Akki Rotti - A Karnataka delicacy

Hope all of you are enjoying your weekend. There are certain dishes that make you feel closer to home when you are so far away from home. Akki Rotti is one of them for me. Even when my mom made these without adding any vegetables, it used to taste so good. My mother always got the rice ground to fine powder from a mill. I have found that the flour that is available in U.S doesn't have the kind of starch that is needed to keep them soft. So, I mixed up two different versions of making this rotti and the result is very soft and yummy Akki rotti.
Ingredients:

1. Rice flour (Akki Hittu) - 2 - 2 1/2 cups divided use.
2. Salt - to taste
3. Oil - 2 TBSP for making the dough and more for cooking the rottis.
4. Cumin seeds - 3/4 tsp to 1 tsp.
5. Green chillies - 10 slit lengthwise or to taste.
6. Cilanthro - chopped a handful.
7. Onion - 2 medium chopped finely.
8. Carrot - 2 medium grated.
9. Zucchini - 1 small or half medium grated.
10. water to make the dough - 2 cups.

Method:
In a pan, heat water with 2 TBSP of oil and a tsp of salt. When it is warm, take out 1/4 cup of this water and mix 1/4 cup of rice flour without lumps and add it back to the pan. Let it start boiling. Now, add about 3/4 cups of rice flour and mix it very quickly so that it makes a ball. If made properly, it shouldn't have any lumps, but if you do have couple, it is okay since you can smash it when you mix in the other ingredients. Cover and turn it off after 2 minutes. Let it cool down a little so that you can handle the dough. Picture below shows how it looks after mixing the dough with vegetables and splitting into individual balls. Don't worry, proportions above make about 10 rottis, by the time I took picture, I was left with only two balls to pat.

In another big bowl, mix all the vegetables, green chillies (I slit them lengthwise so that it is easy to spot and remove for kids. You can chop them finely and mix them.), and the dough ball. Sprinkle more rice flour and start kneading them in. The amount of rice flour to be used depends on how much of water the vegetables leave. So, add it till you get the consistency which is softer than chapathi dough. You should be able to pat it on a wax paper or plastic paper without it getting all sticky.

Now, take a gallon size ziploc cover and cut all the sides so that you have two pieces of plastic sheet. apply a little oil to the inside of both the sheets. Place the ball between them and start patting. You can use your palm in a circular motion to make them fairly thin. Remove the top sheet and make a hole in the center. Transfer on to the tawaand cook on both sides with a little bit of oil. When you first put it on tava, you'll have to cover it with a lid so that it doesn't dry out. Flip and cook on the other side. Serve hot with your choice of chutney, gojju or for kids with ketchup. Picture below shows you after I flipped it to cook on the other side.

My Tips:
My mother and lot of people I know pat it directly on the tava. When done, they wait for the tava to cool down (I have seen people holding it under water to cool it faster) to pat the next one. I neither have that kind of time nor patience. So, I started patting them on wax paper and transferring. But, since this recipe uses cooked rice ball which is patted, it is a little sticky if you are patting on wax paper. That is the reason I started doing it between the sheets of plastic paper. But, I don't like to put the plastic on the top of hot tawa. So, I transfer the patted dough on to wax paper and flip the wax paper on the tawa.

Happy Cooking!! Pin It