Flatbread made from Chhattisgarhi red rice flour cooked directly on hot ash or a dry tawa — the ancient flatbread of tribal Chhattisgarh with a distinctive earthy, slightly smoky character.
Ingredients
2 cups red rice flour (red rice ground to a slightly coarse flour — available at health food stores and some Indian stores; substitute with regular rice flour for a similar but less earthy result)
Hot water — approximately 3/4 cup
1/2 tsp salt
Ghee or cold-pressed oil for serving
Method
Place red rice flour and salt in a bowl. Add hot water gradually, mixing with a spoon and then kneading with damp hands as it cools.
Knead for 3 to 4 minutes with wet hands into a cohesive dough.
Red rice flour has no gluten — keep hands wet.
Divide into 4 portions. Keep covered with a damp cloth.
Wet both palms. Place one portion on a wet banana leaf or wet cloth.
Pat outward with wet palms into a thick round 14 to 15 cm wide — about 7 to 8 mm thick.
Cook on a dry iron tawa on medium heat for 4 minutes until the top shows cracks and the underside is golden.
Flip. Cook 3 to 4 more minutes.
Finish directly over a low flame 30 seconds per side until slight charring appears.