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Indian

Bajra roti

Vegetarian

बाजरे की रोटी · bajre ki roti

Thick, hand-patted pearl-millet flatbread from Rajasthan, cooked on a tawa and finished over the flame, then crowned with ghee. A warming, gluten-free winter staple often eaten with jaggery.

Bajra roti is an Indian bread, ready in about 40 minutes and made with pearl millet flour and ghee. It serves 5 and is rated advanced to cook.

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Prep
10 min
Cook
30 min
Total
40 min
Serves
5
Level
Advanced
Calories
221

Ingredients

5 rotis

For patting

To serve

Equipment

Method

  1. Step 1

    Mix the flour and salt. Knead only enough for 2 rotis at a time: add warm water a little at a time and knead with the heel of your palm for 2–3 minutes until it holds together without cracking.

    Hands kneading dough on a floured surface
    How it looks · Photo: Klaus Nielsen on Pexels

  2. Step 2

    Take an 80 g ball, flatten it, and pat it between wet palms or on a floured sheet into a 13–15 cm round about 5 mm thick. Pinch any cracks closed.

    • 3 min

  3. Step 3

    Cook on a medium-hot tawa: brush the top with water, flip once the base releases (1½ minutes), cook the second side 1 minute, then roast the water-brushed side directly on a gas flame until it puffs and chars in spots.

    Food safety: Keep hands clear of the open flame.

    A flatbread cooking on a hot griddle
    How it looks · Photo: Muhammad Khawar Nazir on Pexels

  4. Step 4

    Make a few dents in the hot roti and fill them with ghee (opens in a new tab). Serve with jaggery.

    • 2 min
    A finished dish being plated
    How it looks · Photo: Willians Huerta on Pexels

About this dish

Origin
Rajasthan, India · Well documentedEqually important in Gujarat (rotlo), Haryana and Maharashtra.More food from India
Dish
Lunch · Dinner · Breads & flatbreads
Cooking method
Toasted
Taste
earthy, nutty, buttery
Diet
Vegetarian (lacto-ovo) · No gluten ingredients · No nut ingredients
All labelsVegetarian (lacto-ovo) · Eggetarian · Lacto-vegetarian · Pescatarian · Flexitarian-friendly · Whole-food focused · No gluten ingredients · Egg-free · No nut ingredients · Alcohol-free · Pork-free · Beef-free
Without the optional extras: No added sugarWith the listed swaps: Vegan, Plant-based, Ovo-vegetarian, Dairy-freeWorked out from the ingredients. How labels work
Good for
Budget-friendly
Cook more with
Pearl millet flour · Ghee
Techniques
Toasting · Spice roasting (dry-roasting) · Kneading

Allergens

  • Contains, can be adapted: Milkfrom ghee

Based on typical versions of these ingredients and not verified allergen-free. Brands differ and cross-contact happens, so always check labels. For severe allergies, follow your clinician’s advice.

Nutrition

221 kcal per serving

Calculated

1 serving ≈ 72 g · recipe makes 5

Where the energy comes from

  • Protein 9%
  • Carbohydrate 62%
  • Fat 30%
Nutrition per serving and per 100 g
NutrientPer servingPer 100 g
Energy221 kcal307 kcal
Protein4.9 g6.8 g
Carbohydrate34.3 g47.6 g
Net carbohydrate32.7 g45.4 g
Sugars0.8 g1.1 g
Added sugars0 g0 g
Fibre1.6 g2.2 g
Fat7.3 g10.1 g
Saturated fat3.6 g5 g
Trans fat——
Cholesterol——
Sodium119 mg165 mg
Salt equivalent0.3 g0.4 g
Vitamins & minerals per serving
Potassium
102 mg
Calcium
10 mg
Iron
1.8 mg
Magnesium
55 mg
Vitamin A (RAE)
—
Vitamin C
0 mg
Vitamin D
—
Vitamin B12
—
Folate (DFE)
19 µg

How these numbers were made

  • Calculated from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) per-100 g values and the listed quantities.
  • Optional ingredients are not included: jaggery / palm sugar.
  • “—” means the value isn’t known for enough of the ingredients; it is never zero by default.
  • Values are estimates for guidance, not for medical dosing. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov.

Good to know

Tips

  • Some cooks add 2 tbsp atta to make the dough easier to pat; it will then contain gluten.

Common mistakes

  • Making the rotis thin — bajra is meant to be thick and soft inside.

Serve with

  • Serve with lehsun ki chutney, kadhi, ker sangri or sarson da saag, plus white butter and jaggery.

Storage

  • Best warm. Leftovers are crumbled with ghee and jaggery into churma.

Reheating

  • Warm on a tawa with a little ghee.

Original editorial recipe · FriendsPantry editorial · Not yet independently reviewed · Added · Updated

Sauces, chutneys & dips for this dish

Recipe DNA

How this dish is built

Built from the recipe’s own sections. Each band’s width is its share of the dish by weight. Choose a component to see what it does.

What the dish is built around

Main ingredient

Used in steps 1, 2

Baker’s notes

Customise in Bread & Bakery

Timeline and readiness cues

  1. Mix and knead · about 40 min

    Knead until smooth and soft; it should feel like an earlobe.

  2. Start to finish: about 40 min. Times are a guide — warmth changes everything; follow the cues.

If something goes wrong

  • Pale crust

    Likely causes

    • Oven too cool
    • Too little sugar or no milk/egg for browning
    • Over-fermented (yeast ate the sugars)

    What to do

    • Check the oven with a thermometer
    • Brush with egg wash or milk
    • Shorten the fermentation
  • Burnt bottom

    Likely causes

    • Tray too close to the heat
    • Dark tray absorbs more heat
    • Too much sugar in the dough

    What to do

    • Bake on the middle shelf
    • Double up trays or use a light-coloured one
    • Lower the temperature 10–15 °C and bake a little longer
  • Tough or chewy flatbread

    Likely causes

    • Dough too stiff
    • Not rested
    • Cooked too slowly on too cool a pan

    What to do

    • Add water until the dough is soft and slightly tacky
    • Rest 20–30 minutes covered so the gluten relaxes
    • Cook on a very hot tawa or pan — quickly

Reviews & corrections

Reviews come from signed-in cooks and appear after a moderator checks them. We never show made-up ratings.

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