Hand-patted sorghum bhakri, blistered dark on the tawa and puffed over open flame. Pale, faintly sweet, and built to soak up thecha and hot ghee.
Ingredients
From the TrooFoodz pantry
- Sprouted Jowar Flour 2 cups
Fresh
- Warm water, about 55C 1 1/4 cups
- Salt 3/4 tsp
- Ghee, to finish 4 tsp
- Green chilli thecha, to serve 4 tbsp
Method
-
Wet the flour
Add the warm water to the Sprouted Jowar Flour in three pours, mixing with a spoon between each. Stop while the dough is still slightly tacky — bhakri dough should be wetter than roti dough.
-
Knead smooth
Knead for three minutes on an unfloured surface, folding the dough over itself. Resting is not needed; jowar dough stiffens as it sits and becomes harder to pat.
-
Pat by hand
Take a lime-sized ball, flatten it on a lightly dusted board and spread it outward with flat fingertips, rotating a quarter turn after every few presses, until it is 18 cm across and even.
-
Wet the top
Smear a thin film of water over the upper face with your palm. This is what makes the bhakri release steam and lift.
-
Sear both faces
Lay the wet side down on a hot iron tawa. When the surface dries and dulls, flip and cook until brown freckles appear across the base.
-
Puff on flame
Lift the bhakri with tongs and hold it directly over a medium gas flame for a few seconds until it balloons, then press the edges down with a cloth.
-
Ghee and serve
Rub the puffed side with ghee straight away and keep the bhakris wrapped in a cloth so they do not dry out.
Why this works
Jowar has no gluten, so the structure comes entirely from hydrated, well-worked starch — which is why the dough must stay soft and be shaped by hand rather than rolled. The film of water on top turns to steam on the hot tawa and separates the bhakri into two layers.
Make it your own
- Sprouted Jowar Flour → Sprouted Bajra Flour Heavier and nuttier; pat it slightly thicker.
- Ghee → Cold-pressed groundnut oil Cleaner finish and keeps the bhakri vegan.
- Thecha → Garlic-chilli chutney Sharper and drier against the mild grain.
