10 ways of eating wheat in India

One Page Cookbooks 10 ways of eating wheat in India All recipes copyrighted. No reproduction / commercial use without permission. Siramki@Gmail.com
1.: Unleavened flatbreads Sample Recipe : Chappati Take a cup of whole wheat flour. Add two pinches of salt. Gradually mix in half a cup of water and knead to a smooth dough, adding more water if required. Rest for 30 minutes. Pinch off lemon sized balls, roll into thin rounds and cook both sides on a hot skillet till brown spots appear all over.	Wheat is the staple food of almost all of North India. It is eaten in a variety of different ways as listed here. Unleavened flatbreads: This is by far the most popular bread across north India, eaten twice or even thrice a day. Though unleavened breads made from wheat flour is the most popular and the easiest to work with, a variety of cereal flours (Maize, millets, sorghum, even rice), are used across the country to make flatbreads. Most other flours lack gluten and so cannot be kneaded or rolled out as easily as wheat flour. They are either mixed in with wheat flour or kneaded with boiling water. Boiling water partially cooks them into starch and makes kneading possible. Experiment by mixing various flours with wheat flour to create your own unleavened flatbreads. Fried unleavened flatbreads: Though chiefly made from wholewheat flour, eastern India prefers all purpose flour and the recipe becomes a luchi. A variety of stuffings can be used to create numerous ftuffed pooris / luchis. A smaller, thicker version of a Poori called Kachori is popular in east India. Leavened breads: Fermenting, baking and leavening were techniques Indian cuisine learnt from Central Asia. Leavened breads are usually baked in a tandoor. They can be made from all purpose flour ( Naan) or from whole wheat flour ( Tandoori Roti). A kind of sour dough bread which is yeast leavened ( Khameeri roti) is also cooked in a Tandoor. When the leavened all purpose dough is cooked on a skillet, it is called a Kulcha. Leavened breads can also be deep fried ( Bhatura / Badshahi naan). They can also be stuffed with a variety of additives and baked (stuffed naan) or cooked on a skillet ( stuffed kulcha).. Layered / stuffed unleavened flatbreads: Indian cuisine discovered that a thick flatbread can be made edible without leavening by stuffing it or layering it like a puff pastry. With this discovery arose a huge range of stuffed parathas and layered parathas. Layered parathas are popular across the country. In the south they are called parota and are made from all purpose flour. In some places these are deep fried to make a crumbly, flaky bread. Crepes Thin crepes from a wheat flour batter (whole wheat flour or all purpose flour) are eaten in south India as a kind of dosa and in Orissa as chakuli. It is usually eaten with a variety of chutneys. A variety of flours like rice flour, semolina can be mixed in to produce a range of different crepes. Wheat grit porridge : Wheat grits / semolina is cooked as the popular Upma in south. A sweet version called sooji Halwa is popular in the north as a dessert Shopping List 1kg : Whole wheat flour ( atta), all purpose flour ( maida), Oil 250 gms : Salt, ghee, butter, paneer, yogurt 100 gms : Chili powder, baking powder, cashew, raisins.
2.: Fried unleavened flatbreads Sample Recipe: Poori: Prepare the dough and roll out thin circles as above. Heat two cups oil. Slide the dough round and deep fry both sides till puffed and golden. Drain oil and serve.
3.: Layered flatbreads Sample Recipe : Lachcha paratha Knead dough as in recipe #1. Pinch off a tomato sized ball and roll out into a large thin sheet. Smear liberally with ghee. Cut up the sheet with a pizza cutter into 10-12 pieces. Stack the pieces over one another. Flatten with hand and press gently into a thick round. Cook both sides on a hot skillet over medium flame drizzling with butter/ ghee. Once ready, place the edges of your hands on either side of the paratha. Bring them sharply together, crushing it and separating the layers.
4.: Stuffed unleavened flatbreads Sample Recipe : Paneer Paratha Prepare dough as in recipe #1. Take a handful of grated paneer. Mix in two pinches each of salt & chili powder. Shape into lemon sized balls. Pinch off a tomato sized ball of dough and roll out into a disc. Place a ball of stuffing in the center. Gather the edges of the dough together, enclosing the stuffing. Flatten with palm and roll gently into a thick disc. Cook both sides on a hot skillet liberally using butter / ghee.
5.: Leavened flatbreads . Sample Recipe : Naan Take a cup of maida ( all purpose flour). Mix in two pinches each of salt, baking powder and half a cup of yogurt. Add water if needed and knead well. Rest for 10 minutes. Pinch off a tomato sized ball and roll into ovals. Bake in an electric tandoor / tandoor / very hot oven till brown spots appear.
6.: Stuffed leavened flatbreads Sample Recipe : Peshawari Naan Blend half a handful of cashew and raisins to a thick paste.. Make dough as above #5). Pinch off a tomato sized ball. Shape into a cup. Add a lemon sized ball of cashew –raisin paste. Seal in the stuffing, flatten gently with hand and roll into thick ovals. Bake in an electric tandoor / hot oven till brown spots appear.
7.: Skillet cooked leavened flatbreads Sample Recipe : Kulcha Prepare dough as in recipe #5. Pinch off a tomato sized ball of dough and roll out into a thick disc. Cook both sides on a hot skillet over medium flame till brown spots appear all over.
8.:. Fried leavened flatbreads Sample Recipe: Bhatura Prepare dough as in recipe #5. Pinch off tomato sized balls and roll into large thin rounds. Heat three cups of oil in a wide and deep pan. Slide in dough sheet and deep fry till puffed and golden.
9.: Crepes Sample Recipe : Wheat flour Dosa. Take a cup of whole wheat flour / all purpose flour. Mix with a cup of water to a soup like batter. Add more water if needed. Mix in two pinches of salt and baking powder. Heat a non stick skillet. Pour a ladle of batter and spread into a thick / thin round. Cook on medium flame till bubbles appear on top. Flip and cook the other side.
10.: Regional specialties Sample Recipe: Bati: Take a cup of wheat flour, two pinches of cumin, two pinches of salt and a spoon of ghee. Mix in half a cup of water and knead to a stiff dough. Let rest for an hour. Pinch of tomato sized balls, flatten them slightly and bake in a hot oven (200 c) for 10 minute still they brown. Flip them and bake them for 10 minutes more till they brown all over. Let cool. Crush them till the crust breaks, dip in ghee and serve. (Rajasthan). Bafla: Make dough as above. Pinch off a tomato sized ball and flatten to a thick disc. Bring 10 cups of water to a boil. Add half a handful of salt. Add the flattened discs and let water come to a boil again. Turn down heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Drain. Heat two spoons of ghee in a skillet. Add the cooked discs and cook both sides till surface browns all over. (or deep dry both sides till golden). Sindhi Lolo: In recipe #1, use sugar syrup instead of water for kneading the dough. Pinch off tomato sized balls, roll into a thick disc and cook both sides on a medium hot skillet, drizzling with ghee.

10 Pooris ( Deep fried Indian flatbreads)

This cookbook lists 10 simplified deep fried Indian breads. For more detailed recipes, check out the links from fellow bloggers listed below. The following breads are listed in this cookbook:

1.:  Poori  : You can look at Poori as a deep fried Chapatti. Whole wheat dough is rolled into a thin circle which is then deep-fried to make a poori. This is popular in south India and is eaten with potato curry.

2.: Luchi  is poori made from refined wheat flour ( maida). These are popular in East India, especially Bengal and Orissa.

3.: Jeera Poori has cumin powder and cumin seeds kneaded into the dough.

4.: Masala Poori is spicy with chili powder and garam masala kneaded in.

5.: Methi Poori has chopped fenugreek leaves mixed into the dough.

6.: Missi Poori a Rajasthani specialty is made from a mixture of wheat flour and gram flour.

7.: Palak Poori has boiled and mashed spinach mixed in. A variety of spinach can be used here.

8.: Paneer Poori is stuffed with grated paneer.

9.: Aloo poori has a stuffing of potatoes

10.: Dal Poori uses boiled and mashed tuvar dal as the stuffing. A variety of boiled and mashed pulses can be used in place of tuvar dal.

And this is my first entry to A Mad Tea Party's Party time !

10 flatbreads of the Grand Moghuls

Muglai Cuisine:
Richness defines the royal Mogul (Persian for Mongol) cuisine. Arriving from Central Asia, Moguls ruled most of India for almost 400 years. During this time, their Persian cuisine fused with Indian cuisine and evolved into the Mogul cuisine. Use of Tandoor and the art of leavening flatbreads were Mogul’s gift to Indian cuisine. Unlike traditional Indian flatbreads which are very basic and are cooked on a skillet, Mogul flatbreads are flamboyant- using a variety of rich spices, nuts and cream. They are usually baked in a tandoor or shallow fried in ghee. When cooked on a skillet, they are usually layered. In spite of such rich cuisine, it is interesting to note that Akbar, the greatest Mogul, ate just once a day!

This cookbook lists 10 Mogul breads, greatly simplified, so that a first time cook can easily cook them. The following breads are listed in this cookbook: Click on the links to see more detailed recipes and pictures from my fellow bloggers.

1.:    Naan (Leavened flatbread)  

2.:   Sheermal ( Saffron flavoured flatbread)

3.:   Lachcha Paratha  (Layered flatbread) 

4.:  Warqui Paratha ( Creamy, layered flatbread )

5.:   Mughlai Paratha ( Egg washed layered flatbread ) 

6.:    Badshahi Naan (Deep fried Leavened flatbread) 

7.:   Peshawari Naan (Naan stuffed with nuts & dry fruits)  

8.:   Easy Bakharkhani (Cardamom Flat bread ) 

9.:   Traditional Bakharkhani (Layered creamy flatbread)    

10.:   Cheese Bakharkhani (Sweet layered flatbread)   

1001 Naans (Leavened Asian Flatbread)

Click the image on the left to view the cookbook.

The first recorded history of Naan can be found in the works of the genius Amir Khusrau (1300 AD) as naan-e-tunuk (Persian: نان تنک) (light bread) and naan-e-tanuri (Persian: نان تنوری) (cooked in a tandoor oven).

Naan ( meaning bread) is the one of the most popular breads in Central Asia. It was the breakfast food of the Moghul royalty and is still a popular breakfast food in Burma. Naan is chiefly made from all purpose flour (maida) and uses a leavening agent ( yogurt, yeast, eggs or baking powder) to puff it up from the inside while being baked. This is what makes a naan light and fluffy.

Any thick bread needs a leavening agent. Without it, all you get on baking is a hard brick. All the numerous holes you see in white bread were made by gas generated by leavening agents. Yeast and baking soda are the most popular leavening agents in bread and cakes. It is the humble Yeast that gives us delicious breads and all our alcohol. It is no wonder we have been using it for over 6000 years.

Yeast breaks up sugar into carbon di oxide and alcohol. It is for this Carbon-di oxide yeast is used in bakeries and it is for alcohol it is used in breweries. Without Yeast, we lose both bread and wine ! 
Naans come in various shapes and sizes. They may be round, rectangular or triangular, palm sized or table sized, plain or stuffed. They are generally sprinkled with herbs / seeds and brushed with butter / ghee.

The first recorded mention of Naan is in 1300 AD by Amir Khusarau, the Sufi poet, a pillar of Hindustani music, originator of Qawali and famous for his tongue in cheek lines like

My beloved speaks Turkish, and Turkish I do not know;
How I wish if her tongue would have been in my mouth.

It was Khusarau who wrote the immortal
Agar firdaus bar roo-e zameen ast,
Hameen ast-o hameen ast-o hameen ast.
If there is a paradise on earth,
It is this, it is this, it is this (India).

Making Stuffed Naans :
Anything which can be shaped into a tight ball can be used to stuff a naan. Pinch off a tomato sized ball of dough, roll out into a disc, place a ball of stuffing in the center and gather the edges of the dough, completely enclosing the filling. Now roll it up again into a thick disc and cook.

Kheema Naan is stuffed with mincemeat, Peshawari naan is a dessert naan filled with nuts, dates and raisins, aloo naan is stuffed with potatoes & gobi naan with cauliflower. The various possible stuffings are listed in column 3.

Before cooking, the naan can be sprinkled with sesame seeds /poppy seeds / nigella ( black onion seeds : kalonji ), cumin or herbs like cilantro.

Though the master recipe calls for baking powder, you can use a pinch of active dry yeast instead. Yeast takes a 4-5 hours to work its magic and so the dough needs to be rested that long. You can also knead in milk / eggs / oil into the dough along with water. This makes naan a complete meal by itself. Naan's are usually baked in clay tandoors - which are highly impractical to use at home. The tabletop electric tandoor does a good job and is very easy to use. First time cooks can try cooking Naan with just a skillet.

Model Recipes
Mango Power Girl's Naan
Aparna's Tava Naan
Naan Video

International 'Naan'
All purpose flour is used across the world and many cuisines have their version of our Naan. All these flatbreads are baked in an oven ( or an electric tandoor) at the highest heat setting till brown spots appear on the surface.

Roll the Naan dough into a round, dimple all over the surface with fingers, drizzle it with olive oil, sprinkle sea salt and rosemary and what you get on baking is the Italian Focaccia.

Roll the naan dough to a round, drizzle surface with olive oil, spread a couple of spoons of tomato sauce and cover with grated mozarella. Bake and you get  pizza. Use other toppings and you can cookup a range of pizzas.

Make makki naan dough, roll into thick rectangles, scour a few parallel lines with a knife , sprinkle sesame seeds on top and bake. You now have the Persian  barbari bread.

Roll out naan dough and top it with sour cream and onions before baking it and you’ll end up withFlammkuchen - the Germanic 'Naan'. This is also called as tarte flambée or Alsatian pizza.

The Turkish 'Naan' is cooked on a tava. Roll the naan dough into thick rounds and cook both sides on a skillet. What you get is Bazlama.

Off this goes to Bricole's Novel food.

10 Coloured Indian flatbreads

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This cookbook lists 10 coloured chapattis. Natural colouring agents are mixed in with the flour. The following coloured breads are listed in this cookbook: 

1.: Pale brown chapatti  does not use any colouring. The natural colour of all purpose flour gives a pale brown flatbread.

2.:  Golden yellow chapatti uses saffron soaked in warm milk to get its golden hue.

3.:  Yellow chapatti uses turmeric.

4.:  Pink chapatti  gets its colour from beetroot.

5.: Pale orange chapatti uses mashed carrots.

6.:  Green chapatti gets its colour from spinach puree.

7.: Speckled chapatti uses crushed black pepper.

8.:  Pale red chapatti uses tomato puree.  

9.:  Brown chapatti gets its colour from coriander - cumin powder and garam masala.

10.:   Speckled Red chapatti uses the bright red Kashmiri chili powder for its colour.

10 Easy Mexican Breads

Click the image on the left to view the cookbook. This cookbook lists 10 simplified Mexican breads designed to be cooked in an Indian kitchen. The following breads are listed in this cookbook:

 1.: Tortilla (Tor – tea – ya) : is nothing but a chappati

2.:  Taco  (Ta- koh) is a chappati topped with a filling and folded in half.

 3.:  Burrito (Ba- Ree –toh ) is a chappati roll with filling.

4.:  Enchilada (Yen- chi –lada)  is a chappati roll drizzled with  chili sauce.

5.: Quesadilla  (K- say –di - ya)  is  two chappatis stuck together with melted cheese.

6.:  Pupusa  (Pooh- pooh - sah)  is a stuffed paratha.

7.: Sopapilla (Soap- ah – pee - ya) is a poori cut into wedges and dusted with sugar.

8.: Taquito (Ta- key – toe) is similar to a Chinese spring roll.

9.: Tlayuda (Tlay - uda)  is a Gujarati khakra, topped with refried beans and other filling.

10.: Nacho (Naa – cho)  is a khakra cut into wedges, and served with a cheese dip / salsa.

Reposted for  Tasty Palettes Vegan Ventures 2

1001 Pooris ( Deep fried Indian flatbreads)

This cookbook lists 1000 simplified pooris (deep fried Indian flatbreads).Ten different bases are paired with ten different additives and ten stuffings to create a thousand different pooris. These recipes are graded from easy to tough, with 000 being the easiest and 999 being the toughest. 

The base:
Though whole-wheat flour (atta) and refined wheat flour (maida) account for most pooris cooked across India, we have specialty pooris made from a variety of flours, like the unusual pooris made from water chestnut (water caltrop) flour, the Singare ki Poori.  As many of these flours cannot be kneaded into a dough, they are mixed with wheat flour to make kneading easier.

The additives:
A variety of spices, herbs or vegetables as listed in column 2 can be kneaded into the dough.

The stuffing:
Anything without too much moisture can be used to stuff a poori. Potatoes, paneer and dal make easy stuffing whereas cauliflower or radishes take time to master, because they have more moisture. Though non-veg stuffings are not common, they can be cooked into delicious pooris. 

In case the stuffing makes the poori soggy, and you are unable to roll it, just knead the stuffing into the dough, roll into a thin disc and deep fry it. All these pooris can be fried in a variety of oils. Each oil imparts its own flavour to the poori. 

Thus, combining a variety of stuffing with a variety of bases and additives would give you an endless list of pooris. You can literally have a different poori for every day of your life and still have plenty leftover !

And this goes to Food in Colours event.

100 Pooris ( Deep fried Indian breads )

This cookbook lists 100 simplified pooris (deep fried Indian breads).10 different bases are paired with ten different stuffings to create a hundred different pooris. 

The base :
Though whole-wheat flour (atta) and refined wheat flour ( maida) account for most pooris cooked across India, we have specialty pooris made from a variety of flours, like the unusual pooris made from water chestnut ( water caltrop)  flour the Singare ki Poori.  As many of these flours cannot be kneaded into a dough, they are mixed with wheat flour to make kneading easier. 

The stuffing :
Anything without too much moisture can be used to stuff a poori. Potatoes, paneer and dal make easy stuffing whereas cauliflower or radishes take time to master, because they have more moisture. Though non-veg stuffings are not common, they can be cooked into delicious pooris. 

In case the stuffing makes the poori soggy, and you are unable to roll it, just  knead the stuffing into the dough, roll into a thin disc and deep fry it. 

Combining a variety of stuffing with a variety of bases would give you an endless list of pooris. 

1001 South Indian Breads

South Indian Breads
The term 'bread' is used here to mean a staple food, cooked from flour, and is eaten everyday.

In the west, the majority of breads are baked from wheat dough. In South India, baking never took off and so most breads are pan fried or steamed. Instead of wheat, the staple cereal is rice and so, it is no surprise we find a variety of rice breads. Most South Indian breads use a combination of rice and lentils, thus meeting both carbohydrate and protein needs.

A word of warning : Despite their apparent simplicity, all these recipes take quite a bit of practice and perseverance to cook up.

South Indian breads fall into six categories :

1. Bread made from fermented rice batter : Aappam
2. Bread made from lentil batter : Pesarattu , Adai
3. Breads made from a fermented batter of rice and urad dal : Idli, Dosa, Uttappam, Paniyaram
4. Breads made from steamed rice / ragi flour : Puttu
5. Breads made from semi cooked rice flour dough : Pathiri / Ada / Akki roti / Kozhukattai
6. Breads made from Wheat dough - Parota

Detailed instructions and great photos here.

Any thick bread needs a leavening agent. The leavening agent fills the batter with gas, puffing it up from the inside, giving the bread a soft, fluffy texture. Without leavening, all we get on cooking is a hard , inedible mess. Wild yeast is the most common leavening agent used in South Indian breads. Leavening is not necessary for thin breads like dosa / pesarattu / pathiri , nor for flaky breads like parota. But without leavening, thick breads like Idli / Uttappam would be tough and chewy.

Aapam
The hemispherical crepe, Aapam (Aa as in audience and pam as in pump) is cooked from a fermented batter of rice flour and water /coconut milk . These are cooked in a hemispherical pan ( wok). The batter is poured into the wok and swirled so that it coats the sides of the wok. Aapam has thin, lacy sides and a spongy base.
Aapam Video

Pesarattu
Pesarattu is a type of dosa popular in Andhra pradesh which uses a batter made from soaked and ground green gram ( Mung dal).

Model Recipes
Indira's Pesarattu
Akshayapatram's MLA Pesarattu

Adai
When soaked mixed lentils and grains are ground to a coarse batter and cooked into thick rounds on a hot skillet, we get Adai. A variety of grain and lentil combinations are used to cook numerous varieties of adai.

Model Recipes
Vaishali's Adai
Quick and easy Adai
Shriya's Kara Adai


Idli, Dosa, Uttappam & Paniyaram
Idli, Dosa, Uttappam and Paniyaram share the same rice and urad dal batter. This batter is steamed to give Idlis. The same batter is spread into thin rounds on a hot skillet and cooked into crisp dosas. When the same batter is cooked into pancake sized thick discs on a hot skillet, it is called uttappam / kal dosai / Set Dosai. When pan fried in small hemispherical moulds, the same batter becomes paniyaram.

Model Recipes
Seema's Idlis
Indira's Andhra style rice grit idlis

Sweet Babe's Dosa

Prema's Uttappam

Cham's Paniyaram
Jayasree's Paniyaram

Puttu
When rice or ragi flour is mixed with water and steamed, we get puttu. Special cylindrical moulds are packed with the flour and steamed. These are popular in rural Tamilnadu and Kerala.

Model Recipes
Saradha's Ragi Puttu
Lan's Puttu with a neat technique for keeping it soft.
The not so common Wheat flour Puttu

Pathiri / Ada / Kozhukattai
A variety of rice flour breads are popular in Kerala and Karnataka. Since rice flour does not have gluten, it cannot be kneaded into a dough like wheat flour. So the flour is mixed with boiling water, which cooks it partially into starch. Cooked starch becomes sticky. This sticky dough is shaped into thick or thin rounds, cooked on a skillet or steamed and are called pathiri / ada / akki roti. When shaped into dumplings, and stuffed with sweet / savoury fillings and steamed, these are caled Kozhukattai.

Model Recipes
Annita's Malabar Pathiri
Mallugirl's fluffy rice pathiri

Priya's Stuffed Ada
Surya's rice and wheat stuffed Ada

Ruchii's Akki Roti
Aayi's masala Akki Roti
Aparna's Akki Roti

Prema's Kozhukattai
Ammupatti's Kozhukattai video

Though wheat breads like chapati and poori have now become common in South India, they are yet to attain the status of 'traditional' fare. The only wheat bread which is considered traditional is the parota, made from all purpose flour. This thick, multilayered, crumbly bread is completely unlike any other north Indian bread. It is usually cooked on a skillet, but in some places it is deep fried. Layered like a pastry, it is mainly eaten at dinner.

Model Recipes
Annita's Parota
Renuka's Parotta with step by step photos

Unlike the breads listed above, which cut across regions and have their variants in more than one state, there are other delightful local breads like the multi layered wholewheat parotta found in Kerala ( Thanks Mallugirl !) or the Jonna Roti ( made from Jowar / Sorghum / Cholam ) popular in parts of Andhra / Karnataka. If you know of any other breads, would you please mail me / comment ?

This post is reposted for Aparna's Small Breads & Srivalli’s Roti Mela