Akki roti recipe |Karnataka style rice roti

I tasted this first during my stay in bangalore in my colleagues tiffin box .her mom used to pack akki rot along with curd in lunch box .

Akki rotti is a very famous dish in Karnataka .You can call it as a masala tandulachi bhakri (masala rice flour bhakari).

akki meaning rice in kannada, rotti refers to a flat bread cooked on a griddle. Akki roti is made with rice flour and is an everyday food from karnataka cuisine. It is served with a chutney either for breakfast or lunch.There are few different versions of these rotti based on the regions of karnataka.

It can be made on the pan directly or on a cotton cloth, foil or banana leaf and then cooked on tawa/ pan. 

To make akki roti, ingredients like Chana dal, fresh coconut, chopped onions, coriander leaves, green chilli, jeera and rice flour are used. However veggies like grated carrot, cucumber, bottle gourd, capsicum, sabasige soppu (dill leaves) are also used based on the regions or liking. In some regions, these are made only with rice flour, coconut, green chili and cumin.

Ingredients:

2 Cups Rice flour
2 Onions finely chopped
1 Cup grated Bottle gourd(can be substituted by cucumber)
1/4 cup grated Carrot
1/4 cup finely chopped Coriander
1/4 Cup Roasted,deskinned and slightly powdered peanuts
1 tsp green chilli paste(Ground into a coarse mixture)
1 tsp jeera
salt to taste

coriander leaves handful chopped

water as needed

oil as needed

2 tbsp. chana dal soaked

½ tsp ginger grated

Method:

1Add onion, coconut,green chilli, coriander, Curry leaves,carrots,coriander leaves,ginger ,soaked bengal gram,cumin seeds and salt in a wide mixing bowl.Mix it nicely by crushing onions with your hands for few minutes. This brings out more flavors from them.

2.Add rice flour to it.Start adding warm water little by little and mix it nicely to form a dough.There are two ways in which you can spread the rotti on the tawa 

3.Grease a pan with oil if not using a nonstick. Place a dough ball on the tawa, begin to flatten it evenly.

4.If there is enough moisture in the dough, it spreads easily and evenly. Keep a bowl half filled with water aside. If needed dip your fingers in the water and spread the dough. This also helps to keep the rotti soft. If making thick roti, make few wholes on the rotti every 2 inches apart for even cooking.

5.Once you have patted rottis ,now switch on gas and cook them medium heat.Pour some oil in the holes and all over the rotti.Cover and cook till it becomes slightly brown in colour. Then flip the rotti and continue cooking for about a minute or so till the rotti becomes crispy. 

6.To make the next roti, either we have to cool this pan completely and then use. Or make use of 2 pans, use alternately until the other one cools.The 1 st tawa can be re used after cooling it . So you keep rotating tawas while making each roti in this method . Do not attempt to pat the dough on hot tawa as the dough does not spread well. So you keep changing the tawas to make rotis .How to cool tawa quickly ? refer NOTE No. 3

7.In second method ,grease a plastic sheet / aluminum foil / parchment paper /banana leaf .Take an orange sized dough and pat it evenly with your hands to a medium thin pancake.Wet your hands in between with water to ease the patting.Make a hole on the rotti so that they get cooked uniformly.

8.Heat the griddle.When its hot ,put the sheet on the griddle ( rotti side facing the griddle ). Cook the rotti along with the sheet for 30 sec and then slowly remove the foil.Rotti gets transferred from sheet to the griddle.

Tips

1. grease the surface before patting the rotti also wet your hands with water in between the process to helps you pat them evenly .

2.To cool tawa quickly, Once the rotti on one tawa is cooked take it off from flame, remove the rotti.To reduce the temperature of tawa faster, keep  the backside of the pan under running water for 1-2 mins.After about 2-3 mins, tawa is ready and you can pat next rotti.

3.Variations of Akki rotti:Mix and match the below variations to suit your taste buds.

• The Basic Akki rotti contains Rice flour,onions,green chilli paste,coriander leavessalt,jeera.
• Grated Carrot/Bottle gourd/Cucumber/Beetroot/fresh coconut can be added to the above mixture according to our taste.
• Crushed peanuts add the extra taste to the regular Akki roti's.
• Greens like Mint/Coriander/Dill leaves/Spinach/methi can also be added according to our taste