Akki Rotti

Akki Rotti is a kind of flat bread made with Rice flour ("akki hittu" in kannada).Again, there are several versions of it.Some make it plain and have it with a rich gravy like stuffed brinjal gravy while some make it with a lot of ingredients going into it like onion, green chillies, coriander, grated coconut, grated cabbage and so on. The following version of Akki Rotti is how its made in our house. Everybody in my family loves it and so when i have to make it for the entire family , my fingers begin to ache as you need to flatten the rottis using the fingers. But isn't it fun cooking when you see the yearning for more? :)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Rice flour
• 1/2 cup finely chopped Onion
• 5-6 finely chopped Green chillies
• 1 tblspn coarsely powdered peanut(optional)
• 1 tblspn coarsely powdered channa dal(optional)
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped Methi leaves
• 2 tblspns finely chopped coriander/dill greens
• salt to taste
• water to make the dough
• Oil
  

Procedure:

You need to use boiling water to make the dough as it half cooks the flour ,so u don't have to keep it for a long time on the tava , and it also makes patting the rottis easier.

To make the dough you can use one of the following 2 methods.

A. Mix all the above ingredients except water and oil in a bowl. Now add boiling water to it and turn the ingredients using a steel spoon so as to make a dough which is neither to hard nor too soft.

B. Take only the Rice flour in a bowl. Add boiling water and mix well to form a reasonably stiff dough.Once it cools down a bit add the other ingredients except oil and mix to form the dough for Rotti.

Make round balls with a handful of dough.

Add a few drops of oil onto a plastic sheet.( You could use one side cut out of a ziploc cover) and spread the oil across the entire sheet.This is done so that the dough does not stick to the sheet and can be taken out easily.

Take one ball of dough and flatten it onto the oiled sheet. Using your fingers continue patting and spreading the dough across so as to form a round shape.

Transfer this onto your hand and then onto the preheated tava.(Alternately you could pat the rotti on a aluminium foil or wax paper. Invert the sheet onto the tava, and peel off the sheet.)

Spread a few drops of oil over the rotti. After a little less than a minute, flip it over .Cook for another few seconds .

Remove and serve with Kadlekai chutney.

Tips:

1. You can keep the groundnut powder and channa dal powder prepared earlier on in a larger quantity and store in an airtight container.This saves time.
2. To make the groundnut powder, dry fry the groundnuts. After it cools down, dehusk and powder in a mixie .
3. To make the channa dal powder, dry fry , then after it cools down, powder in a mixie.