Step by step how to make mithi shitabi roti with photos. Shitabi literally means ’to hasten’and mithi means ‘sweet’. Shatabi is a ritual in the Dawoodi Bohra/bohri community done before any auspicious event to hasten and to pull the blessings. This roti is made in mithi shitabi ritual, and rich roti is eaten with jaggery (gol or gur). Nevertheless, it’s a rich and nutritious roti with sooji/ semolina/rawa and milk powder. Kids just love the roti and it’s very healthy and delicious. This roti is thick and has lots of oil so its crumbles easily. The crumbled roti mixed with jaggery is called choori which makes very nutritious and yummy food for toddlers and kids alike. Here’s the recipe for Chicken biryani and Kashmiri chicken that pairs very well in mithi shitabi.
How to make it?
Take semolina in a bowl and add 1 cup of water boiling water. It will quickly puff up add more water. I used whole 2 cup(250 ml) but add water slowly. Another way to puff up semolina is to soak it overnight. Add wheat flour, oil, milk powder, semolina, and salt in a thali or a large mixing bowl and mix very well. Only if you need to add more water add one tbs at a time to make a soft dough. I needed 2-3 tbs to form the dough. See notes 1 Add 2 tablespoon oil and knead for 2 minutes. And let the dough rest for 10 minutes. I kneaded the dough again for 1 minute after resting. If in case your dough feels hard in second kneading add 1 tablespoon water. If in case it feels too soft and sticky add flour. The dough has to be pliable only then you can make perfectly round circles of roti.
Oil the rolling pin and board or your flat surface.Divide the dough into two large balls.Roll it into a thick round circle, smear 1 teaspoon of oil, and dust it with flour.Roll it so you have two large and thick rolls.Place the griddle for heating.
Divide each roll into nine equal balls. Then flat the balls with your hands to form a disc. Only a perfect round disc will give perfect round roti.Roll each disc in flour so it is fully covered in wheat flour. Then roll it into roti. Use more wheat flour as required.Place the roti on a hot griddle/tawa.Flip it after 2 sec. See in the last photo only a few spots on the roti. The side that touches the griddle first is called the first side or ‘pehla par’. That has to be half-cooked.
Now the other side or ‘dosra par’ will be fully cooked. You can always check this by half-lifting the roti and peeking inside. Flip after 3-4 sec. But timing depends on the thickness of tawa, and heat of the flame so adjust accordingly.
See in the first photo, the second side has a small spot and is fully cooked. You can press the second side with clothes or any other tool so it puffs up.Take it off the girdle and smear the oil.Or you can fry on the Tawa with very little oil. It’s your choice but frying takes more time and more oil/ghee.Repeat the same to make the rest of the rotis and pile them in a hot pot.This roti is eaten with badam pista gur.
Notes:
You can use milk and water to knead the dough instead of milk powder. Just add 1 cup water in semolina, let it puff up well, then add ¾ cup milk in semolina instead of more water in step 1 of the recipe.
How to make Badam Pita Gol?
I usually make a small jar of this gur/ jaggery in winters that can be eaten with fresh hot roti by kids. I used only almond and pistachio but you can also add more dry fruits. Gur is an excellent blood purifier and helps digestion too. Spread powdered gur in a plate. You can chop gur/ jaggery with a knife or crush it in mortar and pestle. Sorry, the photo of gur plate is missing. Grind gond in mortar and pestle roughly. Take it out in a bowl. Similarly, roughly grind pistachio and almonds in mortar and pestle. Crush green cardamom in the mortar and pestle and remove its skin. Crush the black seed and place on a plate. This is my indian mortar and pestle, if you don’t have it, you can grind in mixer too. Just grind in small batches on lowest setting, pulsing twice only.
How to cook
In a pan heat oil on medium flame to heat but oil should not be highly heated. To check put the tiniest chunk of gond. If it puffs up immediately without burning oil is heated well. Reduce the heat to medium-low and add gond. The transparent crystals of gond puff up immediately, keep stirring. When all the gond has turned transparent. Remove on a plate and let it cool. Crush the puffed gond lightly in the mortar and pestle. We just want to separate the large lumpy chunks. Add this to the jaggery plate too. In the same oil add cardamom powder and let the aroma infuse in the oil on a medium flame. Add almond and pistachio, and fry for 20 seconds. Cool completely then spread the mixture over jaggery plate. But add the solid nuts first and add only as much oil as desired in jaggery. Mix well. Aroma-infused, crispy gur is ready to be eaten with wheat roti.
