Missi Roti – a Punjabi staple!

My earliest memories of late breakfasts and brunches at home feature a flatbread like this typically Punjabi missi roti. A mix of flours which always features atta and besan but could include an addition of other flours like bajra, jowar or ragi. Though when you use the phrase “ਮਿਸੀ ਰੋਟੀ”, Punjabi for Missi Roti, it is instantly understood to be made of a dough of two flours: atta + besan seasoned with spices, herbs and aromatics like ginger and garlic. Not to be confused with dal wali roti, which is also delicious and a great way to consume leftover lentils kneaded into a dough.

Missi Roti – universally loved by Punjabis from Patiala to Bhopal!

When talking about food its hard to apply blanket generalizations. But, I can say this with some surety that this roti is what thepla is to Gujaratis. Its universally loved by Punjabis. My father is from Amritsar and Bhopal, my mother grew up in Patiala and Himachal Pradesh and, my in-laws are hundred percent Patialavi. All these households and mine in the US love it and cook it, almost the same way too! When I got married I was in fact surprised by the regularity with which missi roti was made in my in-law’s home. It was on the menu every day for breakfast, especially if we couldn’t decide what else to make.

Versatile and delicious – a flatbread open to interpretation

Like most Indian flatbreads there is a wide berth for experimenting in this roti too. Two kinds of changes that can be easily made are in the way it’s cooked and in the flours used to make the dough.

• Flours: Some additions that I have made to my missi roti have been bajra or pearl millet, jowar or sorghum and ragi or finger millet flour. Millets are drought resistant crops that are grown in arid regions of India like Rajasthan. If you were to ever taste a Rajasthani Thali there is bound to be at least one of these millet flatbreads in it like bajre ki roti or jowar ki roti served with dollops of ghee.  
• Cooking: Missi roti is usually cooked on a tawa with a dab of oil or ghee on both sides. Somewhat like a paratha except it skips the step of laminating the dough. Another way to cook this roti is like a regular chapati without any oil. You cannot go wrong either way and also make it as crisp as you like.

Ingredients for Missi Roti

Makes 8-10, Time: 45-50 minutes including prep and cooking

• Atta/Whole Wheat flour 1 cup
• Besan/Gram flour (or chickpea flour) 1/2 cup
• Namak/Salt, to taste ~ 1/2 tsp
• Haldi/Turmeric powder ~ 1/2 tsp
• Ajwain/Carom seeds (optional but recommended) ~ 1 tsp
• Jeera/Cumin seeds (optional) ~ 1/4 tsp
• Laal mirch/chilli powder (skip if using green chillies) ~ 1/4 tsp
• Hari mirch/green chillies (optional, use chilli powder if not available) 2-3, finely chopped
• Piyaaz/Onion ~ 1/3 cup finely chopped which would be roughly 1/2 of a medium onion
• Hara Dhania/ Fresh Coriander (cilantro) ~ 5-6 sprigs, cleaned and chopped
• Adrak/Ginger (optional) ~ 1/2 an inch piece, chopped or grated
• Lehsun/Garlic (optional) ~ 2-3 cloves, chopped or grated
• Other herbs that can be added, fresh or dry – methi (fenugreek, especially in winters), mint, chives, scallion greens and more that you can think of
• Water for kneading ~ 1/2 to 3/4 cup

Making the dough

First, clean and finely chop green chillies, garlic, ginger, coriander (cilantro), onion and any other herbs you’d like to use. Next, in a large platter or mixing bowl measure the flours. Season them and then add in all the chopped herbs and aromatics. Using a fork mix well until all greens and onion are coated in flour.

A tip for the dough:

At this point, to make a khasta dough i.e. soft, slightly crumbly dough add a tablespoon of oil or ghee. Khasta is used variously in the context of food. There are khasta kachoris and khasta biscuits. It refers to good lamination in the case of kachori – a kind of puff pastry, and crumbly texture for biscuits like nan khatai.

Add water slowly, in small quantities:

Make a well in the center of the flour. Start with 1/4 cup water. Mix in the flour with a fork. Then another 1/4 cup and mix some more. Once flour looks crumbly starting working it with your hands. I do not think you will need more than 3/4 cup water. Knead the dough by pressing down with the base of your palm, pulling it together into a ball and then punching gently with your knuckles. Continue until it becomes a cohesive ball which is slightly pliable. Think play dough/clay like consistency. Adding too much water will make a sticky dough. But if you do accidentally add more water than you wanted to (happens all the time!), add some dry atta and continue kneading. Flatbread doughs are very forgiving.

The dough should look like the image on the left above. Store it in an air tight container in the fridge. Use within 3-4 days. Onions will sweat even in the fridge and that can lead to the growth in the dough. You’ll be able to tell by the smell – it will turn sour and sweet. At that point its best not to use it.

Cooking Missi Roti

• You’ll need a chakla-belan or just a rolling pin and clean kitchen counter to work on.
• A tawa/griddle or a large, heavy bottomed pan such as a cast iron skillet that is 9 or 10 inches across.
• Some oil or ghee or butter, a long flat spatula such as a fish spatula and, a plate or bowl to store and serve the cooked roti. I line mine with a paper towel to soak up any extra oil.
• Dry flour for dusting called palethan in Hindi.

Once your mise en place is set, its time to roll and cook! Sakshi shared the image below and most flatbread mise en places are similarly set up.

Put the pan/tawa on medium high heat and let it warm up while you break small ball of dough. Roll it in some dry flour/palethan and then roll it out using a rolling pin into a flat disc about 4 to 5 inches across. Don’t try to go too thin, roll as thin as much as easily workable. If the dough starts sticking to the rolling board/counter dab it in some more dry flour.

A little patience is a key ingredient for soft rotis

Next, pat off extra dry flour and place it on warm tawa/griddle. Turn the heat down to medium. Cook until dough starts changing color and you can see some bubbling. Flip and spread a few drops of oil or a little ghee. Press down with a spatula. Flip again after a minute or so. Apply oil on the second side. Cook until there is a uniform spread of brown spots. Remove the cooked missi roti on to a paper towel lined plate or roti dabba. Repeat this process to make as many rotis as needed. Refrigerate the remaining dough in an air tight container and use within 3 to 4 days.

Missi roti with homemade matha – a flavorful meal any time of day!

In my husband’s home missi roti is prepared for breakfast on most winter morning and served with a helping of mathaa and cups of karak adrakwali chai. The word mathaa in our home refers to hung curd or strained yoghurt/yogurt. Similar to greek yogurt, mathaa is creamy and great as a dip. We season our mathaa with salt, pepper and herbs. There are as many kinds of seasoned mathaa as there are homes!

Missi roti is a winter staple in our home often served with winter sabzi like aloo methi, gajar-gobhi-shalgam ka achar, fresh cut mooli and karak chai.

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