Cooper Street Scarlet Review

This I Now Believe

Sangeetha Maheshwari

I believe that there is nothing like a home-cooked meal that touches the soul and brings the family together.
Flour
Flour, Moises Ramirez

I like to do things the slow way or should I say the difficult way and from scratch. Ever since I can remember, I have been making Indian flat breads and various other dishes at home. I believe cooking is not only a way to express your love to the person for whom you are cooking, but that it also gives the person making the dish a deep satisfaction. My mother passed this tradition down to me just like her mother and grandmother before her.

It all started out when I was almost eleven and old enough to help my mother out in the kitchen. She always made fresh flat bread starting with two cups of flour in a big bowl. My mom would then add water, a pinch of salt and a teaspoon of oil into the flour. She would knead the dough with her hands until it was mixed to the right texture. She would then roll the dough out into small balls, singing as she went along. The dough was then set aside for ten minutes. In the meantime, my mom placed a non-stick pan on the gas range on medium flame. She would then take a rolling pin and roll the balls of dough into small flat rounds, one at a time. Once the dough was rolled out, my mom would put them on the heated pan and let it cook on one side. She then flipped it to the other side and waited till it was lightly brown, but not overdone.

I used to ask her, “Why are you creating all this work for yourself when all the food’s gone from the table in less than 30 minutes”? She said I was too young to understand what a home-cooked meal can do for you.

I did not become an expert on my first try. I must have tried to mix the water and flour more than a dozen times before I got the smoothness of the dough right. Sometimes I would add too much water to the mixture and it would make the dough all sticky. So I had to go back and add some more flour. Also, when I rolled the dough out, it did not roll out into circles. The structure of the bread was all messed up and came out shaped like various countries. Not wanting to disappoint me, my mother would put this dough on the heated pan and let it cook. She would give the bread to my dad. I remember my dad saying, “This is the best bread I have eaten”. The look on his face when he ate my bread gave me pure joy and I couldn’t wait to feed him more.

I believe that there is nothing like a home-cooked meal that touches the soul and brings the family together.

I enjoy these special memories that I have made with my mother. We would spend a lot of time in the kitchen cooking and talking. She would tell me about the different grains and spices; I could watch her cook and bake for hours. Looking back, I now know that my mother taught her kids the value of home-cooked meals. You cannot hurry when you are making breads; you have to enjoy and relish the process. Over the years I have made a few changes to my mother’s recipe. I’ve tried adding spiced potatoes, cabbage or cauliflower in the middle of the dough before I roll it out. This adds flavor to the plain bread.

For many years now, it has become my routine to make home-made bread at least three times a week, especially on the weekends when I have more time to cook. My kids tell me that they can smell the bread from their rooms before they come running to gobble it all up. I could have gone to the store and picked up bread from the freezer, but it wouldn’t have tasted the same. I also wouldn’t have gotten the pleasure of seeing my kids’ reactions. I believe that there is nothing like a home-cooked meal that touches the soul and brings the family together. Cooking is a way of expressing my love for my family. Sometimes, my kids even help me out in the kitchen. They like to bake cookies and cakes instead of bread though. I am hoping they are making great memories just like the ones I have.

Main Ingredients:

  • Two cups wheat flour
  • Two tablespoons oil
  • Salt to taste
  • .75 cup water

Other ingredients:

  • Wheat Flour, a little extra on side for rolling the flat bread
  • Oil, to lightly fry the flat bread
  • Butter, a dollop to serve on top of flat bread (optional)

Preparing the dough:

  1. Mix whole wheat flour, salt and oil in a medium bowl. Mix well.
  2. Start adding little water at a time and knead into soft and smooth dough.
  3. Cover it and let it rest for 15 minutes.

Making the flat bread:

  1. Knead the dough to smooth it out and divide it into eight equal portions.
  2. Using your palm, make a smooth ball of a piece of dough and flatten it out.
  3. Take one flattened ball, dip it into dry flour and roll into a circle with a six to eight inch diameter, using a rolling pin. Use more dry flour as needed to make rolling easy.
  4. Heat the non-stick pan on medium heat.
  5. Once hot, place the rolled out dough and cook for six to eight seconds on each side.
  6. Put .25 teaspoon of oil, spread it all over the bread using a spoon. Fry one side and then the other using a spatula. Remove from pan and serve hot.
  7. Repeat the same process for rest of the bread.
Serve with vegetables, meats or rice.