Kannada
Akki Roti
- Duration: 25 minutes
- Serves: 4 people
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Spice Level: Medium
Authenticity Slice
The authentic method of making Akki Roti is not by rolling it out, but by flattening the rice dough on a banana leaf. It is then to be cooked on a tawa with the leaf resting on top of the roti, which helps it cook evenly and gives the dish a distinct flavour.
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Trivia Tadka
The well known Akki Roti became a part of the Kodava community’s food platter quite by accident. The story goes that a Kodava housewife, reluctant to serve leftover rice to her family, decided to make a fresh dish using the same rice as an ingredient. She mashed the cooked rice, added some fresh rice flour and salt to it, and kneaded it to make a pliant dough. She patted this dough into rotis on a tawa and surprised her family with a new dish, effectively inventing a staple.
Ingredients
- Rice, cooked (3 cups)
- Rice flour (1 cup)
- Salt (to taste)
- Rice flour (extra) (for dusting the rotis)
Method
- Add salt to the cooked rice and knead till soft. Add the rice flour, a small amount at a time, and knead without adding water till the dough is of a roti-dough consistency.
- Make lime-sized balls of the dough, cover them with a damp towel, and set them aside.
- Roll out the rotis one at a time, dusting them with rice flour as needed.
- Heat a cast iron tawa on medium flame and place a roti on the tawa. When it begins to bristle up, turn it over and gently press down its sides with a clean cloth. The Akki Roti will begin to puff up like an atta roti.
- A few seconds just before it's fully cooked, slide the roti off the griddle using a flat pair of tongs and let it softly land directly over low flame. This helps to lock in the puffiness and make the roti's skin lightly crisp.
- Follow through with the rest of the rotis in the same manner.
- You may also roast the rotis the authentic way by laying the dough on a banana leaf and flattening it out to shape. While still topped by the leaf, transfer the rotis on to a tawa and cook till puffy and crisp.
- Serve hot with a chutney of your choice. Usually, Akki Rotis are eaten with Ellu Pajji (sesame chutney).
