Akki Roti (Rice Roti)
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Akki Roti, a soft-n-crispy flatbread made with rice flour, grated carrot, onion and basic Indian spices, is one of the best ways to start your day. It is very popular in Karnataka where Akki means rice in Kannada and hence it is known as Akki Roti (Rice Roti). It is very easy to prepare and takes only 15-20 minutes – first a soft dough is prepared by mixing rice flour with vegetables, spices and water, flattened into thin round shaped disc, and cooked on tawa until crisp and light brown. Traditional preparation of this Rice Roti requires flattening the dough directly on hot tawa. However, it is a difficult process and has risk of burning your fingers accidentally. This Akki Roti Recipe uses an innovative Parchment Paper technique that allows you to roll dough into roti off of tawa and then place it directly on tawa without struggling with dough’s stickiness; thus making an entire cooking process easy and non-messy. Enjoy it with a South Indian Coconut Chutney and various curries.
| Ingredients: |
| 1 cup Rice Flour |
| 1 small Onion, finely chopped (1/3 cup) |
| 1/2 Carrot, grated (1/3 cup) |
| 1 Green Chilli, finely chopped |
| 1 teaspoon Cumin Seeds |
| 3 tablespoons finely chopped Coriander Leaves |
| Warm Water, as needed (1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons approx.) |
| Oil, for roasting |
| Salt to taste |
Directions:
- Transfer rice flour in to a large bowl.
- Add finely chopped onion, grated carrot, finely chopped green chilli, cumin seeds, finely chopped coriander leaves and salt.
- Mix well.
- Add warm water little by little in the mixture as needed and knead soft dough. It should be softer than chapati dough.
- Divide dough into 4 equal portions.
- Place parchment paper/banana leaf/aluminum foil on the flat surface and grease it with few drops of oil. Take one dough ball and place it over parchment paper.
- Wet your hand and pat it evenly into thin round circle (thickness should be slightly less than 1/4-inch).
- Make a hole in the center. This allows steam to escape easily and helps make it crispy.
- Heat griddle or non-stick tava/pan over medium flame. When it is medium hot, take the parchment paper with flattened raw akki roti in your hand; flip and gently place flattened disc over tava keeping paper on top side.
- Slowly peel/separate the parchment paper from the flattened roti.
- Drizzle 1-teaspoon oil around the edges.
- Cover with a lid and cook until bottom surface turns light golden brown and crisp or for around 2-3 minutes.
- Remove the lid.
- Flip it over another side and cook for 2-minutes.
- Transfer it to a plate. Repeat steps 6 to 14 for remaining dough balls. Serve hot akki roti with your favorite chutney or a dollop of ghee or butter.
Tips and Variations:
- If you do not have parchment paper or banana leave or aluminum foil, use traditional way of making roti; flatten dough ball directly on hot tawa with wet hand.
- Place dough ball between two parchment paper/plastic sheet and roll it out into thin layer for easy and faster rolling. Rice roti prepared with this approach will have slightly different texture as it will not have raised surface achieved through patting.
- Add 2-tablespoons finely chopped dill (sabsige soppu) in step-2 for variation.
- Add 2-3 tablespoons grated fresh coconut for variation.
Taste: Mild crispy and salty
Serving Ideas: Serve it hot with coconut chutney or with tomato chutney/gojju or south Indian style curry in breakfast.