53) UBBATI

UBBATI

A SWEET CHICK PEA STUFFED FLAT BREAD

Ingredients:

     1)    Maida (refined wheat flour) – 500 gm.

     2)    Gingelly oil (sesame oil) – 50 ml. or Ghee (clarified butter) - 100 ml.

     3)    Ghee (separately) – 50 ml.

     4)    Skinned chick pea lentils – 200 gm.

     5)    Jaggery (unrefined cane sugar) – 400 gm.

     6)    Cardamom – 4 pods

     7)    Salt – ½ teaspoon

     8)    Sugar – 1 tablespoon

To Cook:

          Put the maida in a basin or a bowl to make the dough. Add 50 ml of gingelly oil or 100 ml. of ghee. Tip in the salt, pour a little water and knead well to form a thick dough of puri or chappathi dough like consistency. Set aside.

          Wash and drain the chick pea lentils and put in a pressure cooker. Add 4 times its volume of water. Close the lid and set on the stove. On hearing the first whistle, turn down the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Turn off the stove and allow to cool naturally.

          Put the jaggery in a pan with 50 ml. of water and set on the stove. Once it is fully melted, sieve and set aside. Take out the cardamom seeds, crush to powder and set aside. Put the cooked chick pea lentils in the food processor and grind to fine paste.

          Set a thick wok on the stove and put in the lentil paste. Add the melted jaggery and the cardamom powder. Tip in 50 ml. of ghee and 1 tablespoon of sugar. Stir well without letting it burn at the base. Keep on stirring until the stuffing thickens to patty like consistency. Take care while stirring for the paste has the tendency to spit and splutter till it reaches some thickness. When it is thick enough to be rolled into balls, switch off the heat.

          Now as you wait for the stuffing to cool, start making little balls of dough, rolling it with your palms. You can grease your hands with ghee or gingelly oil to prevent the dough from sticking to your hands. Count the number of balls you have rolled. Now make an equal number of balls with the stuffing. The stuffing balls will be smaller than the jacket balls.

          Use a rolling pin to roll the maida balls just big enough to fully cover the stuffing balls. Put one stuffing ball in the center of the rolled maida jacket. Pull up the edges and pinch together to form a jacket around the stuffing ball. Now flatten again with the rolling pin, taking care not to break the thin skin of maida and form a nice thin round flatbread (chappathi).Though the first few ubbatis may tear, by the time you make 5 or 6 of these, you will easily get the hang of it.

          Put a thick cast iron pan or non–stick pan on medium heat and grease with a smattering of ghee. Slowly roast the ubbati flipping over occasionally till it is golden brown. Serve hot or cold.

Notes:

     1)    Gingelly oil (sesame oil) is traditionally used for its keeping quality (natural preservative) since the ubbati tastes even better the next few days. If you do not like gingelly, go in for ghee (clarified butter) to get the best flavor and taste. No other cooking oil is used to make ubbatis.

     2)    Ubbati can be enjoyed either as a snack or as a dessert. It is good to take for picnics as it gives you instant energy.

     3)    Some people use yellow food colour in the maida jacket to make the ubbatis look more attractive. We do not use any food colours or chemical flavors in any of our dishes.