The characteristics of an ideal, perfect Tava Roti (Indian Bread)

Yes, I can make one… from a scratch. Well, being an Indian, it is nothing really to boast about and frankly, it is probably a very easy task. However, making a simple Roti is probably easy, but making a perfect one is a totally different story!

So to begin with the question is how do you make the Roti??

The recipe is as simple as it gets. All you need is (a) 2 cups of atta (wheat flour) (b) ¾ cup of water (c) a pinch of salt. Mix all these ingredients together in a bowl and knead it to make smooth dough.

You then form small lemon sized dough rounds and flatten each one to around 8 inch diameter using a rolling pin. Finally you cook this evenly on both sides on a skillet (or as Indian’s would say “Tava”). Your roti is now ready to eat !

Sounds easy enough eh? But to get an “perfect” roti, is an art in itself. A “perfect” roti has to be “perfectly round” and soft enough to melt while you eat with that “Hot curry”.

Alas. Therein lies the issue… first you need to mix the dough just right, if you over knead it you end up with “ultra hard cracker-style” rotis… if you mix it too loose.. it’s a pain to roll. After many attempts and a few dirty looks from my hubby about having to eat my creations, I think I have finally got the initial art of mixing the dough just right.

But my attempts at making those perfectly round “circular, even radii” roti’s has been a total disaster. I can proudly state that I can make all the shapes and sizes of the roti… will all, except for the round shape. of the various countries (of course, that is not by any design), but try as I may there is no way I can get a round one.

Trust me I have tried and tried… very diligently too! But after trying all I can, the art of making those perfect “coveted” round rotis totally escapes me.

So, I have a solution for when I make roti’s for some one else other than hubby and me… I call it “the knife carving method of making rotis”. Roll your dough out, don’t worry about the shape and then take a round lid , place it on top of the rolled dough and use knife to cut the extras. VOILA… you now have a perfectly round roti’s…

Some may call it cheating.. but I call it the art of knife carving roti.... works for me (Totally!)