Wheat and Barley Roti
I often wonder if I am over indulging in
wheat, considering I eat wheat flakes for breakfast and then rotis for dinner,
lunch is strictly rice though. Somehow, maybe because of my south Indian
origin, it is not easy without rice for atleast one meal. Anyway, point is make
conscious effort to diversify ingredients. One of those that I try to include
is barley and as I am not a soup or broth person, I need to find other ways of
including this grain. Barley is said to provide our gut with fibres that
encourage good bacteria to thrive and thus crowd out bad bacteria. The fibre
also helps keep blood sugar on check, especially for diabetics. Drinking barley
water every day is said to help detox the urinary system. My grandmother would
also say that barley water helps lower fever as well. It is also good for
lactating mothers as it helps improve milk production. With so much goodness,
how would you add this to your diet? Well, for me rotis is a viable option. I
must admit that I have tried barley roti in the past but miserably failed as
the flour was not the best, atleast in hindsight. It looked too fibrous and
coarse. Years later, I tried to grind my own barley flour in the mixie and
tried the roti and it came out well. You cannot say it has barley in it unless
I tell you. Here is the recipe…
1 ½ cups whole wheat
flour
½ cup barley flour
Salt to taste
Oil/ghee/butter
Mix the flours together
and add required salt. Add hot water (you may need about a cup) and mix to make
a soft dough. Knead as much as you can and add little oil. Rest the dough for
atleast an hour and divide into smaller balls
Roll each ball into
chapattis and cook both sides on hot tava. Bubbles will begin to appear on bottom side, flip. Again bubbles will begin to appear, let them get bigger, keep pressing down. Then flip again aand press down, roti will puff up. Smear some ghee/butter on top
Serve warm
