Zulqarnain, The Empire of Akmal, and Roti

And it's a better morning today. Zulqarnain Haider is safe in the UK, and his family is under police protection in Lahore.  Hopefully they'll be able to join him very soon.  According to some reports, he's asked for asylum and has retired from cricket.  According to other reports, he's only in the UK for a month and will be returning to the Pakistan team if he's provided with security.  It's all confusing, but I am so glad he's safe, and I sincerely hope that there are better days ahead for him.  He's an honest, hardworking, good-natured fellow and deserves so much better!

Zulqarnain's replacement (and those are big shoes to fill, Z is a great wicket-keeper) will be another Akmal.  This means there will be three Akmal brothers on the team:  Umar the batsman, Kamran the team's regular wicket-keeper (indisposed due to surgery), and now Adnan.  I have no idea why Adnan got selected; on Wikipedia he is described as being an "adequate" cricketer.  Not exactly a glowing recommendation.  Well, let's hope he performs better than Kamran.  Old Kamran has been a bit of a hot mess lately and is wildly inconsistent.  I was hoping that Sarfraz Ahmed would take over the wicket-keeping role, but hey, why not start a family dynasty in cricket.  It's so much more glamourous than a team consisting of talent!

Sarfraz Ahmed, in good wicket-keeping form

As the caption says...a hot mess

Ok, enough of the mean stuff from me.  I must say that I do like Kamran Akmal's chirpiness during matches and the games are strangely quiet without him.  But I'd be happier without the dropped catches!  Sorry Kamran.

So, today I'm going to tell you how to make roti, or unleavened flat bread to go with the "drier" salans.  Roti is made with atta flour, but plain whole wheat flour will also do the trick.  We'll just make a small amount today to get some practice.  Get out your rolling pin!

Ingredients
1 cup atta or whole wheat flour
1 pinch salt
1/2 cup water

Stir everything together, and start kneading with your hands.  The dough should slightly stick to your little fingers.  If the dough is too dry, you'll get a tough and unpleasant roti.  Knead it for at least 5 minutes.  The dough should turn elastic.  

Put the dough in a bowl and cover it with a damp cloth and let it sit for about an hour or longer.  This allows the flour to absorb all the water and swell a bit.  The texture will also change; the dough might look and feel a bit like silly putty.  It will be very elastic and stretchy. 

Tear off a piece about the size of a golf-ball and roll it into a ball.  Then dip this ball into a bowl of flour (so that it won't stick when you flatten it).

With your rolling pin, roll out the ball of dough into an 8 inch circle on a floured surface.

Put a flat pan on medium heat on the stove.  Do not use any oil.  When the pan is hot, place the raw roti on it, and after a few seconds, press down on the roti with a clean tea-towel and rotate the roti  a couple of times.  This will make the roti inflate.

Flip the roti over when it looks like it's drying out a bit.  Press down on the roti and rotate it a few times again to make it inflate even more.  When it has nice dark brown spots on it, it is done.  Eat immediately or place in a towel, then in an airtight container to keep warm.

There is another method to cook roti, which saves a lot of time because several can be cooked at once.

Preheat your oven to 250C or over 400 F.  Take the raw roti and place it directly on the oven rack.  After about 2 minutes, the roti will be fully inflated, looking like a little football and will be slightly browned on top.  That means it's done!

Some people like to put some ghee or butter on the roti as soon as it's out of the oven  or pan in order to keep it soft.  I'll leave that up to you.

And finally, one last tip:  if you want extra soft rotis, add a tablespoon of yoghurt to the flour and water mix. 

Have a good one today, and let's hope this Adnan kid does a half-decent job wicket-keeping. Go Pakistan!

Happy eating, and happy cricket!