Tandoori Rotis on the Grill – a revisit

Grilled Tandoori Roti

A few weeks back I had posted about making Rotis on this grill. They are easy to make, you can turn out a few at a time and they taste quite good, especially warm. Well, I was curious to see how a thicker version of the Roti that was more akin to Tandoori Roti would turn out. So I went ahead and made a thick Roti the last time I made a batch. It was surprisingly tasty and quite soft (which, if you have tried to make Tandoori Roti at home, would know is quote a feat).

Anyway, this time I went all out and made a whole bunch of them to eat with dinner (Egg Curry – recipe here). They were great and definitely worth making again. The few tips I have if you are going to try and make thick (think about twice as thick as Flour Tortillas rolled out) are

1. Use salt, water and Aata (Whole Wheat Flour) for the dough. You don’t want to put oil or anything else in it.

2. Make a really soft dough and really work the dough till gluten is formed.

3. Let the dough it sit for a few hours.

4. Use a super hot grill – you are trying to replicate the high temperatures of the Tandoor.

5. Experiment till you get it right. The recipe works but it takes practice to get it right. Teaching a recipe over a blog post for something that requires “feel” is hard to do. This is just one of those things that rewards experimentation.

Rotis on the Grill

Grilled Rotis

Ask an Indian housewife of my parents’ generation what is the easiest thing to cook, and I’ll bet you my bottom dollar most will say Rotis (Chapatis). Having been brought up in North India, I love Chapatis (Rotis), Tandoori Rotis and Naans. However, making Rotis for me or my wife is a particularly arduous task. And we suck at it. What is easy for many is very hard for us. It probably is the 10,000 hour rule at play here. Rotis are made every day in most households and people who make them, really get good at it. We don’t make Rotis every day ergo we aren’t very good at it.

However since everyone in our family enjoys Indian bread, I have explored ways to make other Indian breads and generally succeeded with the help of my grill. The Naan recipe (read here) works beautifully. The Tandoori Rotis are serviceable (read here). So, a couple of weeks back, on a whim I decided to make some dough (Whole Wheat Flour aka Aata, Salt and Water – kneaded really well till the gluten formed and the dough was soft) and try making Chapatis on a Grill.

I rolled out a batch of Rotis like I normally would. Then, cooked them four at a time on a very hot (500F), preheated grill. Less than a minute on each side. You have to watch them carefully. They cook fast. I was done with enough Rotis to feed six in less than 5 mins of cooking time. The verdict? They were good. A sort-of cross between a Chapati and Tandoori Roti, they tasted really good, and they were easy to make. You can’t go wrong with that combination. The best part? It gave a cheapskate vegetarian like me, another reason to justify the purchase of a grill.

Homemade Naans (Indian Flatbread)

Homemade Naans

I have struggled with making Naan at home. I have tried to use the basic Foccacia/Pizza dough type recipe with results that are edible but lack the softness. So when I decided to try making Naan (again) yesterday, my wife rolled her eyes and asked me to make some rice for her (as a backup). Anyway, this time I turned to Allrecipes.com (great website) for a recipe and tried one of the top rated recipes there (link here). It was great! I finally have a recipe that works beautifully and I have found another use for my grill.

As always, I didn’t make the recipe exactly like suggested. Here are some notes/lessons learned from my experience.

1. The dough is really soft and somewhat sticky. That’s cool.

2. I used about half the sugar suggested in the recipe – the amount of suggested sugar just looked excessive.

3. When you roll out the dough use a lot of dry flour to keep it from sticking.

4. Roll the Naans pretty thin – about what the thickness of a Tortilla. They puff beautifully.

5. Kalonji/Nigella Satica seeds work very well on top. I used Ajwain/Carom seeds. They work well too.

6. To make the seeds stick, I brushed the top of the uncooked Naan with some melted butter. I did not use butter like the recipe called for.

7. The bread cooks FAST on a grill. Keep an eye on it. The recipe said 2-3 minutes on either side. I think in my super hot grill each side cooked in under a minute.

 

Mug (or Mung or Moong Dal) – A Gujarati Staple

Mug - Moong Dal

Mug, as residents of the Westernmost state in India like to call it, is a staple of Gujarati cuisine. It is to Gujaratis what Pasta with Tomato Sauce is to Italians, what Fish and Chips are to the English and what Meat and Potatoes are to Germans, though considering the largely vegetarian population of Gujarat, it ends up becoming Mug and Potatoes. It is consumed with Pooris (deep fried bread), Rotlis (very thin flatbread, similar to Chapatis) and boiled rice. It is eaten for breakfast, lunch and dinner (pretty much whenever anybody fancies eating it). It is wholesome and if accompanied by another dry vegetable dish or a salad makes for a complete meal.

My mother-in-law (who is Gujarati) makes a mean Mug. Many a times I have asked her to teach me and many a times she has complied but I have the sneakiest suspicion that she is not being totally honest with me. For some reason my Mug never turns out as good as her’s. I am convinced she has a secret ingredient. Given the Western Indian’s (Gujaratis, Maharashtrians and Marwaris) fondness for adding sugar to just about anything including, gasp, Sambar (South Indian Spicy, Tangy Lentil-based dish – which absolutely should have NOTHING to do with sugar. In fact, they should not even be on speaking terms), I thought that maybe it was sugar she was adding. I tried that, but no cigar. So, for now, I have given up. But the next time I am around when she making Mug, I plan to either hide a video camera or hover over her when she makes it. Maybe I will catch her in the act then.

For now, here is my version of this classic. It is a pretty good dish even if I say so myself.

INGREDIENTS (Serves 4 adults)

1 tbsp cooking oil

1 tsp mustard seeds

12-15 curry leaves (you can find them at any Indian store)

A pinch Asofetida (Hing)

1 dry red chili

1/2 medium onion – diced fine

1 large tomato – chopped fine

1 inch piece of ginger – peeled and julienned

1 tsp minced garlic

1 cup uncooked dry mung beans, washed and soaked in 3 cups of water

1 tbsp ground coriander powder

1 tbsp ground cumin powder

1 tsp Turmeric

1/4 tsp red chili powder

Salt to taste

Lemon juice to taste

STEPS

1. Soak the mung overnight till it has expanded in size (osmosis happens).

2. In a saucepan heat the oil.

3. Fry the mustard seeds, asafetida, dry red chili, curry leaves and cinnamon stick till they sputter.

4. Add onion and fry till they start to brown.

5. Add the tomatoes, ginger and garlic and saute for 2-3 minutes.

6. Add the mung and water.

7. Add the turmeric, red chili powder, coriander and cumin powders.

8. Bring to a boil and then cover the saucepan and let it simmer till the mung dal is cooked.

9. Add more water if it gets too dry – it should be pretty thick but still flowing.

10. Add salt to taste. Add some lemon juice to taste to give just a hint of tang.

11. Serve hot with an Indian bread of your choice or boiled rice. You can even eat this with just toasted white bread. It tastes pretty good.

12. Repeat from 1.

Adventures in Bread Making 3 – Whole Wheat Kulcha

Whole Wheat Kulcha

Much as I love chapatis (Indian flatbread), I am always looking for easier alternatives to make. Even though our moms make it look effortless, to me, like many others, making chapatis is a pain in the rear. Naans, of course, are easy to make, so are Kulchas.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Kulcha, here is a little primer. Kulchas are leavened flatbreads from Punjab and are popular in both North India and Pakistan. Traditionally made with white, bleached flour, potatoes, garlic, paneer etc are often integrated into the dough. The bread is usually panfried with a little grease but can also be baked. Kulcha is typically eaten with Cholle but it can be eaten with just about any North Indian style curry.

Rather than make a traditional Kulcha, I decided to try a wholewheat version.The results were altogether satisfactory. We ate them with Cholle, the wife approved as did the picky and the non-picky child. I got my idea from here. Here is what I made.

INGREDIENTS (for 4 Kulchas)

• A little warm water (1/3 cup) – 10 seconds in the microwave should do the trick
• 1 tsp active dry yeast
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 cup bread flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 Tbsp plain yogurt
• Some warm milk(add one Tbsp at a time)
• Some warm water (add one Tbsp at a time)
• 1 tsp of olive oil
• Some minced garlic, chopped cilantro and salt mixed together (optional)

STEPS

1. In the warm water, dissolve the yeast and the sugar. The sugar increases the yeast activity.

2. In about 5 minutes, you should see the yeast starting to bubble and foam.

3. Add the bread flour, whole wheat flour and the baking powder.

4. Add the salt.

5. Start kneading.

6. Add the yogurt. NOTE: You may want to bring the yogurt to room temperature before you add it to the mix. Lowering the temperature reduces yeast activity.

7. Add some warm milk and warm water to make the dough pretty elastic. Add them 1 Tbsp at a time and you can’t go wrong.

8. Add some olive oil to the dough.

9. Fashion into a round ball and place in a lightly greased bowl covered by cling wrap.

10. In about 3 hours the dough would have doubled in size and you are ready to make the kulcha.

11. Divide the dough into 4 equal sized balls.

12. Roll out the dough ball into a circle about 8 inches in diameter and 1/4 inch thick.

13. Optional step – put a little bit of the garlic+cilantro+salt mixture on the kulcha.

14. Pan fry with very little grease on both sides of the bread.

15. Serve warm with cholle.