Angakar Roti
A Rice based Flatbread from the Chattisgarh Cuisine.
Chattisgarh has been named as the “Rice Bowl of India” and it shares its borders with States like Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Jharkhand and Uttar Prades. Most of its dishes are rice based along with the prominent use of Urad dal too for the protein quotient. The dishes are pretty much mildly spiced too.
This is my first blog post as part of the Facebook Group Shhhhh Cooking Secretly Challenge and the theme this month was Chattisgarh Cuisine. I was paired with Mayuri Patel who blogs at Mayuri’s Jikoni. Do check out her blog for some lipsmacking recipes, especially the Gujarati Fare. She gave me two secret ingredients (1) Rice (2) Black til / sesame seeds and I made this absolutely delicious flatbread, called Angakar Roti for the challenge.
If you go through the recipe below, you will find that this flatbread is very similar to the Akki Roti in South India with the exception of few ingredients. Some versions in Chattisgarh add finely chopped onions whereas the others serve it as plain and simple just like what I have tried to do. Some people add ajwain or carrom seeds while the others don’t. I, however, had the secret ingredient i.e. black sesame seeds to incorporate in the dish so thought that it would provide the perfect nutty taste to this rice flatbread. Finely chopped green chillies in the flatbreads packed a good punch too.
These flatbreads or rotis are not like your regular whole wheat flour based ones and are not pliable. These need to be made, rather shaped by hand and cooked over low flame to ensure they don’t burn while cooking.
Texture wise these flatbreads are slightly hard and not very soft like our rotis / phulkas. A lipsmacking gravy curry dish or a dry sabzi would be a perfect accompaniment to this flatbread. I loved eating this flatbread with a Coriander chutney that provided a spice kick too.
You may check out some ideal combinations for this dish, recipes of which are on the blog-
For some people who are gluten sensitive, this Angakar roti / flatbread comes as a real blessing. Also, with dietitians and nutritionists encouraging people to consume rice over wheat in their quest to lose weight, this recipe is a clear winner. It is quite filling and is delicious even when eaten on its own, preferably hot.
Let us check out the easy recipe of these beautiful flatbreads from Chattisgarh cuisine.
Recipe for Angakar Roti (with step by step pics)
Prep time – 20 mins
Cook Time – 10 mins for 7 medium sized flatbreads
(Please note the prep time includes mixing ingredients and the shaping of the flatbreads)
Ingredients
- Rice Flour – 1 & 1/4 cup
- Black Sesame seeds – 2 tsps
- Jeera or Cumin seeds – 1 ½ tsp
- Chopped green chillies as per taste
- Chopped coriander leaves
- Oil – 2 to 3 tblsps for 7 flatbreads (including greasing)
- Salt as per taste
- Water as required for kneading into a soft dough
Method –
- In a mixing bowl, add the rice flour, finely chopped green chillies and coriander leaves.
- Add the cumin seeds, sesame seeds, salt as per taste and mix all the ingredients well.
- Slowly incorporate water and knead into a soft dough.
- Rest this for just 5 minutes before preparing to make the rotis.
- Heat a griddle or non-stick tawa on low flame.
- Take a butter paper or parchment paper and just pour few drops of oil on it. Spread the oil on the surface well, as it will prevent the dough from sticking on the surface.
- Now, take a portion of dough ball in your hand and place it on the paper surface. Slowly pat and give it a shape of the roti. Smoothen the edges, if you feel the dough sticks at any time, just grease your fingers with few drops of oil and resume the process.
- Once the tawa is hot, slowly lift the roti from the parchment paper and place it on the tawa.
- Let it cook slowly and then flip it on the other side.
- Apply few drops of oil on the sides to enable cooking.
- Once the roti is cooked on both sides, place it in a casserole so that it stays warm and soft while serving.
- Repeat the process with the other dough balls.
Recipe Notes
- One should be careful while using the water to knead the dough. The dough should be just soft. It is always better to add water slowly while kneading.
- While making rotis, since this is rice flour based, the dough might get dry. Ideal to cover it with a wet cloth so that it stays moist and doesn't crack while shaping.
- You can add ajwain or carrom seeds too as it aids digestion.
- You can also opt for white sesame seeds instead of black ones.
- The parchment paper should be greased before making each roti. That way, the flatbreads don’t crack / break once they are ready to be placed on the tawa for cooking.
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Vidya Narayan