Pudina Flavoured Bajra & Atta Roti / Mint Flavoured Pearl Millet & Whole Wheat Flour Flatbread

Namaste 🙂

I was delivering a speech in an elementary school in Japan in 2015 and the topic was 'India'. I was invited to talk about my country and educate the children about a different culture. I carefully chose what I was going to talk as I was conscious that what I say was going to remain and make a long lasting impression. I chose to talk about geography, festivals, attire, food, Ayurveda, yoga, wildlife etc. When I entered the classroom full of children they sang in chorus - 'Ohayo gozaimasu sensei' (good morning teacher in Japanese) I felt ecstatic! Instantly it reminded me of my school days 😊 I wished them back, settled down and introduced myself. And asked my first question - "Tell me children what do you know about India?" All of them started looking at each others faces and one kid shouted 'India is a country of curry and another said naan'!!! Well done kids! At least you know something😀 A lot of Indian restaurants in Japan mainly serve naan and curry as that's what Japanese like the most. Though we Indians find it very unsettling to call everything a curry, that is how most of rest of the world sees it! I have now made peace with it so it doesn't bother me anymore😃 ok next, what else do you know about India? Half the class sang in chorus once again - 'Indians eat with hands'!!! Ummm...I was perplexed for a moment, should I tell the kids we know how to use cutlery? or should I say we only do that sometimes or may be I could say our foods are meant to be eaten with hands! or may be I should tell them to imagine eating crisps, naan or chapati with fork and knife? Hard!! I then told them the fact - I said "Yes we do, because it is our culture and not because we don't know how to use cutlery! And we wash our hands thoroughly before and after eating, our limbs are the natural cutlery sometimes you see😉" They nodded.

A lot of people in India still follow it and we are not ashamed of our culture, custom or traditions😊 I do feel it is always good to use the given cutlery when in public places or a foreign country due to cultural differences & hygiene reasons. Though I almost cried for not being able to use the chopsticks 5 years ago!

P.S I did not use the fork and knife to eat the rotis. I ate it using only my right hand😉

Ingredients:

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 1/2 cup bajra/pearl millet flour

1 tsp sesame seeds

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1/2 tsp dry mango/amchoor powder

1/2 tsp jeera/cumin seeds

2 medium sized boiled & mashed potatoes

Salt as per taste

Pudina/Mint paste: 2 tbsp oil, handful of mint leaves, 4 garlic pods, 1 inch ginger, 1 tsp cumin, 3-4 green chillies

Method:

-Fry all the ingredients under mint paste and grind it to puree using very less water. Water should be just enough to blend this into fine paste

-Mash the potatoes finely without leaving any lumps

-Mix all the ingredients along with mint paste & potato mash and knead it into tight dough.

-Make slightly large balls from the dough and roll into slightly thick rotis using a rolling pin.

-Heat the griddle on medium high flame. Transfer the rolled roti and fry for a min each side or until you see small bubbles on it.

-Drizzle ghee on both the sides - this will make the roti soft and flavourful.

-Dust generously with flour while rolling the rotis as the dough tends to stick to the base because of potato used in it

-Serve with any curry, yogurt or chutney of your choice.

Notes:

-Make sure to use very less water while kneading the dough as the dough will automatically loosen after few minutes due to the moisture in potatoes and we are also using the mint paste which will be normally enough for binding the dough.

-Be gentle while rolling as the dough is comparatively softer and it will stick/tear if pressed hard

-If the dough becomes very loose add some more wheat flour and knead again

-You can use oil instead of ghee for vegan version

-Tastes best when served hot.

Cheers!