Dough and flour questionsકણક અને લોટના સવાલ
Nearly every dough problem comes back to two things: how much water went in and how long the dough was left alone. Wheat, bajra and juvar behave in completely different ways, so each gets its own method here.
Measures and conversionsUse the tool for thisHow much water does one cup of atta need?
About 75 to 80 ml for a cup of atta, which is 120 grams — a little over a third of a cup of water, or five tablespoons and a bit. Flour takes up roughly two-thirds of its own weight in water for a soft rotli dough, but every sack of atta is milled a little differently and the coarser ones drink more, so hold a spoonful of water back and add it at the end. Pour most of it in, bring the flour together with your fingers, then judge by feel: rotli dough should be soft enough to take a thumbprint and leave a faint dent, and should not stick to a clean palm. Dry dough is the single commonest cause of hard rotli, and it cannot be fixed later by rolling thinner. If you have gone too far the other way, work in flour a teaspoon at a time, not a handful.
How long should dough rest before I roll it?
Fifteen to twenty minutes is the minimum and thirty is better; an hour does no harm. Resting is not idleness — the water you added is still only on the outside of the flour particles, and the rest lets it soak right through while the gluten you worked up relaxes. A rested dough rolls out without springing back, and the rotli puffs more reliably. Cover it with a damp cloth or an upturned plate, because a skin forming on top gives you dry streaks that roll into cracks. Knead it again for half a minute just before you roll and you will feel that it has gone softer on its own. The common mistake is rolling straight after kneading and then blaming the flour when the rotli fights the belan, comes out uneven in thickness and sets tough on the tavdi.
Why do my rotli go hard?
Four reasons, in the order they are usually the culprit: the dough was too dry, it was not rested, too much dry flour was dusted on while rolling, and the rotli sat uncovered after coming off the tavdi. A soft dough holds steam, and it is steam trapped inside that puffs a rotli and keeps it tender, while a tight dough has nothing to give. Dry dusting flour bakes onto the surface and goes to paper. Heat matters as well — a tavdi that is not hot enough means a long slow cook that dries the rotli out, so get it properly hot and cook each side fast. Stack them as they come off, in a cloth or a covered dabba, so they steam each other soft. The commonest mistake is adding flour to rescue a sticky dough, which gives a dough that was never going to make a soft rotli.
Hot water or cold water for dough?
Cold or room-temperature water for rotli and puri; hot water for bajra and juvar rotla, for thepla you want to stay soft on a journey, and for the outer dough of a steamed or fried dumpling. Hot water does two things: it swells the starch in the flour so the dough holds more water without feeling wet, and it slackens the gluten, which makes the dough easier to pat and less springy. That is exactly wrong for puri, where you want the gluten strong enough to trap steam and blow the ball up. For rotli, cold water and a proper knead give the stretch you are after. If you do use hot water, let the dough cool to hand temperature before you knead it hard, and expect it to feel stickier than you think it should at the start.
How is thepla dough different from rotli dough?
Thepla dough is softer, enriched and seasoned, and it is brought together rather than kneaded hard. The methi or dudhi in it carries its own water, so you start with much less — often half the water a plain dough needs, and only after the greens have been rubbed with salt and have wept. Then oil goes in, a tablespoon or two per cup of flour, with curd in many houses and besan or juvar flour for body. Oil coats the flour and shortens the gluten, which is what keeps a thepla pliable cold the next day where a plain rotli would be leather. Because of that oil you can leave the dough slightly stickier. Rest it fifteen minutes, not longer, or the salted vegetable keeps releasing water and loosens it. The usual mistake is adding all the water first and then tightening the dough with flour.
Why does puri dough have to be stiffer than rotli dough?
Because a soft puri dough drinks oil and will not puff. A stiff dough holds its shape in the kadai, so the surface sets quickly into a skin and the steam from inside has something to push against — that is what makes a puri balloon. A soft one slumps, the layers open, and oil goes in where steam should be. Use roughly half the water of a rotli dough, say 55 to 60 ml for a cup of atta, add a teaspoon of oil or ghee, and knead it hard for five minutes; it should feel like firm clay and barely take a thumbprint. Rest it at least twenty minutes so it stops fighting you, and roll with a smear of oil rather than dry flour, because loose flour burns in the kadai and dirties the oil. Rolling unevenly is the other reason puri refuse to puff.
Bajra and juvar rotla dough falls apart. How do I handle it?
Bajra and juvar have no gluten, so there is nothing to knead and nothing holding the dough together except swollen starch — which means hot water and hands, not a belan. Mix the flour with water as hot as you can bear, a little at a time, and work it with the heel of your palm until it is smooth and just holds a ball; it should feel like soft clay and crack slightly at the edges, which is normal. Then pat the rotla out between wet palms, or on a damp cloth or a sheet of plastic, turning it as you go. Keep a bowl of water beside you and wet your hands often. A patted rotla goes onto a hot tavdi straight away, because left standing it dries and splits. The mistake is treating it like atta: a long knead and a rolling pin will only break it up.
Should I put oil or ghee in the dough?
For rotli you do not need it, but a teaspoon of oil per cup of flour makes the dough easier to roll and keeps the rotli soft an hour longer. For thepla, puri, paratha and the dough for stuffed things it genuinely belongs there — a tablespoon or two per cup in thepla, a teaspoon in puri. Fat coats the flour and gets in the way of the gluten joining up, which is why the result comes out tender and short rather than chewy. That is also why too much of it is a problem: an over-oiled rotli dough has no stretch, tears as you roll it and will not puff. Ghee gives more flavour and sets firm when cold, so a ghee-rich dough stiffens in the fridge, while oil stays soft. Add the fat to the flour before the water, not after, or it sits in streaks.
Can I keep dough in the fridge, and for how long?
Yes — a day for plain rotli dough, two at a stretch, and about a day for thepla dough that has salt and vegetable in it. Smear the surface with oil, put it in an airtight dabba and press a sheet of cling film or a plate right down onto the dough so no air sits on it. Cold dough is stiff and tears if you roll it straight from the fridge, so leave it out for twenty to thirty minutes and knead it briefly to bring it back. Expect the surface to darken slightly and to smell faintly sour by the second day; that is the flour fermenting, and it rolls and cooks normally. Dough with salted methi or dudhi in it goes watery rather than sour, so for thepla it is better to keep the dough plain and add the greens on the day you cook.
My dough smells sour. Can I still use it?
A faint sour smell after a day in the fridge is ordinary fermentation and the dough is fine; a sharp, yeasty or alcohol-like smell, a sticky grey surface, or a dough left out overnight in Gujarat heat should go in the bin. Flour carries its own yeasts and bacteria, and once there is water and warmth they get to work — useful in a dhokla batter, not what you want in rotli dough. What you cannot do is cook the smell out: heat kills the organisms but the sour taste and the slackness stay, and a fermented dough has lost its stretch, so the rotli come out flat and heavy. If it is only mildly sour, use it for thepla or parathas where the masala covers it. The prevention is simple: dough goes into the fridge within an hour, not onto the counter under a cloth all afternoon.