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Tandalachi bhakri
Rice flour flatbread
तांदळाची भाकरी: plain Konkan rice-flour bhakri made with hot water, patted by hand and puffed on the flame
Along the Konkan coast, from Alibag down to Sindhudurg, the everyday bread isn't wheat at all but tandalachi bhakri, a soft round of rice flour and water, the natural partner to a coconut-rich Malvani fish curry, kombdi rassa, a bowl of usal or plain pithla with sol kadhi. Unlike Karnataka's akki rotti, it has no onion, coconut or chilli in the dough: just rice flour, salt and hot water, kneaded smooth and patted out thin by hand. Cooked on a hot iron tawa and finished over an open flame, it puffs up like a balloon and stays soft and pliable, with a faint sweetness and toasty spots. Common mistake: mixing the flour with cold or warm water. Rice flour has no gluten, so it needs boiling water to gelatinise and bind; otherwise the bhakri cracks all round the edges. Chef's tip: knead each portion again just before patting; a dough that sat still dries on the surface and cracks.
- Total time
- 40 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups water
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp sunflower oil (optional)
- 9 oz fine rice flour (tandul pith)plus 3 tbsp for patting
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Method
0/8 doneStep 1: Bring 1 ¼ cups water, ½ tsp salt and 1 tsp sunflower oil to a rolling boil in a pan.
4 minStep 2: Turn off the heat, add 9 oz fine rice flour (tandul pith) (keeping back 3 tbsp for patting) in one go and stir quickly with the handle of a spoon until no dry flour remains. Cover and leave for 5 minutes to steam.
6 minStep 3: While it is still hot enough to handle, tip it onto a plate and knead with the heel of your hand, wetting your palm with water now and then, for 3–4 minutes until very smooth and soft, with no cracks.
4 minStep 4: Divide into 8 balls and keep them covered. Heat a heavy iron tawa over a medium-high heat.
2 minStep 5: Knead one ball again for a few seconds, dust the plate with some of the reserved flour, and pat the ball out with your fingertips, turning it as you go, into a thin 15 cm round. Lift it with a flat palm.
2 minStep 6: Lay the bhakri on the tawa, then brush the top with a wet hand right to the edges. Cook for about 1 minute, until the water dries and the base is set.
1 minStep 7: Flip and cook the second side for 30–40 seconds, then lift it with tongs and hold it directly over a medium flame for a few seconds until it puffs up fully, with brown spots.
1 minStep 8: Wrap it in a cloth and repeat with the rest. Serve warm with a curry or usal.
15 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 230 kcal
- Protein
- 4 g
- Carbs
- 50 g
- Fat
- 1 g
- Fibre
- 2 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does tandalachi bhakri take?
- About 40 minutes in total: 15 minutes to prepare and 25 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
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