bajra roti or bajra bhakri recipe with step by step photos – bajra roti are flat breads made from millet flour. they are very easy to make and make a good accompaniment to dal or any indian vegetable based curry dish.
bajra is the hindi word for pearl millet. these flat breads are gluten free and an excellent nutritious option for people having gluten intolerance and for everybody else too.
on some days i make jowar roti (sorghum flour flat bread). somedays it is multigrain flour rotis. sometimes i mix all the flours and make rotis. since rotis are a staple in my house, i make various rotis with various millets .
i even make roti from ragi (finger millet flour) on some days. millets are healthy grains. so do try to include them in your diet.
i always knead this bajra roti in hot water. the dough becomes pliable and easy to roll when using hot water. the rotis have a soft texture too. you can also knead the dough in warm water.
i had served the bajra roti with bharli vangi – stuffed aubergines in peanut-coconut-sesame gravy. the combo was really good. you can also serve the bajra roti with any dal. they would even taste great with a good north indian, maharashtrian or gujarati vegetable or legumes curry like usal or gutti vankaya kura or mixed sprouts curry recipe or ennegayi recipe.
few more roti varieties for you!
Bajra Roti
INGREDIENTS
- 2 to 2.5 cups bajra flour (millet flour)
- 1 teaspoon oil or ghee (clarified butter)
- water as required
- salt as required
- some bajra flour or whole wheat flour for dusting
- sunflower oil or ghee for applying on the roti or for frying them
INSTRUCTIONS
kneading dough for bajra roti
- heat or warm the water. add salt and oil. stir.
- add the bajra flour. stir with a spoon. knead into a smooth dough.
- if the dough becomes sticky, then add more flour.
- if the dough is dry, then add some water.
making bajra roti
- meanwhile heat a tava or flat fry pan.
- make medium sized balls. dust with flour and use a ziplock bag for rolling.
- remove gently from the ziplock bag and place bajra roti on the hot tava.
- cook till both sides have brown spots and done.
- apply oil or ghee on one side.
- you can also fry the bajra roti like parathas with oil or ghee directly in the tava/frying pan.
- serve bajra roti hot or warm with a vegetable side dish or curry.
making dough for bajra roti
1: first heat the water. the water should be hot. switch off the fire. then add oil plus salt. mix well.
2: add the bajra flour to the water or vice versa.
3: mix with a spoon if the water is hot. if you use warm water, then you can just use your hands for mixing.
4: gather the mixed dough and knead to a smooth dough.
making bajra roti
5: pinch a small or medium sized ball, flatten it and dust with some bajra flour.
6: with your palms flatten the dough. i am not good in this. so fold a ziplock bag, place the dough ball in between and roll with a rolling pin. dust flour if required.
7: gently remove the flat uncooked bread from the ziplock bag and place bajra roti on a hot tava or flat pan.
8: cook on side. flip and cook the other side. flip a couple of times and cook til brown spots appear on both sides. apply some oil or ghee on top. stack all the bajra roti in a roti basket or casserole.
9: you can serve bajra roti hot or warm with an indian vegetable curry, dal or side veggie dish like bharli vangi or moong sprouts sabzi or baingan chokha or mixed sprouts curry.
Hi Dassana.. pls can you suggest me if I can knead the dough and keep overnight in fridge to prepare for tiffin.
Nilu, yes you can do that. in case the dough becomes wet then add some bajra flour. some times i also keep the left over dough in the fridge and make rotis later. use the dough within 1 day.
Thank you soo much Dassana.. Love all your recipes.. I prepared these bajra roti’s for the first time and it came out perfectly well. Thanks once again.
Welcome Nilu. Glad to know this. Thanks for your positive feedback.
Hi Dassana Ji – I follow your lot of recipes. They come out so good. Thank you for sharing…..
Anitha.
Welcome Anitha. Glad to know this.
hi dassana! i love bajri bhakhris & i follow my gran’s recipe which results into a puffed bhakri.she used to add some wheat flour,salt to bajri flour & bind it into a soft dough using lukewarm milk,kneading it with the heel of the palm until smooth & cooking them on a clay tava.Now that i’ve prepared goda masala using your recipe i’ll serve these bhakris with bharli vangi as well.
same here meevera. even we like bajra bhakri. adding wheat flour helps in binding and rolling the bhakri easily. bharli vangi and bajra roti is a yum combo. enjoy 🙂
Hi Dassana ,how hot the water should be?should it reach boiling point or lesser than it?When we transfer the bhakri on tava,should water be applied on the top surface of bhakri,in the above way of rolling (using zip lock bag and using rolling pin)?
I made bhakri in the above manner,was easy to roll in ziplock bag.Thanks for sharing this method.I follow gluten free diet,that way making bhakri is real task for me,as for years I was eating and making only chapatis.
I Added potato flour while kneading the bhakri dough,so that way dough was pliable.
the water just need to be hot. not boiling or no where near the boiling pot. you can apply some water on the top surface of the bhakri. sometimes even i do it. helps to make the bhakri soft. you can also try including ragi and jowar bhakris. the making will be similar to this. only for ragi, you need to boil the water first and then add. otherwise the bhakri becomes dense. addition of potato flour can also be done with ragi or jowar bhakris. you can also make bhakri or rotis with amaranth flour and buckwheat flour. amaranth flour rotis i have already shared on blog.
Hi Dasanna – can’t we just flatten these roties with our normal rolling pins as we do for normal wheat rotis? Sorry if I sound very naive; I’m a south Indian and these were not made in our homes :))
Hare Krishna.
-Divya
no problem divya. we don’t know everything, right? if you flatten with the rolling pin, then they break, as the dough is light. in atta, gluten helps in giving a structure to the dough and hence while rolling the dough does not break. but while using millet flours like ragi or bajra or jowar, they do not have gluten. so while rolling they break and then you get parts of the rolled dough. a plastic ziplock bag or a sheet helps. you can even moisten a cotton kitchen towel or muslin and flatten with your palms on it.
Thank you so much for your excellent recipes..
welcome sweta.
is oil adding necessary
not necessary.
Your bajra rotis look professional and you’ve made it look simple enough to replicate. What’s the proportion of water to bajra flour? Would it be roughly the same as with wheat flour or considerably less?
thanks. for 2 cups flour, roughly you can add 1.25 to 1.5 cups of water.
Thanks for the bajra roti recipe.
welcome sukhram
Looks yummy, gotta try it out to see how it turns out and if itz as easy as you make it out to be.
thanks venkat. yes do give it a try.
thanks
welcome shireen
hi dassana,
can you please put up the recipe on how to make jowar ki roti…..specially the one which is made with hot water to make the dough and plus the water is also spread on the roti while being cook.
as my to-be-in-law’s house the it such roti.
please
i sometimes make jowar rotis, but have not been able to take pics and post. will do it when i make the rotis next time.
Hi there,
Thanks so much for this wonderful recipe. I had developed my own based on a wheat flour version, but yours added some key technique improvements — the hot water and the plastic bags!
I also mix 2 T of tahini in with my hot water and oil, and this seems to give the rotis a nice, chewy texture and a hint of nuttiness. They’re delicious on their own after that; they don’t need additional oil to finish them up.
Will check out the rest of your site now!
–Susan
thanks susan. i liked your variation of tahini which i am sure must have made the bajra rotis too good in taste and flavor.
The oil and salt do we add to the hot water before we add the bajra flour and start kneading the dough.
yes.
Hi
I chanced upon your blog and loved the way you put out the recipe with step by step photographs. Thank you. I am following you.
thanks sarbari
Namaste.
Thank you very much for the post Bajara Bhakri / Roti. I have suggestion which will enhance the shape and size of Bhakari. Instead of using zip plastic bag one can use clean muslin cloth as it is used for preparing Thalipeeth in some parts of Maharashtra.Take cloth of 12 inch square, wet it it in the water, spread it on flat plate, take Bajara dough ball of 1.5 inch diameter , keep at the centre of cloth and with wetted fingers flatten the dough into required size of perfect round roti .If dough sticks to gingers use water to wet them.Take hold of two adjoining corners of cloth,lift bhakari and gentely lower it on hot tava. Rest of procedure is as usual. Try it and let me know the result.
Regards
thanks mali ji for this suggestion. i will have to get a muslin cloth for this one. i also have to update the previous tips you had given on the paratha post. will update in some time.
Hi …I tried the cloth method today…it does not have to be muslin.Any cotton handkerchief should do.I placed a plastic sheet on top of the dough n rolled a perfect bajre ki roti.It does not break at all.
thankyou for sharing your input 🙂 radhika.
Rustic and wholesome! I love these flatbread.
wow what a healthy millet roti.Never made it.got to try it now loving the brinjal sabji behind.yummmm
Interesting. I must try this recipe with millet. Thanks for sharing 🙂
healthy rotis
My goodness! I can’t believe I have been missing out this wonderful space of yours! Caught you in random from Nag’s space. U have an amazing site ! New follower here 🙂
thanks shree.
Nice and yum..the spread looks fab
Looks wonderful & damn healthy I must say!! The picture looks incredibly inviting! And what is the subzi nearby, is it Baigan Bartha?
the sabzi is bharli vangi – a popular maharashtrian dish made with aubergines.
Good to know, Thanks Dassana!
I can make Jowar ki roti perfectly and paper -thin, just with with my hands:) I have a bag of bajra flour in my pantry and I am intending to make rotis soon. Your post has inspired me now:)
i used to eat a lot of bhakri back home.. but then we had a cook:) yours looks fantastic.. all the rolling is difficult now.. so i just add the flours to dosas:)