Akki Roti

Akki roti is a savoury rice bread and my first ever attempt to make bread. Of any sort whatsoever. Yeah, I know what you're thinking: "what kind of chef has never made bread before?"

Anyway for a first attempt it didn't quite go to plan but then again it wasn't disastrous. I basically ended up putting too much water in and the mix was really liquidy for which I had to compensate with adding more flour.

This is a very typical dish for the South since it uses rice flour whereas you will typically find wheat flour based breads int he north such as naans. Great to serve as a starter with some dips and sauces or on the side with some curry main dishes.

Ingredients:
- 300g rice flour
- 50g grated coconut (I used dessicated coconut)
- small handful of chopped coriander leaves
- a dozen curry leaves chopped
- 2 green chillies finely chopped
- 75g shallots, finely sliced
- a dozen cashew nuts, roasted
- 500ml water
- salt to season

Method:
Now bear in mind that it didn't quite go to plan so the quantities went out the window as I tried to just find a mix that was more or less of the consistency I wanted!

- Heat the cashew nuts over a low heat til they brown. Then crush them up liberally.

- Add all the ingredients except the water to a mixing bowl and mix well.
- Make a well in the centre of the mix and gradually pour in the water, mixing as you go to make a soft dough. This is probably where I went wrong and was forced thereafter to keep adding flour and coconut to try and thicken the mix.

- Dust your hands with some flour to avoid sticking.
- Take a small ball of dough and roll it in your hands. Then place them on the table and flatten gently with a rolling pin. I found this quite difficult to do without breaking it so I ended up just flattening them in my hands. I couldn't get them as flat as they should have been so they ended up being a bit thick and chewy. I think they're supposed to be crispier.
- Heat some oil in a pan and then fry the discs for a few minutes on each side.
- Serve hot.

So therein concludes the beginning of my quest to become a curry master. Last Saturday, I also cooked a pork vindaloo (http://overnightchef.blogspot.com/2012/01/pork-vindaloo.html), a prawn and pumpkin curry (http://overnightchef.blogspot.com/2012/01/prawn-and-pumpkin-curry.html), shallow fried masala sardines (http://overnightchef.blogspot.com/2012/01/shallow-fried-masala-sardines.html) and lentils with tomatoes and spinach (http://overnightchef.blogspot.com/2012/01/lentils-with-tomatoes-and-spinach.html). All to differing degrees of success but on a balance of things, I was pretty happy with that.

Next stop of the world tour, I think I may try Burmese curries...