Making bajra roti at home, the way our kitchen does

Bajra roti is on every Sunday thali we serve, and guests often ask how to make it at home. It is simple bread, but it behaves nothing like wheat. Bajra has no gluten, so the dough will not stretch, and most first attempts crack at the edges. A few changes in method solve that.

Use fresh flour. Bajra flour turns bitter within three or four weeks of milling because of its natural oils. Buy small amounts from a chakki that grinds on the day, or grind your own. For four rotis, take 200 g of flour and a pinch of salt.

Knead each roti separately. Mix only enough flour for one roti at a time with warm water, about 40 ml, and knead it with the heel of your palm for a full two minutes, pressing and folding. This warms the dough and makes it smooth and pliable. Dough made in bulk dries and cracks while it waits.

Shape it by hand, not with a rolling pin. Wet your palms and pat the ball into a disc about 15 cm across and as thick as a coin, turning it as you go. In our kitchen, Kamla pats it on a wet cotton cloth and flips it onto the tawa from the cloth. Cook on a hot iron tawa. Splash a little water on the top surface as soon as it goes on, turn it once when the base has spots, then finish it directly on the flame until it puffs. Rub with ghee and a little jaggery, and eat it hot.