Taste & Create XX: Indian Spinach Flatbread

My first partner this month for Taste & Create is Dipali from Centaur Cooks. I'm hoping she still finds time to submit her entry from my website!

Dipali's is a relatively new blog, but right off the bat her Indian Spinach Flatbread caught my eye. I'm usually a pretty good "flatbread" maker (tortillas, anyway), but I can definitely use some practice with this recipe. I added too much water from the start, resulting in a very sticky dough which required more flour than I wanted to add and made the bread difficult to roll out, which also resulted in a floury look which resulted in me feeling like I needed to use more oil, which resulted in some greasiness. I also didn't use enough salt, but salting the bread as it was frying was an easy fix.


So. The flatbread is tasty. Would be tastier if I hadn't had all the issues listed above, and possibly more attractive too. (thankfully sunlight improves the bread's appearance, just don't enlarge that picture!) But it was a nice complement to our chicken masala. I will definitely try this again, after we're moved into our brand-new kitchen!


Palak Thepla or Indian Spinach Flatbread

1 cup wheat flour

2 tbsp besan/chickpea flour (didn't have access to this, so I used flax meal)

1 cup cut palak/methi (spinach)

2 tsp cooking oil (I used olive oil)

a pinch of aseofetida (I used garlic powder)

a pinch of tumeric

1/2 tsp of red chile powder (I used 1/4 heaping teaspoon)

1/4 tsp of crushed cumin (I used ground cumin)

1 tbsp sesame seeds (optional)

2 tbsp fine jaggery (I used raw sugar) + 2 tbsp lime juice (I used juice of 1/2 lime)

salt to taste

Mix all these ingredients and add water (I used about 1/2 cup, which was a bit too much) to form a firm but malleable dough. Dab with oil and rest for 10-15 mins. Form into small balls, sprinkle with dry flour and roll out. Lay on hot pan or griddle.

Turn once and apply some oil on the surface. Turn and pat with a flat wooden spatula.

Apply oil (just spread back of an oil covered spoon) and turn and pat the other side.

Take off the griddle when spots appear.