Jowar Roti (flat bread): A love story.

I have a new love in my life. It goes by the name of Jowar flour.

Those who try the GFCF (and other) diets will understand this emotion for ingredients.

This weekend was a success in many ways. K's mood, my Jowar Roti and Jowar banana cookies (watch this space for that recipe).

Jowar or Sorghum flour is also called the flour of the poor. It grows in arid regions and is very similar to wheat. However the UN Food and Agricultural agency has said that it's nutritional content is poor and no better than wheat but who ever took the stupid UN seriously? It is similar to corn flour but has more protein than corn flour and your diet should not be solely based on this grain. Here is a website listing some nutritional contents of various flours (although I cannot vouch for the truthfulness of this website).

It is also digested more slowly, which is great for diabetics. It is a staple for bread in Yemen and Saudi Arabia.

Anyway, it holds out great for baking and bread and we will definitely be using it again.

Jowar roti was a labor of love for sure. It has to be handled with care.

3 cups of water
2 cups Jowar flour
pinch of salt

Mix salt in dry flour.
Boil water. Remove from stove. Add flour immediately, mix vigorously. Cover with lid, leave to get a bit cooler because you will have to knead it and don't want to burn your knuckles!



When it is cool enough not to singe knuckles, start kneading the flour and keep adding pinches of dry flour to it. Knead for a good 8 to 10 minutes until it stops sticking to the bowl and your hands.



Take out a golf ball or maybe lemon sized ball and flatten with your fingers. Roll with rolling pin to make thin flat round shape (mine didn't get round but at least I didn't tear them!). Take care not to make too thin that they tear. Take your time!
Keep sprinkling dry flour on surface and roti to make sure it doesn't stick to the rolling pin and so on.



Place on skillet (we used a dry frying pan) on medium heat. Slow roast this flat bread. Keep dabbing with a wet cloth.



Its a beautiful thing when they poof up like that! They were so soft and my experience with gluten free flat breads and tortillas has been of rubbery chewy nightmares. So this was a real treat.

Enjoy with any vegetable/curry or just butter.



These went down well. K kept coming back in the kitchen going "wawa wooti" so I was well chuffed!

I made 8 rotis and had enough flour left over for the next day. This flour goes bitter very quickly so don't store for too long.