Roomali Roti, also called Rumali Roti, is a popular flatbread from the regions of India and Pakistan, which is very soft and thin. The texture and the fold of the roti resemble the Handkerchief and hence are called the Handkerchief roti.
Roomali Roti, the soft and thin Handkerchief flatbread, was on my to-do list for a very long time. Growing up, any time we ate out, I was fascinated by the name of the roti and how thin it was, and I ordered it quite often.
The chewy and soft roti was a perfect flatbread to eat with rich paneer gravies. Rumali Roti is a popular flatbread from the regions of India and Pakistan. Roomal or Rumal means handkerchief, and since this bread is as thin as a handkerchief, it got the name Roomali Roti or Rumali Roti.
It was interesting to read that during the Mughal period, the Roomali was used as a cloth at the end of the meal to wipe the grease off the hands.
Let’s talk about tools
I am a big fan of kitchen tools and gadgets, and it can be anything as simple as a simple Wok. I love my wok! It is nothing extraordinary, and I made sure I got an all-metal wok with no coating, and I have been using it to make literally everything.
If you are looking to buy a wok, go ahead and buy one. I use it not just to make Asian stir fry and Noodles, but also to make subzi, a large quantity of mixed rice, and now to make this Rumali Roti.
I shortlisted the Roomali Roti for the alphabet R, but was confused about what pan to use inverted and cook these rotis in. That is when my husband said, Why don’t you use your wok?
It is all Iron and large and will be perfect to cook these Roomali Rotis. There we go… I spent no extra time thinking about the recipe and went ahead and made it for dinner.
It was so much fun rolling the rotis really thin, stretching them as best as I could, and then placing them on the inverted pan. The large wok gave me enough room for mistakes, and the result was this amazing soft and thin Roomali Roti that I ate in restaurants.
Ingredients Needed
- Whole wheat flour - 1 cup
- All-purpose flour - 1 ½ cups
- Salt - 1 tsp
- Oil - 2 tablespoon + 1 TBSP
- Water - as needed to make the dough
Process steps for Rumali Roti
Add the flour, salt, and oil in a mixing bowl and add water slowly to make a very soft and slightly sticky dough.
I used my stand mixer to make the dough. Knead the dough until it is elastic. The dough has to be slightly sticky, as that will help in rolling it out thin.
Grease the dough with the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil and let it rest for at least 30 minutes. If you can let it rest longer, it is even better.
When ready to cook, make even-sized 10 to 12 balls from the dough. If you have a large wok to work with, then the dough ball can be slightly larger. If your cooking surface is smaller, make smaller balls so you can make smaller Roomali roti.
Dust the dough balls with flour and roll them as thin as possible. If the dough retracts back too much when rolling, let it rest for 5 minutes and then roll again.
In the meantime, heat a wok or any wide wok-shaped pan inverted over the flame. We will be cooking these Roomali Rotis on the outer side of the pan.
When the pan is nice and hot, place one of the thinly rolled roti on the pan and cook until bubbles appear.
Flip it once and let it cook on the other side as well. Fold the cooked roti on the pan and then place it between layers of a kitchen towel to keep it warm and soft until we make the rest.
Serve the rumali roti warm with some rich Subzi.
Knead the dough very soft to help roll better.
Rest the dough. This helps relax the protein and stretch the dough better.
Roll the dough as thin as possible to get the best handkerchief feel. If the dough retracts when rolling, rest it for a couple of minutes on the counter and then roll again.
A large, really hot surface helps cook the roti evenly. Wok works great for this purpose.
Similar Roti Recipes
- Sel Roti | Crispy Fried Sweet Bread From Sikkim
- Sweet Paratha | Sweet Roti | Sugar Stuffed Flatbread
- Karnataka Akki Roti | Rice Flour Flatbread
- Pol Roti | Sri Lankan Coconut Roti
Recipe
Equipment
- ▢ Rolling Pin
- ▢ wok
- ▢ Stand Mixer
Ingredients
- ▢ 1 cup Whole wheat flour
- ▢ 1 ½ cups All Purpose flour
- ▢ 1 teaspoon Salt
- ▢ 3 tablespoon Oil
- ▢ Water - as needed to make the dough
Instructions
- Add the flours, salt and oil in a mixing bowl and add water slowly to make a very soft and slightly sticky dough.
- I used my stand mixer to make the dough. Knead the dough until it is elastic. The dough has to be slightly sticky as that will help in rolling it out thin.
- Grease the dough with the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil and let it rest for at least 30 minutes. If you can let it rest longer, it is even better.
- When ready to cook, make even sized 10 to 12 balls from the dough. If you have a large wok to work with, then the dough ball cab be slightly larger. If your cooking surface is smaller, make smaller balls so you can make smaller Roomali roti.
- Dust the dough balls with flour and roll it as thin as possible. If the dough retracts back too much when rolling, let it rest for 5 minutes and then roll again.
- In the meantime, heat a wok or any wide wok shaped pan inverted on the flame. We will be cooking these Roomali Rotis on the outer side of the pan.
- When the pan is nice and hot, place one of the thinly rolled roti on the pan and cook until bubbles appear.
- Flip it once and let it cook on the other side as well. Fold the cooked roti on the pan and then place in between layers of kitchen towel to keep it warm and soft until we make the rest.
- Serve warm with some rich Subzi.
Notes
- Knead the dough very soft to help roll better.
- Rest the dough. This helps relax the protein and stretch the dough better.
- Roll the dough as thin as possible to get the best handkerchief feel. If the dough retracts when rolling, rest it for couple of minutes on the counter and then roll again.
- A large really hot surface helps cook the roti evenly. Wok works great for this purpose.
Nutrition
More Roti / Paratha
- Mooli Ka Paratha | Radish Paratha
- Ajwain Paratha | Carom Seeds Flatbread
- Bikaneri Chana Dal Paratha | Lentil Stuffed Flatbread
- Yufka | Turkish Unleavened Flatbread
Roomali Roti | Soft and Thin Rumali Roti
Equipment
- Rolling Pin
- wok
- Stand Mixer
Ingredients
- 1 cup Whole wheat flour
- 1 ½ cups All Purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 3 tablespoon Oil
- Water - as needed to make the dough
Instructions
- Add the flours, salt and oil in a mixing bowl and add water slowly to make a very soft and slightly sticky dough.
- I used my stand mixer to make the dough. Knead the dough until it is elastic. The dough has to be slightly sticky as that will help in rolling it out thin.
- Grease the dough with the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil and let it rest for at least 30 minutes. If you can let it rest longer, it is even better.
- When ready to cook, make even sized 10 to 12 balls from the dough. If you have a large wok to work with, then the dough ball cab be slightly larger. If your cooking surface is smaller, make smaller balls so you can make smaller Roomali roti.
- Dust the dough balls with flour and roll it as thin as possible. If the dough retracts back too much when rolling, let it rest for 5 minutes and then roll again.
- In the meantime, heat a wok or any wide wok shaped pan inverted on the flame. We will be cooking these Roomali Rotis on the outer side of the pan.
- When the pan is nice and hot, place one of the thinly rolled roti on the pan and cook until bubbles appear.
- Flip it once and let it cook on the other side as well. Fold the cooked roti on the pan and then place in between layers of kitchen towel to keep it warm and soft until we make the rest.
- Serve warm with some rich Subzi.
Notes
- Knead the dough very soft to help roll better.
- Rest the dough. This helps relax the protein and stretch the dough better.
- Roll the dough as thin as possible to get the best handkerchief feel. If the dough retracts when rolling, rest it for couple of minutes on the counter and then roll again.
- A large really hot surface helps cook the roti evenly. Wok works great for this purpose.
