Little flatbreads glistening with garlicky clarified butter, the slightly charred surface punctuated with whole aromatic seeds and spices. Missi roti, or traditional Indian chickpea flour flatbreads might sound intimidating, but they're one of the easiest flatbreads you'll ever make. Delicious by themselves or as a vehicle for curries and dips, there's lots of ways to adapt them and make them your own.
Wishing I could have the garlic naan at my favorite Indian restaurant in St. Paul one day I noticed they had a gluten free option. Piping hot, shining with ghee and perfumed with the occasional pop of coriander, the chickpea roti became part of my regular order, along with lamb vindaloo, extra spicy.
There's tons of roti flatbread recipes around the world with a dizzying amount of regional variation. The missi roti are from Northern India (most of my books reference Punjab). They differ from other roti in that they include chickpea or gram flour, also known as besan flour. That said, you can make something similar from many different legume flours, white or whole wheat flours and combinations of the two.
Chef's Tips and Variations
There's so many ways to adapt these It's hard to keep my ideas succinct. Here's a few examples.
- This is the perfect place to use small, aromatic wild seeds and herbs. For example, Instead of the traditional fenugreek leaves I use dried bee balm.
- I love the whole coriander seeds on top, but wild caraway, cumin and wild fennel seeds, black sesame, and many other seeds can be used to finish them and you can have fun making your own blends.
- Just like garlic naan, the flatbreads are brushed with ghee after cooking under a broiler. You can use a garlicky clarified butter like I use here, or experiment with an infused butter or a compound butter.
- Tiny diced hot peppers and alliums like red or greens onions are pressed or sprinkled on the top before cooking. You can be creative with different shapes and colors here.
- You could also experiment with different flour blends. I haven't used dock flour yet.
How To Make It (Step-by-Step)
As they're an unleavened flatbread, missi roti are very easy to make. First mix some chickpea flour with all purpose flour or gluten free flour, turmeric powder and a pinch of kasuri methi (fenugreek leaves) or another herb. Dried bee balm is used in the images below.
Once the dried ingredients are mixed, water and oil are added and the mixture's kneaded into a smooth dough. Allow the dough to rest for a bit to hydrate the flour, then portion into 6 equal parts and roll the dough into balls.
I played with a few different ways of pressing and rolling out the dough and there's a number of ways you can do it. Pressing the dough between parchment sheets with a press was my favorite, but you can also use a rolling pin. A tortilla press can be ok but they come out a little thin and overcook easily.
Next a mixture of seeds, finely chopped onion and hot red chili pepper (optional) are added. The pop of flavor from the whole spices is addictive and there's lots of ways to make it your own, but I wouldn't leave out the coriander.
Some recipes sprinkle on the garnish, others press them in. I prefer to press them into the dough to make them stick. When the cakes are garnished and pressed, heat some ghee with some chopped garlic and allow it to infuse.
From here the flatbreads are ready to cook. At Indian restaurants they're cooked in a tandoor oven or an extremely hot surface. The easiest way I've found to brown them at home is under a broiler for minute or two.
Once the flatbreads are cooked they're brushed with the garlic butter and sprinkled with flaky salt. They're perfect for scooping up curry, dips, or all by themselves.
I've been dreaming about a green spring version crusted with wild onion flowers and brushed with melted ramp butter.
Related Posts
Missi Roti: Indian Chickpea Flour Flatbread
Equipment
- 12 ~4x4 inch squares of parchment
- 1 Griddle, cast iron pan, or heavy sheet pan for broiling
- 1 Grill press, tortilla press, or rolling pin
- 1 2 quart mixing bowl
Ingredients
- ½ cup Chickpea or Garbonzo bean flour
- ½ cup All purpose flour or gluten free all purpose flour
- 1 tsp Dried kasuri methi (fenugreek leaves) or substitute oregano or another herb
- ½ tsp Ground turmeric powder
- 2 Tbsp Mild cooking oil
- ⅓ Cup Warm water
Finishing Ingredients
- ¼ cup Ghee or clarified butter
- 1 Clove Fresh garlic, finely chopped
- Flaky salt like Maldon or Faulk salt for finishing
Spice Garnish (improvise and make your own)
- 1 tsp Coriander seed
- ½ tsp Cumin seed
- ¼ tsp Caraway seed
Instructions
- Mix the flour and spices.
- Add the oil and water to the dried flour mixture and knead the dough into a smooth ball, wrap in cling film and allow the flour to hydrate for 20 minutes.
- Portion the dough into 6 equal pieces and roll into balls.
- Put each dough ball in between two squares of parchment and press with a flat weight or a rolling pin. You can use cling film in a pinch but it may stick a bit.
- While they can work either way, It's important not to press the dough too thin-¼ inch is fine. Thicker flatbreads have more time to brown under the broiler where thin ones may dry out.
- Sprinkle a pinch of whole seeds over the top, along with a pinch of onions and / or peppers if using.
- Heat the broiler.
- Put the flatbreads in a cast iron pan and put them under the broiler until lightly colored. Depending on your oven you can cook them in batches or one at a time. My oven is small so I get better browning with small or single batches.
- Remove the flatbreads, brush with the garlic butter, sprinkle with flaky salt, cracked pepper and serve hot as a side dish for curry, on their own, or with a dip or spread. They cakes can be reheated but are best fresh.
Gilbert
I found a 1980 report of medical trial in India. Roughly 4000 heart and or diabetic patients were told to continue their current medications but add 20 gms psyllium husk and 100 ml aloe vera gel to the recipe of their daily-baked bread. Results were presented in a complicated matrix but impressive positive.
Psyllium husk is often used in gluten-free. It has binding effects.
100 ml aloe vera gel is 1\2 gm dried powder.