Akki roti (Rice flour roti)

Akki roti is a flatbread made with rice flour, spices, herbs and vegetables. These are a popular Breakfast from Karnataka Cuisine. “Akki” is a Kannada word meaning “rice” and “roti” are “flatbreads”. So akki roti translates to rice roti. These are not only gluten-free but also delicious & easy to make. Akki rotti are usually eaten with coconut chutney, but any other chutney, sagu or mixed vegetable curry goes well.

There are basically 2 kinds of akki roti. The first one is made the simplest way by mixing the rice flour with other ingredients to form a dough. Portions of this dough is then spread with fingers to a flatbread.

The second one is known as ubbu roti, ukkarisida rotti. It is made with a dough where the rice flour is steam cooked in hot boiling water for a brief period. This is much the same way we make the dough for modak.

Later small portions of the dough is rolled like a regular roti and then cooked on a griddle. Making akki rotti following the first method is super easy and just takes about 25 minutes for 2 servings.

About akki roti recipe

My recipe to make akki roti is simple and just uses the basic ingredients like rice flour, cumin seeds, curry leaves, ginger, salt, onions, carrots, fresh coconut and green chilies.

For more traditional version various ingredients like dill leaves (sabsige soppu), soaked chana dal & coriander leaves can also be added.

Veggies like grated carrot, cucumber, bottle gourd, and zucchini can also be added.

In this post I show how to make akki roti following the same along with tips and tricks to make them soft.

Traditionally akki rotti dough is spread on a banana leaf, griddle or on a white cotton cloth. Later it is transferred to the griddle and cooked. Back home in India, we would use the banana leaf from our backyard but here in Singapore I make them on a parchment paper and sometimes directly on the tawa.

In this post I share 2 ways to spread them – 1. Directly on the tawa and 2. On the parchment paper or banana leaf or cloth.

If you are a small family of 2 then you can easily make them on the griddle but this trick won’t work if you are making more than 2 servings as it takes longer. So use parchment paper in that case.

Akki roti can be made thin or slightly thick to suit your taste. Getting them thin and uniform comes with some practice.

Preparation

1. To a mixing bowl, add the following ingredients:

• 1 cup rice flour
• 1/3 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons fresh coconut
• ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1 green chili fine chopped
• 1 sprig fresh curry leaves fine chopped
• 2 tablespoons coriander leaves or dill leaves (optional)
• 2 to 3 tablespoons very finely chopped onions.
• ¼ cup grated carrot (or cucumber, bottle gourd)
• ½ teaspoon grated ginger (you may skip if you don’t like)

2. Mix up all the ingredients well.

3. Pour water little by little to bind the flour. Avoid pouring lot of water at one time. Keep adding more water as you need. The amount of water to add depends on the moisture levels in your vegetables, onions and coconut. So add water with caution.

4. Make a moist dough. The color of the dough changed due to the carrots. The akki roti dough has to be sticky & moist as it helps to spread the dough easily.

5. Divide the dough to 4 equal balls.

Method – 1

Spreading dough on a cloth or parchment paper

If making in large quantity, then you can rinse 2 white cotton cloths or use banana leaf to spread the akki roti. Squeeze up the cloth, it must be just moist with no dripping water. Spread the cloth and place a ball over it. If using parchment paper grease it first. Gently spread the dough with your fingers. I don’t pat the dough instead spread it with my fingers.

If the dough doesn’t spread well, then keep dipping your fingers in water and continue to spread. Akki roti should not be too thick or too thin. Check pictures below.

Heat a pan. Gently lift the roti with the parchment paper or banana leaf and place the roti on the tawa (roti side onto the tawa & the parchment paper on top). Gently dab on the the pan. Slowly remove/lift up the paper/banana leaf. Cook it on both the sides as shown below.

Method -2

Since I made just 4 rotis, I used 2 pans and made the akki roti directly on the cool tawa. Note the tawa has to be cool before you spread the roti otherwise the dough will get stuck on the pan.

How to make akki roti on tawa

6. Grease a cool pan & place it on the kitchen counter. Do not heat the pan now. Place a dough ball on the tawa, begin to flatten it evenly by spreading the dough from the center all over.

7. If there is enough moisture in the dough, it spreads easily and evenly. Keep a bowl half filled with water aside. If needed dip your fingers in the water and spread the dough. This also helps to keep the rotti soft. If making thick roti, make few wholes on the rotti every 2 inches apart for even cooking.

Once you are done making the akki roti, keep the tawa on the stove and cook it.

8. When you see the rotti is cooked on one side to light golden, turn it and cook on the other side as well until light brown spots appear. Add oil on the inner side and cook once more. Press with a spatula for uniform cooking.

9. To make the next roti, either we have to cool this pan completely and then use. Or make use of 2 pans, use alternately until the other one cools. I use 2 pans for this purpose.

Serve akki rotti with chutney. These are good to serve hot. As they cool down they may turn hard & dry depending on the kind of flour used. If you plan to make these akki roti a few hours ahead then stack them and keep them covered in a clean cloth.

Serve suggestions
coconut chutney
pudina chutney
peanut onion chutney

Pro Tips

1. Always use fine smooth rice flour to make the rotti. If your flour is not fine then the akki roti will turn tough & hard. So if you feel the flour is not fine & smooth, then you can also sieve it.
2. It is the quality of flour that makes a lot of difference. Making use of good rice flour will prevent the akki roti from breaking. It also helps to make very thin rotti like mine.
3. The dough must be moist and sticky. This helps the akki roti to spread well while making. Dip your hands in water to moisten the dough to get soft rotis.
4. If using banana leaf make sure your rinse it well to remove the dirt and use.

I use store bought rice flour to make akki roti. But traditional homes, wash the rice, then dry them in sun. Lastly mill the grains in flour mill. The taste of the akki roti made with such flour is much superior to the store bought one. The rotis turn out soft and not tough.

More recipes from karanataka cuisine
Ragi roti
Bisi bele bath
Vangi bath
Ragi mudde
Set dosa
Chakli
Potato sagu

Recipe card

Akki roti recipe first published in September 2015. Updated and republished in July 2021.