Jolada Rotti - Jowar Roti

Jolada rotti or rotis made of jowar flour is a famous staple of northern Karnataka and parts of Maharashtra. In northern parts of Karnataka, it is typically served with spicy side dishes, the most famous being Ennegai - a spicy curry of stuffed eggplants, and a dollop of butter.

Here in Bangalore, we get the best jolada rotti in Kamat chain of hotels, where they have unlimited meals - Jolada rotti oota. The waiters keep serving you hot rotis one after the other, served along with many mouth watering side dishes, including the famous ennegai and you keep on hogging one after the other! In some of the outlets, they also have live Carnatic music played softly alongside, making the food even more pleasurable.

Traditionally, jolada rotti is rolled by patting the dough with just fingers/palm, without using rolling pin, turning the roti in a circular motion, thus increasing the size and making thinner. Yes, it does require special skills for that and is labor intensive - at least, we, with little experience in that feel so! So we adopt an easier, method for making these rotis, using a rolling pin, just as we roll parathas/chapathis. It does come out equally good with lesser effort!

Here’s how we make it...

Makes : 8-10

Ingredients:
Jowar flour - 2 cups + for dusting
Water - 3 cups
Salt - ½ tsp, or as per taste
Cooking Oil - 2 tsp

Method:
• In a heavy bottomed pan, boil water by adding salt and a few drops of oil
• Once water starts boiling, add jowar flour and let it remain for 3-4 minutes on medium low flame
• At the end of 3-4 minutes, take off from heat and using a strong ladle continuously stir, avoiding lumps
• The resulting dough should be similar to that of papad dough - soft, but non sticky
• When slightly cool to handle, divide the dough into 3-4 parts and knead it well, smearing a few drops of oil. See tips and tricks below for easier ways.
• Once the dough is kneaded well into a soft but firm dough, take big lime sized balls and roll it using rolling pin like a chapatti/roti. Use a little amount of jowar flour
• You can roll all the rotis and stack then one on top of the other. It doesn’t stick to each other
• Heat a griddle on high flame and put one roti at a time. After a few seconds, brush the top of the roti with some water using a pastry brush or clean cotton cloth dipped in water. This avoids the rotis from becoming too dry
• Flip it and repeat for the other side
• Cook it till small light brownish spots appear.
• Repeat the same with rest of the dough
• Serve hot with some butter or ghee and a spicy curry, preferably Ennegai (A stuffed eggplant curry)

Notes:
• To avoid your palms getting burnt while kneading the hot dough, fill it in thick polythene and cover it in a towel / thick cloth and knead it over it. This way a smooth and soft dough will be ready in a jiffy
• It is easy to knead the dough when hot rather than juggling it when it gets colder
• Knead it, make into balls before you start rolling. This saves time and effort, and it gets easier to roll and then cook simultaneously
• The better you knead, the easier it is to roll. If the dough is not kneaded well, while rolling the rottis start cracking and gets difficult to handle
• While rolling, if the edges crack, smoothen the edges with finger tips and continue rolling to get smoother edges

Coming up soon - Ennegai - the 'made in heaven' combination for Jolada rotti... Stay tuned!