Khakhra

It is pressed against the griddle as it roasts, until it is completely dry and brittle.

Vegan.

Ingredients

• 300 g atta
• 170 ml water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons oil, for the dough
• 1 teaspoon ajowan seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric, optional
• oil, to brush

Method

1. IT IS PRESSED AGAINST THE GRIDDLE AS IT ROASTS, UNTIL IT IS COMPLETELY DRY AND BRITTLE. Its article gives the method and the end point together: rolled thin with a little oil, then roasted on a tava WHILE PRESSING, until fully dry and brittle. The pressing is continuous and it is the whole technique -- a folded cloth or a flat wooden press worked over the bread in circles for two or three minutes a side, driving out every trace of moisture. Every other bread on these pages is taken off while it is still soft. This one is finished only when it snaps.
2. IT IS ROLLED THINNER THAN ANYTHING ELSE HERE. A millimetre, so thin you can see the board through it. Thick khakhra will not dry through and goes leathery instead of crisp.
3. THE PRESSING IS DONE WITH A CLOTH, NOT A SPATULA. A folded tea towel in the hand, pressed and rotated. A spatula touches one spot at a time and you get crisp patches and chewy ones.
4. THE HEAT IS MEDIUM-LOW AND THE TIME IS LONG. Five or six minutes in total. On a hot griddle it browns and chars before the inside has dried, which is the single way this goes wrong.
5. OIL GOES IN THE DOUGH AND IS BRUSHED ON AT THE END. Two tablespoons kneaded in for shortness; a light brush once it is off the heat, which is the usual finish.
6. AJOWAN IS THE SPICE AND TURMERIC IS OPTIONAL. Its article associates the bread with Gujarati and Jain cooking, where ajowan is the everyday seasoning for it.
7. IT IS COOLED FLAT AND IN A SINGLE LAYER. Stacked warm, the trapped steam softens the ones underneath and the whole point is lost.
8. IT KEEPS FOR WEEKS IN A TIN, WHICH IS THE POINT OF IT. Nothing in it is wet. It is eaten as a cracker, with pickle or tea, rather than as a bread at a meal.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under India · All recipes