inside and pull-off the excess wheat dough from the bigger ball.
9. Roll them into thin chapathis, do not worry if rolled carefully, it will never break and the masala come out. Even if masala comes out, seal the part with some wheat dough and roll over.
10. 8-10 paratas can be made like this.
11. Toast them on a griddle one by one by flipping just once and applying some butter on them.
12. Top them with a scoop of butter. Serve hot with Raita and Pickle. Enjoy.