Chhatu’r Porota

Make the dough

1. Measure out the atta, plain flour (maida), salt, sugar and vegetable oil in a large mixing bowl.
2. For tender and flaky porota, rub the oil well into the flour.
3. Add the warm water to the bowl, set a timer and knead for five minutes. Dip your knuckles in water to incorporate more moisture in the dough in between kneading. The dough should be soft, malleable and smooth.
4. Cover the doughand rest for 30 mins.

Make the filling

1. In a mixing bowl measure chhatu (sattu), chopped onions, finely chopped ginger, finely chopped green chillies, chopped coriander leaves, salt, sugar, jowan, liquid from aachaar (pickles) and mix everything well. The salt will draw moisture from the fresh ingredients.
2. Now add water—a little at a time while mixing it well at the same time. The exact amount of water will depend on how fresh your onions, coriander, etc. were. We used 5 tbsp water in all (about 50 g). The mixture should resemble a tight dough.
3. Divide the filling into 4 even portions.
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Roll out porota

1. Take out the rested dough and give it a short knead. Divide the dough into four even portions.
2. Flatten the the dough into a disk and place a portion of the chhatu filling in the center of the dough disk. Now, slowly pull on the dough on all sides to cover the filling, and pinch to seal at the top to enclose the filling completely.
3. Now dust the stuffed dough with flour and flatten with your palms to distribute filling evenly.
4. Roll using even, gentle strokes to about 18cm diameter.

Fry the porota

1. Heat an iron skillet or tawa and add a tablespoon of oil.
2. Place the rolled out porota on the pan and fry for 1 minute on one side. Press down and rotate to fry porota evenly.
3. Meanwhile, apply 1 tbsp oil to the top of the porota. Flip every minute until porota is cooked. Flipping frequently is important to produce an evenly cooked and soft porota.

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