Akki Roti

I tried making akki roti for the very first time today. I never tried making one when I was in Karnataka for more than a decade. However, the last 8-9 months in Korea have transformed my culinary habits. I tend to try out new dishes based on the easy ingredients I get here in Seoul. I have lots of fresh rice flour sitting in my fridge from this country. The rice flour that we get here is more glutinous and one of the best options to make akki roti.

For those who are wondering, Akki roti is a rice based roti made from rice flour or even left over rice. It is an easy and delicious breakfast originating from the Indian state of Karnataka. According to me, easy and delicious are the two words which go hand in hand. You add too many ingredients and the dish gets complicated. The key flavour of the main ingredients gets lost amidst the myriad seasonings you add to enhance its flavour; and not to mention the extra time you end up spending.

The akki roti recipe does call for retaining the basic flavour of rice, enhanced with just the addition of a few other ingredients. You eat a roti or two and you basically had a full meal. Add vegetables, some seeds and spices and it is the right food to kickstart your day.

Serve it with a delicious chutney and you are all set 🙂 I made a delicious peanut chutney withreadily available ingredients from my masala dabba and it turned out fabulously good.

Ingredients for Akki Roti (Makes 4-5 rotis):

Rice flour – Approximately 1 cup

Vegetable of your choice – 1/2 cup grated carrot or grated zucchini, 1/4th cup finely chopped dill leaves or you can choose to omit the vegetable part completely as well

Onions – 1 big onion, finely chopped (Onions imparts a subtle sweetness to the rice roti)

Green chillies – 2 or 3, finely chopped

Cumin seeds – 1 tsp

Fresh coriander leaves – 1/2 cup, finely chopped. Can skip it if you are using dill leaves or any other greens

Sesame seeds – 2 tsp (optional)

Ginger – 1 tbsp, grated (optional)

Oil – 1 tsp + to drizzle on the rotis while cooking.

Hot water- to knead the dough

Salt-to taste

( I skipped ginger and sesame seeds in the akki roti as I used them generously in the chutney I served with the roti)

Recipe:

Add all the dry ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Add hot water in small quantities and make a firm and smooth dough. After kneading, add 1 tsp of oil to the dough and smear the dough lightly. Make small balls of the dough and keep them ready.

Take the dough balls and using your fingers and little water to wet your fingers, spread the dough on a cold/warm flat griddle/tava. The dough will not spread on a hot tava. Makes holes in the rotis to ensure uniform cooking

Let the tava heat on a medium to hot flame. Drizzle oil on the sides and in the holes till the rotis well-cooked. Flip them and cook on the other side. Do not cook the rotis on a slow flame as it will make them hard and chewy.

Serve it hot with ghee or butter and a chutney of your choice.