Jowar Bhakri (Sorghum Flatbread)

The sorghum flatbread of Maharashtra and Karnataka, patted by hand, cooked on a griddle and puffed over a flame. With no gluten, it is hot water that holds the dough together.

Untested: not yet made in this kitchen. It is here as the showcase for one flour in the Flour section and is adapted from the source named in the Notes.

Ingredients

• 2 cups jowar (sorghum) flour, as fresh as possible
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup warm-to-hot water (see Notes)
• Flour for patting
• Ghee, to serve

Directions

1. Dough. Mix the flour and salt in a wide plate. Make a well, add ½ cup of hot water and stir with a spoon, then add more warm water and knead to a soft, smooth dough.
2. Portion. Pinch off a ball and keep the rest under a damp cloth.
3. Pat. On a generously floured surface, flatten the ball with your fingers, turning it as you go — or roll it between two sheets of parchment.
4. Griddle. Lay it on a medium-hot griddle, floured side up. Brush water over the top and cook until spotted underneath.
5. Turn and cook the other side until spotted, then puff it over a direct flame with tongs.
6. Serve hot with plenty of ghee.

Notes

Source Adapted from Neha Mathur, “Jowar Bhakri,” Whisk Affair (read through the Wayback Machine).

A correction to the source The ingredient list says “1 cup warm water,” but the method begins with “½ cup of hot water” and then “some more warm water”; no temperature is given. Hot water matters, because it gelatinises enough starch to bind the dough; many cooks describe cold water as the main cause of cracked bhakri. The source gives volumes only, so no gram weights are given here.

Why this flour Sorghum has no gluten and its protein, kafirin, does not form a dough, so the flatbread is patted rather than rolled and held together by gelatinised starch.

Safety Take care with hot water and open flame.

Gluten-free by ingredient: safe for coeliac disease only if every ingredient — flour, starch, baking powder — is labelled gluten-free. Naturally gluten-free flours are often contaminated with wheat in milling.

The Flour section of the Food site covers the history, the science, milling, label systems and every flour used here.

The photo The photograph shows jolada rotti, the Kannada name for the same jowar flatbread.