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On the weekends, I would often wake up late to the sound of Ammi saying utho roti banao which meant 'wake up and make some bread'. I would lazily get out of bed, excited about getting fresh hot, ghee crisped roti drizzled with honey and thick cream to go with my chai, not as much about making roti.
Ammi always neatly ties her hair and covers it with a head scarf while making any bread. It is roti among all food that deserves utmost respect, she says. I often marvel at how bread has such religious and cultural significance in almost every culture.
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Naan seems to be the popular flatbread outside India but back home naan is seldom eaten on daily basis and often limited to restaurants. In most North Indian homes, roti is the first thing to be made in the mornings. This unleavened flatbread is soft, light, wholesome and easiest to wrap around any morsel of food. The dough - a basic mix of flour and water when kneaded to different hardness and cooked differently (baked in tandoor, deep fried, layered) creates a unique bread, each one has it's own merit and combination with certain foods, but it is safe to say that a chapati pairs well with everything! If not with curries, it is equally good with a good old lemon pickle, chutney or with honey.
