Working with Gluten free flatbread is a skill that I am still working on. Anyone who is leaning towards trying out Gluten free breads for health reasons or otherwise, have to realize that they have an acquired taste and texture. Having said that these flours are very rustic and delicious. Until now I have not had the absolute need for using GF flours in our diet. But as we age, our body slowly starts rejecting gluten to certain extent and hence I have started including a variety of gluten free flours. This is not the only reason I am working with these flours. The different flours that I have been using like this buckwheat flour, millet flour, amaranth flour, sorghum flour and so on have many health benefits and is a good source of dietary fiber. I am a member of a Vegetarian Gluten Free and Vegan Recipes with few of my other blogging friends and we post a recipe with a theme each month. This month we are exploring Gluten Free Indian Flatbread and this Kuttu Paratha is my entry for the theme. What is Buckwheat The name buckwheat is very confusing as it has the word wheat in it. But buckwheat is not related to wheat at all. It is a seed of a flowering fruit which is related to sorrel and rhubarb. For people with Celiac disease or people who are intolerant to gluten, this buckwheat flour is a great alternate to wheat and can be used in variety of recipes that calls for wheat flour.
Making Flatbread / roti out of the Buckwheat flour
Making any dough and rolling it out to a flatbread is hard when using gluten free flours. The gluten is what helps bind the dough and also helps in rolling it out into a smooth flatbread. Since buckwheat flour does not have any gluten, the dough will crack quite a lot when rolling. Also the dough is very sticky to handle. To help bind the dough a little better, I used a boiled and mashed potato. This helped quite a bit in holding the dough together and also added a lot of flavor. I also rolled the roti on a piece of parchment after liberally dusting it with more buckwheat flour. You can also use rice flour to dust and roll. Don’t expect to get a perfect round roti/ flatbread. They will look rustic with cracked edges. Is the Kuttu paratha Vegan Yes, I made these vegan by using oil to cook the roti. You can use any unflavored oil of your choice to cook them. If you are not a vegan, then go ahead and use ghee. That will add a lot of flavor to the paratha. Can I store the Kuttu roti to use later The roti does tend to become a little hard after they cool down. So I would recommend making them just before serving. It does not take too long to make the dough and the dough does not need to rest longer as well. Preparation time - 5 minutes plus 15 minutes resting timeCooking time - about 20 minutesDifficulty level - Intermediate
Ingredients to make Buckwheat Flatbread - Makes 8
Buckwheat flour / Kuttu Aata - 2 cups Potato - 1 large Green chilies (optional) - 2 (finely chopped) Cilantro - ½ cup (finely chopped) Salt - to taste (use pink salt if using for Vrat / fasting) Warm water - as needed to make a soft dough Oil - 1 teaspoon plus more to fry the roti
Procedure to make Kuttu Paratha
Boil the potato and peel the skin. Mash it very well and keep it aside.
In another wide bowl, measure the flour and add the rest of the ingredients except the water. Add one teaspoon of oil to the flour mixture and mix them all together.
Now slowly sprinkle warm water and start kneading the flour to form a soft dough. Do not add too much water as this does not need a lot and the potatoes have enough moisture.
You won’t be able to make a perfect smooth dough and it will still be a little sticky. As long as the dough comes together, we are good.
Cover with a cloth and let it rest for 15 to 20 minutes.
Heat a griddle / tawa over medium to high heat.
In the meantime, divide the dough into 8 pieces. Form the pieces into a ball.
Dust the dough ball with more buckwheat flour and place it on a piece of parchment.
Roll the dough into a medium thick flatbread. Don’t make it too thin.
Place the rolled dough on the hot griddle and cook until it starts to brown. Flip to the other side and brush with oil. Do the same of the other side as well and cook until they are golden brown.
Remove from heat and place it in a covered container.
Serve the buckwheat flatbread with dal or any subzi or of your choice.
Check out my other Gluten free Flatbread recipes -
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