Bajri Roti (Gluten free Millet Roti)

Aloo Bajri Roti


Bajri brings back some distinct memories of my childhood. Much to my mother’s disapproval, I insisted on growing birds in a cage because the birds were so beautiful and I actually loved them. My mom was always for letting them free. Anyway, the main feed for the birds was bajri. I used to have packets of bajri so the birds were well fed. I barely had any idea that this seed is so good for human consumption, such a shame. We eventually let the birds free and with that I stopped buying bajri. Later, when I started working and realising how health savvy I was when it came to food that I ate, I bought bajri but never made anything due to lack of time. During my visit to India, I indulged in shopping again and finally gave bajri roti a shot and it was a disaster because I could not even make rotis from the dough. Further trials have now led to a more successful recipe which I quite liked. Bajri aka millet is possibly a popular grain (I am told it is infact a seed) among the gluten or wheat allergic. To me, it comes across as a nutrition repository. It is rich in protein, iron, B vitamins, riboflavin, thiamine and niacin. So, you could enjoy this roti like I did....

½ cup bajri flour
1 medium potato boiled and mashed
½ teaspoon chilly powder (optional)
1 finely chopped green chilly (optional)
Few spoons warm milk or water
1 teaspoon finely chopped coriander leaves
Bajri flour for dusting
Salt to taste
Ghee or cooking oil

Mix bajri, salt, chilly powder, coriander leaves, chilly to well mashed potato. Knead with your hand. If needed, add some warm milk or water, little by little to make a soft dough. Smear some oil on your hand and knead dough once.

I happened to rest it for 30 minutes simply because I had to be away from the kitchen to get on with something else, you could make the rotis straight away.

Take lime size balls and some oil in your hand. Use a plastic sheet or the back of a plastic plate to make flatten the ball with your hand to make small rotis. You will have to use a combination of flour and oil to enable you to handle the soft dough well and take the roti of the plate/sheet.

Fry one side of roti or a hot tava and turn, cook and turn again and lightly press the roti so it rises a wee bit. Add little ghee or cooking oil while frying the rotis

Enjoy with a nice gravy or vegetables of your choice. Above quantity yields about 6-8 medium size rotis.