Madwa Thoppa Roti

This flatbread used to be a common breakfast item in the regions of Jharkhand, Chattisgarh and Orissa in the olden days. In our nearby communities, this is still commonly eaten. And now, this would be more commonly eaten as our CH program is advocating cultivation and use of ragi in their regular diet.

After having made it quite a number of times now . . . my take on this. This needs some amount of practice before you get perfect rotis. If made well, it is a great snack for kids. And it is best eaten when it is warm. Once it is cold, it could become a bit hard. The amount of oil used is a bit on the higher side. For those who have a tendency towards heartburn (increased acidity), this causes a bit of heartburn.

Ingredients:

   Ragi (finger millet/madwa atta) flour – 2 cups

   Sugar – 3 teaspoons

   Salt – a pinch

   Lukewarm water – 1 cup

   Oil/Clarified butter – 3 teaspoons per roti

Method:
 

Mix the ragi flour, sugar and salt well.

 

Add the lukewarm water slowly to the above mixture and make into dough of average consistency. 

 

 

Divide the dough into 3 or 4 equal portions.

 

Heat the griddle (tawa) in medium heat. I’ve found that a heavy griddle works better than the thin non-stick pans. Once the griddle is hot, put 2-3 teaspoons of oil/butter on the griddle.

 

Keep one portion of the dough on the hot oil/butter and flatten it preferably with your fingers till you get a round flatbread of about 2-3 millimeters. If the dough is sticky, you can wet your fingers with water as you flatten it.

Turn over couple of times over 5-6 minutes without burning it.

 

If you successfully make this, do remember. This used to be one of the most common food stuff eaten in rural Indian households till rice and wheat based dishes took over.