Akki Roti with Urad Dal Chutney

Akki Roti is a specialty of Karnataka cuisine.  I had been planning to make this for a really long time, just like the other recipes that I keep postponing too. The first time I heard about this was in a TV show 10-11years back. I was so intrigued by the name and the way it was prepared that, I wanted to try it immediately. I started bugging Amma for rice flour - which she didnt have at home. I made her prepare the rice flour right away (I know I was an evil child) and started trying out rolling the roti. The rice paste (or the dough) stuck on the pressing pin, my hands, tava, roti stone and what-not. I put the blame on the wrong texture of the rice flour and came out of the kitchen, decided not to make this dish - ever! But then, these akki rotis flashed infront of my eyes (intentionally or unintentionally) multiple times since then and I had to muster all the courage to try them again. If it had taken close to 10yrs for me to try them again, one must understand the kind of damage I created in the kitchen during the first attempt. 😆 What can I say, my Amma is such a sweetheart! So, here is how I made them this time and they were a super duper hit!

Recipe:

Ingredients-

Akki Roti -

• Rice Flour - 1.5 cups
• Grated Carrot - 1 cup
• Grated Coconut - 2tbsp
• Green chillies (finely chopped) - 1 tbsp
• Onion (finely chopped) - ½ cup
• Fresh Coriander (finely chopped) - 4tbsp
• Water - as req
• Salt - as req
• Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
• Jeera - 1 tsp
• Oil - 1 teaspoon and some more to smear on the rotis

Urad Dal Chutney -

• Red Chillies - 4
• Ural Dal - 3tbsp
• Asafoetida - 1 tsp
• Coconut grated - 2 tbsp
• Tamarind Paste - 1 tsp
• Salt - as req
• Water - as req
• Oil - 1 teaspoon + 1 tsp
• Mustard - 1 tsp

Preparation:

Akki Roti - 

1. In a kadai put a teaspoon of oil, add jeera. Once the jeera splutters, add finely chopped onions and fry them until they are transparent.
2. Add the grated carrot, green chillies. Add salt and turmeric powder.  Add chopped coriander.
3. Add approximately 2 cups of water (for 1.5 cups of flour). Let the water come to boil.
4. Remove the kadai from heat. Dunk the rice flour and quickly stir it. Now it forms a round ball - with chapathi dough kind of consistency. Add another teaspoon of oil. Roll it into a big ball. keep it aside, to cool.
5. Now make equal sized balls of the dough to make rotis. There are two ways to roll the rotis.
6. First one - Take a butter paper or polythene cover, put a drop of oil, keep a ball of dough, close it with another butter paper or polythene cover. Press it gently until a round shaped roti is formed.
7. Second method - heat the roti maker, keep a ball of dough and press it gently. Round shaped akki roti is rolled out!
8. Place tawa on medium flame - Cook the roti on both the sides with a drop of oil until brown spots are formed all over.
9. These rotis taste best hot, but stay soft for more than an hour.

Urad Dal Chutney - 

1. Take a kadai, add oil. Put in red chillies and urad dal.
2. Fry them until the urad dal is golden brown.
3. Let the mixture cool off.
4. In a mixer, add the fried mixture, salt, asafoetida, coconut, tamarind paste.
5. Adding little water, grind that into a smooth paste.
6. Add oil into a tadka pan, add mustard seeds. Add the tadka to the chutney once mustards splutter.