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Ragi Roti Recipe

Ragi (Finger Millet) is a common grain in South India used by the under class and in villages. This recipe is gluten free . You can make Ragi Roti, similar to Bajra Roti in North India. Here, I will make it slightly interesting with a South Indian spicy twist. I will add Besan. If you don't want Besan, substitute it with equal amount of Ragi flour.

How to make Gluten free breads (Roti)

Ingredients

1. Ragi flour: 1¾ Cups

2. Besan (Chickpea flour): ¼ cup

3. Salt: ¼ teaspoon

4. Finely Chopped Cilantro: 1 Tablespoon

5. Finely chopped Serrano: 1

6. Warm water (near 115ºF): 1¼ Cup

7. Melted Ghee for basting: Optional

Method

Dough

1. Mix dry ingredients: Ragi flour, Besan, and salt.

2. Combine Flour and chopped cilantro and chopped serrano.

3. Make a mound. With a finger, make a well in the flour mound. Add warm water and start mixing dough and knead. If the dough is too sticky, add 1 Table spoon of flour. If the dough is too hard, add up to one Tablespoon of water (one teaspoon at a time) to get the right consistency.

2. Gather dough in to a ball. Cover with damp kitchen towel or a plastic film. Let it rest 20 to 30 minutes at room temperature.

Rolling dough

We need to make a 6" diameter cookie about the about the thickness of a Nickel (5¢ coin) to bake each bread.

The lack of gluten makes it very difficult to roll out dough. Traditionally, the dough is rolled out by hand without a rolling pin. For convenience I will use rolling pin in conjunction with two pieces of Parchment / wax paper.

1. Pinch dough to form it into a ball

2. Put down one wax paper. Baste the wax paper with melted Ghee or oil.

3. Put the dough ball on the greased wax paper. Try to spread out patty as much as you like by hand.

4. Grease and put the second wax paper on top of the patty.

5. Use a rolling pin to roll out dough to form the round cookie of desired diameter.

6. Slowly peel-off the top sheet of wax paper. The exposed surface is skin surface.

7. Lift the dough cookie with the bottom paper in tact . Transfer the cookie on to hot griddle with skin surface down.

8. Slowly peel off the wax paper.

Bake the bread, repeat for the remaining dough.

Baking

Heat the griddle (Tawa) to about 350º F surface temperature. This is cooler than the temperature used to bake wheat Roti. If you don't have a thermometer to measure the surface temperature, put a test cookie on the Tawa. If the cookie sticks to the griddle, you need to increase heat. If the cookie gets brown spots too quick, it is too hot. The actual time to cook depends on moisture content and the thickness of the cookie. It should take about 30 seconds to develop scattered brown spots on the underside of the test cookie. You may baste the top surface with water before turning the cookie over to prevent dryness.

It takes about 3 to 4 minutes to bake each side of the cookie. The cookie is baked in three steps.

1. Put the rolled cookie on the griddle with skin surface down. Use a turner to lift a corner to see that the underside has a few brown spots. It will take 45 to 60 seconds. Baste the top surface with water.

2. Turn it over and let it bake. Bake 90 to 120 seconds, you will notice steam bubbles trapped in the dough. Again use a turner to lift a corner to see that the underside has a brown spots. Baste top surface with water.
3. Turn it over. Press the bread with a clean dry rag as the steam bubble will get larger and larger merging with each other to encircle the whole area. It will take 45 to 60 seconds.

Basting

Brush the the skin surface with melted Ghee.

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