Phulka-How to make Soft Phulkas-Roti-Phulka Recipe

(Direct flame method)

Phulka also known as roti or chapati is a popular Indian flat bread made with wheat
flour. Making phulka or roti is not difficult. All you need is practice. Once you
practice and get the hold of it, making phulka on direct flame is a breeze. Though I
have posted how to make soft rotis on tawa long time back, today I am going to share
with you tips to make soft phulkas on stove top (direct flame method).

How to make Phulka (on gas top)

Yields - 6 rotis/phulkas
Ingredients needed
Whole Wheat flour (without maida) -1 cup
Oil - 1 tsp
Salt - a pinch
Tongs specially sold for making phulkas
Rolling pin and board
Quality of Wheat flour (atta)
Buy good quality wheat flour (atta) without maida. Maida is not good for our health.
So do not buy wheat flour with maida. Read the ingredients on the pack before

buying. Use any good quality atta. I personally prefer Aashirwad brand. You can use
homemade atta also.
Kneading the dough- How to make phulka dough
Kneading the dough well is very important to get soft phulkas. Let us see how to
make phulka dough.
In a bowl, mix together flour, salt and oil using your finger tips. Addlukewarm
water little by little and gather the dough with your fingers. Once it comes together,
grease your palm with 3-4 drops of oil and knead well. Use your knuckles or heel of
your hand for kneading.(If you feel that the dough is sticky, you can add a little more
atta and if you feel that the dough is dry and hard, you can add little water)
Once you finish kneading, the dough will not stick to your hands.The dough should
be soft and pliable with a smooth texture. Leave it covered for 15-20 minutes.
You need approximately little less or a little more than 1/2 cup of water for 1 cup of
flour depending upon the quality and brand of wheat flour used.
Rolling out the dough
Rolling

out

the

dough

is

equally

important

as

kneading.

Divide the dough into equal sized smooth balls. Keep some wheat flour or rice flour
for dusting. Take a dough ball, flatten it with your finger tips, dust flour and using a
rolling pin, roll out the dough to form a circle of 2 mm-3 mm thickness. It should not
be thicker on one side and thinner on the other side. It should be uniform on all the
sides. There should be no holes or puncture in the rolled out dough. The roti will not
puff up, if there is a hole.(have a look at the picture of the rolled out dough below)

As far as possible try to use minimum flour for dusting. Beginners might need more
flour for rolling out the dough but once you practice, you can overcome that. The
rotis will become dry, if you use too much flour for dusting.
Cooking the phulkas on gas stove

Heat a tava or skillet on medium high heat, once heated, put the rolled out dough on
it. Cook for few seconds, until small bubbles start to appear. You do not have to cook
the first side for more than few seconds as we will be putting it on direct flame.

Flip it over to the other side and cook the other side for a little longer time than the
first side and then transfer it to direct high flame with the first side down. (hope I
have made it clear)
The roti will puff up like a balloon.(see first picture) Once it puffs, remove it from
flame immediately using the tongs or else it will get burnt.
Apply a little melted ghee and keep it wrapped in a soft cloth in a bowl with lid. This
will prevent the roti from drying or becoming soggy.
Repeat the same process for the rest of the dough. Beginners can roll out 3-4 rotis
and keep it ready before heating the tava.

Note - Do not loose heart if your rotis do not puff up, they still taste great. Keep
practicing and you will succeed.
If you do not have a gas stove, you can make phulka puff up on electric stove also
with the help of a tava. I used to make rotis as shown below in my earlier days of
marriage. The rotis prepared as shown below also tastes delicious. Check it below-

HOW TO MAKE SOFT PHULKAS | ROTI(WITH

VIDEO)
Chapathi | roti is a usual item I prepare for dinner after my in laws are diagnosed
with diabetics. Initially i struggle to make soft rotis and how much ever I attempt they
wont turn out round or soft. My mom is an expert in making soft chapatis and she
used to encourage me that by practise only i can get soft and round shaped Rotis.
Finally after 2- 3 months I slowly gained confidence and now a days i can
confidently make soft phulkas | Rotis.

A reader of mine asked for the recipe of soft phulkas and i have taken the video too,
but will update a good quality video soon.
It was very difficult for me handle camera in one hand and take the pic while the roti
is puffing up. So you may find the rotis little burnt but actually they turn out well.

INGREDIENTS:

WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR

1 CUP

WATER

AS NEEDED( APPROX 1/3 CUP)

SALT

AS NEEDED

OIL

1 TSP

METHOD:
In a wide bowl add the whole wheat flour( I used ashirvad atta) add salt and
mix water slowly to make a pliable dough. Add a few drops of oil and cover the
dough and keep it aside for 15 minutes to 1/2 an hour.

Keep a small amount of flour for dusting and make the dough into equal balls.

Roll them into round rotis dusting in the flour when needed. Do not dust too
much as this will turn the roti dry.

Heat a non stick tawa and it should be in a medium low flame.

Place the rolled roti on the tawa on cook for few seconds and turn it on the
other side.

Cook till you see small bubbles.

Take out the tawa from the stove and place this roti on the direct flame and
you can see the roti puffs up.

When done on one side flip it and cook on the other side. This step you can
get fast once you start practicing.

Repeat the same procedure for the rest of the roti dough balls.
Normally i use this type of tong to handle this hot phulkas.
Brush this with oil or ghee if you want, but without this also the rotis will stay

soft.

Here is the video of making puffed rotis. Kindly bear with the poor quality as it was
taken early in the morning when i was making rotis for kids lunch box.

Video

I served with paneer butter masala on that day. You can have with any SIDE
DISH of your choice.

Notes:
1.
While kneading the dough little milk can also be added as this will give
very soft rotis.
2.
If using hot water for making dough, the rotis will be soft but you can
not make soft rotis with the left over dough for the next day for making
chapathi.
3.
While putting the rotis on direct flame be careful not to make any small
tear roti else it wont puff up.
4.
While putting the roti on direct flame flip it soon , if they get over
cooked then it will be crispy as a papad.
5.
Some people will add a tblsp of yogurt while kneading the dough . As i
havent personally tried this i dont now how this will come out.
6.
The most important thing is making the dough in a right
consistency.Ensure that it should be soft. If it is too watery also then you have
to dust this too much and finally end up in making dry rotis.
7.
If it is hard then the rotis will become hard. With few times of practise
you can get it right.
I am going on a break for 2 weeks and will be missing all the nice recipes around the
blog sphere , i have scheduled few posts during this break time and see you back
after a while.

Kerala fish curry- Meen mulakittathu

Ingredients
1.

Fish-medium size pieces- 500 gms

2.

Mustard seeds- 1/4 tsp

3.

Fenugreek seeds- 1/4 tsp

4.

Curry leaves- 2 sprigs

5.

Shallots-sliced- 4 to 5 nos

6.

Ginger-crushed- 1.5 tsp

7.

Garlic-crushed- 1.5 tsp

8.

Kashmiri chili powder- 1.5 to 2 tbsp( see notes)

9.

Coriander powder- 1/2 to 1 tbsp( see notes)

10.

Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp

11.

Fenugreek powder- 1 pinch

12.
Fish Tamarind(Kudampuli)-soaked in water- 2 to 3 small
pieces
13.

Water- 1 cup(more if required,see notes)

14.

Salt- to taste

15.
Directions

Oil- as required

Heat oil in manchatti ( clay pot) and add mustard seeds,let it

splutter.Add fenugreek seeds and saute for few seconds.

Add curry leaves,shallots,ginger and garlic.Saute until shallots

turn golden brown.


Reduce the flame to low and add kashmiri chili powder,coriander
powder,turmeric powder and fenugreek powder.Mix well.Saute for about 5
minutes ,stirring continuously until the colour changes to a deep
maroon.( make sure you do not burn the masala,or else the curry will
taste bitter)

Add water and fish tamarind ( kudampuli),bring it to a boil.

Add fish pieces and salt to taste.

Cover and cook over a medium heat ,until fish is cooked and gravy
is thick.

Remove from heat and keep covered for at least one hour for the
flavors to blend in.
Serve with rice or kappa (tapioca) vevichathu .

NOTES

If you feel that the curry is a bit too tangy,remove the kokum
pieces.

Adjust the spice level according to your taste.Kashmiri chili

powder gives a nice red colour to the curry without being too spicy.I
used about 2 tbsp of kashmiri chili powder.If you are using regular
chili powder,use according to your spice level.

If you want to keep the curry for more than one day,avoid using
coriander powder.

Adjust the quantity of water according to amount and consistency

of the gravy that you require.I used about 1 and 1/4 cups of water.

Sambar powder recipe (MILs Version)

Prep Time: 30 mins

| Processing time: 15 mins

| Can be used for: 6 months

Ingredients
Red chillies (long red variety)
Coriander seeds (Dhaniya)
Turmeric (long variety, we call it
as virali manjal) You can use
powder too.
Channa dal
Toor dal
Pepper (black,whole)
Jeera
Fenugreek seeds (vendhayam)
Mustard (roasted) Optional
Rice (raw rice) Optional

1/4 kg
1/2 kg
50 gm

50 gm
100 gm
50 gm
25 gm
50 gm
1 tblsp
1 tbslp

All these ingredients are sundried, chilli separately and all other ingredients separately and
my MIL carries it in a big container to the mill and grinds it to a fine powder. After coming
back, she spreads in news papers to cool down and stores in airtight containers. One big and
one small in which she transfers weekly for everyday use. By that way, even if we touch it with
wet hands, it will get over soon and the big container sambar powder is saved. This can be used
upto 5 months, depending upon how much we use. For kootu and poriyals for serving 4, she
adds 1 tsp heaped while cooking the vegetables. For sambar serving 5-6, she adds 2 & 1/2 to 3

tsp of heaped sambar powder.

Sambar powder recipe (Moms version)

Red chillies (long red variety)
Coriander seeds (Dhaniya)
Turmeric (long variety, we call it
as virali manjal) You can use
powder too.
Channa dal
Toor dal
Pepper (black,whole)

1/4 kg
1/4 kg
50 gm

50 gm
50 gm
50 gm

Jeera
Fenugreek seeds (vendhayam)

20 gm
50 gm

Same like MIL, my mom also sun dries these ingredients and grinds in the mill and stores in
bulk. Only few changes in my mom and MILs version, mainly the coriander seeds ratio, my
mom uses chilli and coriander seeds both in equal ratio and skips mustard and rice. Those are
my MILs touch to her sambar powder. My moms sambar powder is needed less as chilli ratio is
more in this, so only 1 & 1/2 tsp of sambar powder for serving 5 person, she uses 4-5 green
chillies for sambar while frying onions.. For poriyals and kootu, she adds only 3/4th spoon of
sambar powder.
The moment when they bring the sambar powder ground in the mill freshly and spreads for
cooling, the whole house smells great! Which talks about the quality of the sambar powder

I will soon post both the method how my MIL and mom makes sambar using the respective
sambar powders. Hang on there!

Notes:

spoons.

Do not use wet hands while handling the sambar powder, always use clean

Adding channa dal more in the above recipe will make the sambar overflow
while boiling.

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