Bajre ki Roti

About this recipe

Bajra roti is a bread that fights you a little—pearl millet has no gluten, so the dough won't stretch the way wheat dough does and the roti won't behave like you're used to. The Rajasthani way, which works, is to pat it out by hand between your palms with plenty of warm water, turning as you go, rather than trying to roll it on a board. It takes practice and patience, but once you get the feel of it, it becomes meditative. The dough itself is just millet flour and salt and warm water, nothing fancy. But the warm water is important—cold water makes the dough stiff and unyielding. Add the water gradually, squashing and folding the flour with your fingers until it comes together. It won't ever feel like wheat dough; it's more crumbly and reluctant, and that's okay. That's how millet flour behaves. Once you have the dough, pat each ball between your palms or between two sheets of plastic, keeping your hands damp. Work it gently; any rough handling will make it fall apart. When it's the thickness of an old coin, slap it onto a hot tawa and let it cook without moving it. Brown spots mean it's time to flip; cook the other side until it's speckled too. Some versions puff slightly over a low flame at the end, but don't expect the big puff you get with wheat roti. Eat it the moment it comes off the tawa with white butter and a little jaggery, or with ker-sangri and garlic chutney. Bajra goes stony as it cools, so this is a hot-now bread, not a tiffin one. It's naturally vegan if you skip the ghee, high in fibre, and genuinely gluten-free.