Rumali Roti

Roti is a key part of any Pakistani meal; rice came with the migrations of Muslims after the independence when they brought with them biryanis and pulao. But rice was essentially eaten in parts of India such as Bengal, Gujarat ,  South India where it came through Burma, Laos and Southern China. So roti is still a regular component of any lunch, supper or dinner in Pakistan.

Starting with simple ingredients like flour and water, there are any number of combinations of types of rotis, parathas, naans, luxury breads that can be made. A plain roti, cooked everyday in Pakistani homes, is made from chappati flour (wheat), which comes in different grades ranging from very fine, almost resembling like plain flour, to full, grainy wholemeal. Plain flour or all purpose flour is often used for other types of rotis, parathas or naans as it tends to be more flaky, turns a nice, golden brown when fried and is more malleable. Sometimes the two flours (chappati and plain) are mixed to obtain the right balance.

A basic dough is made from flour, water and a little salt. But for the more luxury rotis or parathas or naans, the dough is prepared from warm milk, even a little sugar and often some ghee/oil/butter is added. For special tandoori naans, yoghurt is also added to the ingredients when making a dough to give a more richer texture. In spicy rotis or naans, crushed red/green chillies, chopped coriander, cumin etc. can be added too. And rotis are made from other types of flour too, not just wheat, such as chick pea flour (basin), maize, corn flour but these remain infrequent in use.

And now for the filling: so once the dough is made and rolled out, it can be put straight onto a hot large plate, usually a tawa, and cooked quickly or it can be taken in a multitude of directions. For parathas, you can spread butter or ghee, fold, re-roll and cook in some ghee.  Or you can stuff with cooked daal, cauliflower, spicy mashed potatoes, in fact stuff it with anything till the cows come home!

Of-course all these combos were too lowly for the Mughals! They preferred theirs made from cream (the dough) and butter, mixed in with sultanas, dried apricots, almonds and made soft and succulent and rich with complex kneading methods. Some of Mughal breads, such as Sheer Maal, is made from layered dough, butter in between each layer rather like the French croissant.

Here is Rumali roti, essential to all Pakistani meals. Rumal, meaning a handkerchief, is rolled out into a very large, thin roti, folded at the end just like a handkerchief!

INGREDIENTS

200g plain flour

200g chappati wheat flour

salt to taste

lukewarm water

plain flour for dusting during rolling

A large tawa or a flat pan

METHOD

1. Mix both types of flours, if possible sieve before starting, add salt and mix with a little water at a time until all the dry flour has turned into wet crumbs.

2. Bring it together by kneading, adding a little water if the dough is still too stiff. The aim is to make the dough smooth, soft and malleable. Cover with a moist muslin cloth and leave to rest for 1/2 hour.

3. Take a chunk of dough and make it into a small ball (the size of a tangerine), then roll it out, dusting with flour if sticking to the rolling surface and roll out as thin and large as you can manage without letting it stick. A good 30cm or 12inch is what you’re aiming for.

4. Carefully put on the hot griddle/tawa. As soon as you see the colour change, turn it over and cook for a few minutes. Rotate the roti around to ensure even cooking.

5. TRICKY BIT: Using a tong, hold the edge of the roti, move the tawa away from the flames and leaving half of the roti on the tawa, cook the other half directly over the flames, rotating the roti around and turning both sides. You will see the roti fill with steam (be careful not to pierce as the steam could burn you) and fluff up into a ball. Take it off the tawa.

6.Optional: spread a little butter/ghee then fold over into half, then quarters. Keep in a thick cloth, a clean, dry tea towel is fine but this needs to be re-wrapped into something better if presenting on a table.

With practise, the making of it gets better; in most Pakistani homes, women can make 10+ of these for every meal with their eyes closed.