Wednesday, August 27, 2014

How To Make Indian Flatbread... plus a Cuisnart Handheld Mixer Review

Rotis, chapatis, puris, thepla, debhra... flatbreads are a huge part of Indian cuisine... and consequently a huge part of my life.

We were lucky enough to grow up with a mom that made roti nearly every day. I don't make it as often, but they are still my kids favorite food.

A few weeks ago my mom, grandma and I got together to make up a batch large enough for us all to take some home. I wanted to write down the recipe for you all, but my grandma is like a cooking ninja. I couldn't record everything fast enough. But I did find a good recipe that seems authentic, and is very similar from Show Me The Curry. (We make it with and without the methi, this time we made it without.)

Instead... I'll just share a bit of our afternoon cooking with 4 generations.

This is Grandma practicing mise en place... without the fancy containers.
 And of course, the compulsory argument about how much sugar is needed. (This is my mom and grandma)
 There are a lot of things I dislike about my stand mixer, and one is that I have to use a special bowl. With  the Cuisinart Handheld Mixer, I was able to us a bowl that was comfortable for hand kneading as well as machine kneading. Plus... I didn't need to drag these two gals to the counter -- they were able to work on the kitchen table.
 Oil... lots of oil...
The Cusinart mixer came with dough hooks and claimed that it could knead dough. I'll admit it was skeptical, especially since this dough is a very dense whole wheat dough. Would the mixer pass the test?
 I have to admit, I was pretty impressed. This little machine saved me quite a bit of time in hand kneading.
 It's even grandma approved.
 You'll still need to get your hands dirty to shape and divide the dough, but the machine does save time and effort; especially when making a huge batch of dough.
 Now, simply divide the dough into golf ball sized pieces, and roll out. I'm lucky enough to have inherited a few traditional rolling pins-- it makes rolling thin circle shapes much easier. You can buy these at your local south asian market for a few bucks-- it's so worth it!



 After rolling them out, you can cook them on a pan much like pancakes or tortillas.

And of course, don't forget the helpers! We have a set of wooden cutting boards (like these) so the kids can help too.
 Because you aren't just making food... you are making memories.



 I'm so grateful that my kids can see their grandparents and my grandparents on a regular basis.
I couldn't end the post without showing a picture of Amaani eating thepla when she was a baby.

She still loves them just as much! See you back here on Friday for Rakhi pictures!

*Cuisinart provided a mixer for review, but all opinions are my own.