This is a very simple and easy-to-make recipe that I learnt from my mother-in-law. A popular dish in Karnataka it should be eaten hot. It tastes best when fresh Val beans (mochakottai) are de-skinned, cooked in salted water, drained and mixed with the dough. This improves the nutritive value of the dish.
Akkirotti: 5-6 nos.
What you need
Rice flour: 2 cups
Onions, chopped fine: 1/2 cup
Green chilli, chopped fine: 1-2
Grated coriander, chopped fine: 1/4 cup
Curry leaves: a few
Cumin: 1 tsp
Asafoetida: 1/2 tsp
Salt: to taste
Water: 1/2 cup
Cooking instructions
Mix all the ingredients (except water) in a basin.
Taste the mixture for salt.
Add water gradually and mix to make a soft dough (similar to murukku mixture)
Divide the dough into medium-sized balls.
Take a thick-bottomed kadai, and coat it with 11/2 teaspoons of oil.
Spread the dough evenly on the bottom of the kadai using your fingers. Make a hole in the centre. Cover with a lid.
Place on fire and cook evenly, exposing the kadai to the fire on all sides till the rotti starts lifting off it. Remove from fire.
For the next rotti, wash and cool the kadai, and wipe dry before applying oil and repeating the procedure. A tava can also be used.
Add a little ghee for taste.
Serve hot with thokku or avakai pickle.
Malathi Mohan retired from a city women's collegewhere shetaught management, cookery, food service and dietetics. She is presently dean of afitness management academy.
