Rumali Roti Recipe - Soft and Thin "Handkerchief" Roti

This post may contain affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy

Watch the recipe

YouTube ↗

Cooking With Anadi

12K subscribers · soft like a handkerchief, pliable enough to scoop curry

Subscribe

Watch the full method on YouTube →

Some of you may already know, but growing up, restaurant trips were few but special, and each trip our menu was set. Paneer Makhani, Dal Makhani and Butter Naan… if I got those items, then I was a happy camper. Unfortunately, this did not give me the chance to fully appreciate these breads to their full extent.

My mom, however, loves these soft rotis and she introduced me to this fabulous bread at the restaurant one day! To describe the texture and flavor in one word… it is splendid! These breads are so uniquely pliable, yet there is a bite to it, which tastes wonderful when lathered in your favorite curry sauce.

Traditionally, in restaurants these breads are made of all purpose flour, and I will be using all-purpose flour in this recipe. The most popular technique to prepare this bread is to cook it over an inverted, convex surface. Usually, I use my wok to prepare this, but you can also use an inverted tawa pan. This technique brings this restaurant delicacy to your home kitchen, and you can easily make this!

These rotis can be served with any North Indian style curry or dal/lentil soup. My favorite curries to pair include:

• Murgh Makhani - Restaurant Style Butter Chicken
• Restaurant Style Dal Makhani - Instant Pot Recipe
• Creamy Chicken Tikka Masala
• Mughlai Style Paneer Makhani

Tools Needed

• Large bowl
• Rolling pin
• Wok
• Tongs
• Basting brush

How to Make Indian Handkerchief Bread

1. Add all the flour in a large mixing bowl. Add oil and slowly start adding milk and begin kneading. Knead until the dough is soft and smooth, but not sticky.

Cover with a damp cloth and let the dough rest at room temperature for 20 minutes.

Divide the dough into 6 equal parts. Using extra flour to prevent sticking, begin rolling out the dough using a rolling pin. Roll into a circle until it is almost translucent. Constantly dusting with extra flour will prevent dough from tearing or sticking.

In the meanwhile, heat a wok or tawa pan on medium-high heat until hot. Once the pan is hot, invert it upside down and heat for 2 more minutes.

Gently pick up a thinly rolled out flatbread and place on the back of the wok/pan. Using a clean kitchen towel, pat the dough to help with cooking and browning. Alternatively, you can roll the flatbread loosely onto the rolling pin and roll it out onto the pan/wok.

Using tongs, check if your bread has brown spots. If so, flip it and repeat pat down on the other side. Using tongs, fold the bread into a half circle and fold it over itself to neatly fold the roti.

Repeat steps 5-6 for remaining dough.

Brush with desi ghee/butter, serve hot, and enjoy!

Tips for Making the Best Rumali Roti Recipe

• Ensure to warm up the milk slightly before kneading it into the flour. The temperature will help knead a soft, pliable dough which will help you to easily roll the dough paper thin.
• Once the dough has formed, let it rest for at least 20 minutes before portioning them out. Resting the dough will help relax the dough which will further help with rolling it out.
• Go as thin as you dare. The dinner these handkerchief roti’s are, the softer they become. If you think you have rolled it thin enough, go further! The dough should practically be translucent.
• This bread needs to be cooked on indirect heat, from an inverted round bottom wok. The convex of a round wok helps slowly cook the thin dough without making it too crispy. I have linked the wok that I use below, however feel free to use any wok.
• To warm up the breads if reheating, wrap the breads in a damp kitchen towel and microwave for 30 seconds to a minute. This will help them to remain soft as ever.

It pairs beautifully with a curry like my Punjabi lobia.

What Is Rumali Roti?

Rumal is the Hindi word for handkerchief, and that is exactly what the bread is named for. It is rolled so thin it goes nearly translucent, then folded into soft squares that sit on the plate looking like a pressed handkerchief. You will see it written as rumali roti, roomali rotis, rumal roti or manda roti depending on who you ask and which part of North India they are from. It is a chefs' bread by tradition: in Mughlai and North Indian restaurants, cooks stretch and spin the dough in the air the way a pizzaiolo does, then drape it over an inverted kadai set over the flame. That theatre is why most of us only ever meet rumali roti at a restaurant. You do not need the spinning at home. A rolling pin, a little patience and a hot inverted wok will get you the same paper-thin bread.

Flour, Salt and the Small Choices That Matter

Restaurants use maida, the finely milled Indian white flour, and that is why rumali roti comes out pale and stretchy rather than sturdy. The 2 cups of all-purpose flour in this recipe do the same job. You can swap in whole wheat flour if you would rather, but be honest with yourself about the trade: the bran gets in the way of the gluten, so a whole wheat version rolls out darker and thicker and will never go properly translucent. A half-and-half mix is the fair compromise if you want some of the nuttiness without losing the texture. There is no salt in my dough, because this bread is a vehicle for the curry and the curry brings the seasoning. If you prefer a seasoned bread, work a teaspoon salt into the flour before the warm milk goes in. And it is the milk, not water, that makes these soft instead of chewy, so do not substitute it out.

How to Tell When the Roti Is Done

Once the dough has rested for 20 minutes and you have divided it into six, roll every dough ball out before you start cooking, because the cooking itself goes fast. On the back of a hot inverted kadai or wok, a paper-thin roti needs well under a minute a side, and the whole batch of six is roughly ten minutes of cooking time. Watch the surface rather than the clock: small bubbles will start lifting across the dough almost immediately, and when you pat it down with a clean kitchen towel those bubbles set into the light brown spots you are looking for. Lift an edge with tongs, check for the spots, flip, pat again, and fold it straight off the heat. A roti left on too long turns brittle instead of pliable, which is the one mistake that cannot be fixed. Serve them hot, brushed with desi ghee, alongside something rich like shahi paneer or a dal.

Frequently Asked Questions