Caramelized Roti Crisps

My house help has been off for a week long leaving me in a state of utter dismay. I am without my her for the past 5 days and the next 2 days to come. And then, just yesterday I almost fainted when she called me testifying her extension of 2 more days. Life at home has sprung into chaotic scene devoid her presence. Several tasks that seized unattended adherence seemed to require vital attention. I almost broke my back giving bath to my baby, washing her clothes (no, we don’t use the washing machine for my baby’s clothes, they are hand washed and sanitized), followed by dusting and mopping the floor yesterday. Thankfully, dear husband vouched in to help me with the vessels.

Heck. Right from cleaning the chimney, the stove top to lobbing garbage, the chores seem unending. I end up exploiting 2 hours of what my maid does in less than hour. Suddenly, it seemed she was the most important person to me.

Between all these chores, there are some things that give a lot of solace, like food. Something quick and simple, yet so satisfying and immensely comforting. Leftovers of rotis made for our breakfast, carried over for the evening and transformed into a quick snack to go along with that coveted cup of desi chai. As kids we relished this to an extent that my mom would often cook a few extra rotis at breakfast to make these for our evening snack for her hungry kids back from school. It had no name, we would simply call it sihi roti (sweet roti in Kannada). She makes them for my daughter now. While she fries the entire roti on tava with ghee till crisp and then scatters sugar or honey till it caramelizes, I like to tear it into strips and do it in a wok instead, saving the extras in an air-tight container for a couple of days. This crisp sweet treat is delicious, made with whole wheat flour and sans butter it's healthier made with ghee. Hope you'll enjoy it too.

Caramelized Roti Crisps

INGREDIENTS

1 roti/wheat tortilla
1 tbsp. ghee / clarified butter
1 tbsp. sugar / honey
1/2 tsp. cardamom powder

DIRECTION

Tear the roti / wheat tortilla into rough bite sized pieces or into neat long strips as I did. Heat a wok / fry pan and add in a tbsp of ghee. Add in the torn roti and stir well so that all the pieces fry well. Stir for 2-3 minutes till the roti strips begin to get crisp. Sprinkle the sugar over and stir gently on low flame to coat all the strips, taking care you don't break them. The sugar will begin to melt and caramelize in a few minutes. Switch off the flame as they caramelize and turn golden brown. Sprinkle the cardamom powder and mix well. Serve with hot cup of tea.