Knead and Roll Roti Dough

1. Take 3 cups of whole wheat flour (atta) in a bowl. Add about 1 teaspoon of salt, or according to taste. Add a bit of water and 1 to 2 tablespoons of ghee or oil and start mixing.

For the oil, you can use sunflower oil, avocado oil, grapeseed oil, rice bran oil, and also peanut oil.

You can measure and keep about 1 to 1.25 cups of water that you will need, depending upon the quality of the flour.

3 cups of flour might be difficult to handle and work with. So you can reduce the quantity of flour if needed.

Tip: If you add all the water at once, then the flour will become too sticky to handle. So add in parts as needed.

At the final stage of kneading the dough, some people prefer to throw the dough from a height of approximately 1 to 2 feet to the bowl while kneading. This helps in making the dough soft.

4. Keep on kneading till the dough becomes pliable and soft. The final dough consistency should be neither sticky nor hard. The dough for rotis is more softer than the dough kneaded for Poori (Indian Fried Bread).

After kneading the dough, cover it with a plate or cloth and allow it to rest for 20 to 30 minutes. While you can make the roti straight away after kneading the dough, this 30-minute waiting period helps the gluten relax, which makes it easier to roll out.

Note: You can also use a stand mixer or roti maker appliance to knead the dough if you prefer.

5. Now make small to medium balls of the dough. Roll the balls in the palms of your hands to smooth them. Flatten the ball and place it on a rolling board or a clean kitchen countertop.

Sprinkle some whole wheat flour on the dough ball. Alternatively, you can also dust the rolling board with flour.

7. Turn on the gas stove and put the tawa to make it hot. The tawa has to be sufficiently hot to make soft roti. I generally make rotis on a medium-high flame.

NOTE: On “sim” or low flame, the roti becomes hard; and on a very high flame they cook too fast. So regulate the temperature while making the roti.

So how do you find out if the tawa is hot enough to make roti? We sprinkle a little whole wheat flour on the tawa or griddle. If it darkens quickly, then the tawa is ready to make roti.

8. While the tawa is getting hot, start rolling the dough ball into a flat round circle.

9. Keep on rolling till you get an even circle as shown in the picture below. Making the roti round is not easy!

With practice, you will be able to roll them round, but if they are a little misshapen at first, they will still taste good. Sprinkle some wheat flour if the dough begins to stretch or become sticky while rolling.

The trick to rolling round roti is that when you are rolling the dough then the roti should also be moving in a circular direction.

Also make sure that the rotis are not too thick, as they will take too much time to cook and will not puff up as they should

Note: While rolling the dough, do not coat it with too much of the dry wheat flour. The flour should be used lightly and just enough to help you with the rolling. Too much flour on the rolled roti dough will make for a denser texture. The dry flour particles also burn while roasting and stick to the outer surface of the roti.