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Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Jwarichi Bhaakri (Jowar Roti)

This is my concluding post to the previous two posts. Although, a lot of fellow-bloggers have already shared the recipe for a perfect bhaakri, I would like to do my bit for promoting this extremely down to earth and healthy roti.
'Bhaakri', traditionally a farmer's food, can be made from Jowar (Sorghum), Bajra (Millet), Nachani (Finger Millet) or Rice flour. These rotis are very nutritious but at the same time, they are very light on the stomach. For this reason, back in the days,
people made Wheat roti only during the day and Jowar roti at night . Also, bhaakri made with bajra flour is reserved for the winter months as it has a lot of heat. This bhaakri is eaten with some homemade loni (butter) to beat the heat in the bajra roti.
Jwarichi bhaakri goes well with any curry/dry vegetable or chutneys, the most popular combo being, 'Zunka-bhaakri'. Bhaakri also goes perfectly with 'Bharli vaangi' and 'Mudda bhaaji'. Making bhaakri requires a little bit of practice and patience, but once you master this skill (which does not take a long time), you will regret why you never tried it before.The most important factor for making good bhaakris is the availability of fresh flour, which can be a little difficult here in the US. I have tried a lot of brands and found that 'Bansi Jowar flour' is very good and consistent in quality. If the flour is not fresh then your bhaakri will start cracking, so make sure you get good flour.

Ingredients:
Jwariche peeth (Jowar flour)
Warm water

Method:
The best part about making bhaakri, is that you do not need to make the dough in advance and let it rest for a while. Make the dough as you go along making the bhaakri, and adjust according to how many you want to make. This is the reason why I have not given specific measures for the recipe.
First of all, take some Jowar flour and make a dough by adding warm water little by little. Knead the dough till it becomes smooth. If at any point your bhaakri starts cracking, throw it back in with the other dough, and knead the dough again.

Now take a small ball of dough and dust it with some jowar flour like this...

Initially, start with a smaller ball of dough to make it easier and make small bhaakris. I started the same way until I got used to the technique.
Next, dust your fingers with a little flour and start patting the ball of dough on a polpat (platform used for making rotis) with your fingers. As you pat, make sure you also turn the bhaakri a little with your fingers. This will ensure that it gets spread evenly on all sides. If it starts sticking to the platform, remove the bhaakri carefully from the surface and dust a little more flour. The best way to remove the stuck bhaakri is to shake the platform a little, then slide off the bhaakri onto your hand and then dust the platform with flour. Resume the patting process until you have an evenly thin, round bhaakri like this...

Don't be discouraged if the results are not good at the first try, it will get easier and better with practice. Remember, this is very healthy with no salt and no oil! :)
Now carefully transfer the bhaakri to the tava (preheat the tava just as you would for making chapati). Best way to do this would be, inverse the polpat ,take the bhaakri in your hand, and toss it onto the tava. Apply the warm water on the entire upper surface of the bhaakri, like so...

Once the water starts drying out a little, flip the bhaakri and cook on the other side. Now, normally, after this step the bhaakri is finished cooking directly on the flame. But since, I have an electric coil stove, I just cook it on the tava as I would cook chapati (In this case you can also use a stainless steel stand that is used to make phulkas on an electric coil stove). Keep flipping till both sides are browned well.

Once cooked on both sides, remove from the tava and eat hot with a little dollop of tup (ghee) and your favorite curry.

Whenever we get a chance, my husband and me enjoy a hot bhaakri , right off the tava, with a little tup (ghee) and salt. All you need to do is cut the bhaakri into half, open each half just as you would open a pita pocket, spread a little ghee inside and sprinkle some salt. Heavenly!!!
Or, you can just take an entire bhaakri, spread some ghee on it and sprinkle it with salt and then forget all your worries...
I do hope that you would give this humble roti a try and enjoy it just like we do in our family.

Here are some other interesting ways that I found from fellow-bloggers to make this bhaakri :
Jowar Roti -- An easy way by Shilpa of Aayi's Recipes
Jowar Bhakri by Swapna of Swad

16 comments:

Sharmi said...

Thanks for the healthy roti. I am always scared to experiment but this looks delicious.

DEEPA said...

healthy roti ...all the three are good ...

Suganya said...

First of all, I was not able to make it thin like you did. And secondly, it was very difficult to transfer them from board to tawa. I was seriously let down when i tried it for the first time. So i started mixing atta with jowar for gluten. This was i am enjoying it better. Love the taste.
It is from yr blog I started making rotis with layers. I hope someday i will learn this trick too..

Manasi said...

Love 'jwarichi bkhari with mudda bhaji'! awesome combo!
My Dad is from Bijapur too, so we have a lot of that influence in outr cooking!!!
Thanx hon!!!

Richa said...

ur jwarichi bhakri looks so good, u r a pro at these! i got the jowar flour, yet to attemp making the bhakri :)

Roopa said...

i love bhakris whenever we visit India i do not miss the bhakri oota(lunch) at the yatri nivas in bangalore. my kids do not prefer yet so make it very rarely though not as good as yours.

Tee said...

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you try this one out Sharmi.

Thanks Deepa!

Suganya,
I know how bad things can get at the first try...but as I mentioned in the post, start with smaller rotis until you get comfortable. If i could do it , i think anybody can...:)
btw, your idea of adding atta is really good too.

Manasi,
Cool! this combo does rock!

Thanks Richa, you make me blush ;)

Thanks Roopa! I am sure your kids will like this some day...

Swapna said...

Tee dear,
Those bhakris look fab. I cud only manage mini-bhakris. Your bhakris are so much bigger and thinner..Amazing!

FH said...

Tee,I was thinking of Jowar roti yesterday to go with my Peanut chutney and here they are!:))
Looks yum,a wonderful dinner there Tee.Enjoy.
See you at FH:))

Unknown said...

nice baakhri recipe. Are'nt baakris made smaller in size traditionally?

http://vegconcoctions.wordpress.com/

Tee said...

Thanks Swapna! I also started out with mini bhakris and gradually got to making this size...believe me my initial days of bhaakri making were really scary, not even worth a picture ;)yours on the other hand were really impressive.

Thanks Hema! normally in maharashtrian homes, bhaakris are generally bigger in size.

Anonymous said...

I heard it is healthy to have jowar roti. Thanks for posting this, will try for sure.

Padma said...

Your Jawarachi Bhaakri comes so well but you know Mine always breaks up, so I try to put it on plastic cover and spread to roti shape, but its too difficult to lift and place on the tava...your version mee try karnaar..Mala thodi thodi marathi yete..karan me kalyan (mumbai) la rahte. my neighbour aunty from hubli makes roti like this...Am very happy to find this recipe on ur blog. You have a nice space here.

Thanks for visiting my blog and for your kind comments...already added to the feed and blog roll

The Delikat Nomad said...

chaan vaatla , atta ithe sakaal aahe. nakkich nyaahri la karun baghin. tyaa barobar lashnicha tikhat. khup aathvan aali tyaahci hi. te hi karte.
loved it :)

Nisha said...

First time here , Was looking for jowar roti . You have wonderfl space

Ashi said...

I tried it once and I was very discourged. Will try it again tonight. Can I add a different atta (gluten free) to stop it from breaking.