Coconut Rotis

The thin round chappati is a very common Indian bread and is not unlike the Mexican tortilla. In most parts of India chappatis are eaten almost every day. As kids I remember we had a wooden 'chappati box' that was filled with soft brownish chappatis wrapped in a thin muslin cloth every evening. As there were 4 of us kids, my parents and grandmom, the chappati box often contained as many as 30 chappatis each evening, to be eaten along with the main curries and vegetables that would be our dinner staple.

These days I eat chappatis more as a health food than anything else, less paunch-building than rice and lighter on the digestive system, it makes for quite a healthy dinner bread. Chappatis or rotis as they are also called, are traditionally made from unrefined wheat flour. They can be made thick or thin, smeared with butter or ghee, stuffed with any kind of filling and shallow-fried or just cooked plain according to preference. These days many Indian grocery stores sell 'roti flour' which is perhaps the best kind of flour to use when making chappatis. The recipe I am giving below is a nice flavored roti commonly eaten in southern India where coconut is an important ingredient.


The Recipe

Roti flour (2 cups, makes about 3-4 rotis)
1/4 tsp salt
cumin seeds 1/2 tsp
grated coconut about 1/4 cup
2-3 chopped fresh chillies
1 tablespoon chopped onion
a bit of oil

Mix the onions, chillies, salt, cumin seeds and coconut with the flour and knead into a soft pliable dough using some water. Cover with a damp kitchen towel and let the dough rest for about 40 minutes.
Grease a flat gridle with a bit of oil. Shape the dough into a couple of lemon-sized balls. Flatten each ball with the palm of your hand and then roll it out on a floured board as thin as possible.
Place a rolled out roti on the greased pan and cook gently on both sides (use a pair of kitchen tongs to flip the roti over as it is cooking). Serve hot with a nice spicy potato vegetable.

Variation: Use boiled and mashed potatoes instead of coconut in the dough, or omit the coconut and use cumin and onions instead.