Spicy Roti with Fenugreek and Cilantro

Srivalli at Cooking 4 All Seasons is hosting a fabulous event: Roti Mela! Apparently it's on the back of the huge success of dosa mela - which I missed, but love the round ups!

As you may have guessed by the name, the event is to round up everyone's roti recipes - definitely a roundup to be bookmarked I reckon! Rotis are something which I had never really tried until recently - I think they fell into my fear of yeast/baking category.... yes yes, I know they are generally neither yeasted or baked... I was living in roti-free ignorance!

Then I fell out of my comfort zone when I made Coconut Rotis for my Sri Lankan cookery course. I was astonished that something could taste so nice and match the curry so perfectly... and be so easy to do. Not to mention that they let me to eat with my hands, slurp ;)

So here is another roti attempt from me. Having tried layered paratha last month, I fancied doing some with quite a lot of flavour going on. I'd hoped to have enough time to do a stuffed one too - but that was not to be :(

So here is my third roti attempt:

Spicy Roti with Fenugreek and Cilantro

Makes 4

• 1 cup wholewheat flour
• handful chopped cilantro leaves
• 1 thai red chili, finely chopped
• 1 small clove garlic, crushed
• 1 tsp grated ginger
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp coriander
• 1/4 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp dried fenugreek leaves
• 1/2 tsp garam masala
• 1/4 tsp aesofotida
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp melted ghee + more ghee for frying

Prepare the Dough...
Mix the flour, spices, salt, chili, ginger, garlic and cilantro together in a bowl. Slowly add warm water until the dough is soft but not too sticky.
Knead for a few minutes until the dough feels springy, then add the tbsp of ghee and knead well to incorporate.

Wrap in film and set aside for half an hour.

Cook the Rotis...
Heat a heavy frying pan to high.

Divide the mixture into 4, and roll one of them into a smooth ball. (Keep the other ones covered to stop them drying out!) Gently roll it out into a circle (or weird misshapen blob if your rolling skills are anything like mine ;)

Drop a wee bit of ghee into the pan and swirl it about with the back of a spoon (ok, so I *know* that isn't authentic - but I was starving and it worked for me!) Lay the roti into the pan and cook for a minute or two, or until you can see it's mostly changed colour, then flip... Now this is how I know it wasn't authentic - mid-flip, when it was balanced on my spatula, I reached under and swirl a bit more ghee on the pan!!

Meh - whatever, it worked!

Fry for a minute or two until browned and crispy at the edges.

Serve!
Serve with whatever you like! They are quite flavourful, so would probably work with tarka dhal, plain chana masala or something similar. I used mine as part of a somewhat unusual breakfast dish... I'll be posting it soon!

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