Pashti

A rice-flour flatbread kneaded in hot water and cut into circles with the rim of a plate.

Vegetarian, but not vegan — contains dairy (ghee).

Ingredients

• 350 g rice flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• about 350 ml water, boiling
• 6 tablespoons ghee, for frying

Method

1. THE FLOUR IS KNEADED IN HOT WATER, BECAUSE COLD WATER LUMPS. Its article gives the reason as well as the instruction: pashti is made by kneading rice flour in hot water, AS COLD WATER TENDS TO FORM LUMPS. That is worth knowing in itself. Rice starch needs heat to take up water evenly; in cold water the outside of each grain of flour gels and seals the inside dry, and the lumps never come out however long you work it.
2. SO BRING THE WATER TO THE BOIL AND POUR IT ON. Salt the flour in a metal bowl, pour the boiling water over in one go, and stir it with the handle of a wooden spoon until it is a single mass. Only then put your hands in, and only when it is cool enough.
3. KNEAD IT FIVE MINUTES WHILE IT IS STILL WARM. It goes from gritty to smooth and slightly glossy. A cooled dough stiffens and will not come smooth at all.
4. ROLL IT OUT IN ONE SHEET WITH A ROLLING PIN. Its article says the dough is then ROLLED OUT WITH A ROLLING PIN -- one sheet, about three millimetres, not ball by ball.
5. THE CIRCLES ARE CUT, NOT SHAPED. This is the other thing its article specifies: circles are cut out BY PRESSING A PLATE OR JAR TOP ONTO THE DOUGH. A small saucer gives the right size. Press straight down and lift; a twist seals the cut edge and the bread puffs unevenly.
6. GATHER THE OFFCUTS, WARM THEM, AND ROLL AGAIN. Rice dough will take a second rolling if it has not gone cold. Cover the scraps with a hot damp cloth for a minute first.
7. PAN-FRY THEM IN GHEE, NOT DRY ON A TAVA. The article has them PAN-FRIED IN GHEE OR COOKING OIL. A tablespoon in the pan, two or three breads at a time, two minutes a side over a medium heat until they are pale gold and firm.
8. SERVED WITH PEANUT CHUTNEY OR WITH CURRY. Its article names both, and gives the chutney its own name: phalli ki chutney.

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