Vegan – Dairy Free adaptable.

In every Gujarati household, the leftovers get a makeover! The rotli is no exception~ Vaghareli rotli is made from day old or leftover rotli’s, tempered with spices in a yogurt sauce, add leftover rice to this savory hotchpotch and you’ve got the ultimate comfort food for a rainy day, or for a light lunch or dinner.

Sharing my Mum’s traditional vaghareli rotli the way she taught me, as well as my MIL’s “Batakiya”.   

 Make it vegan by using vegan yoghurt. 

Ingredients:

• 6 leftover rotli– shredded into bite sized pieces.
• 1/2 bowl leftover rice (or more)
• 1 cup yogurt (Greek works well)
• 1.5 cups water
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon mustard seeds/ rai
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds/ jeera
• Pinch of asafetida /hing
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic paste or 1 tsp. lasanyu marchu
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder2 green chilies chopped 
• 1 tsp. Pink Himalayan salt or to taste

Mum’s Method

1. Whisk yogurt and water in a bowl with turmeric and salt (and lasanyu marchu if using) and  keep aside
2. In a wok or heat oil, add rai and jeera and let it crackle. Then add the garlic and sauté for a minute.
3. Add the chopped rotli pieces (and rice if using) and sauté it for 3-4 mins on medium flame.
4. Add the whisked yogurt mixture and stir it continuously for 3-4  mins to avoid the yogurt from curdling, and let the mixture come to a rolling boil.
5. Continue cooking for another 2-3 minutes as needed to get the mixture to thicken, then turn off the heat. 
   
   

MIL’s method:

1. Heat oil, add1/2 tsp. each rai, methi (fenugreek seeds), jeera (cumin seeds) and few limbri (curry leaves-kadi patta) 
2. Then add garlic and 1 tsp. tomato purée turmeric powder and dhana jeeru (cumin-coriander powder), green chilies 
3. Then add roti and yogurt mixture and cook until sauce thickens. 

Note:
I added a bit of leftover rice as well to mine, its totally optional!

What is Rotli/Roti?
Roti or Chapati is an everyday staple in the South Asian household, it is an unleavened Indian flatbread made with only 3 or 4 ingredients- whole wheat flour (‘atta’ with a higher gluten content), oil, and water sometimes a little salt.

The words Chapatis and Rotis /Rotli are the same and used interchangeably. When someone mentions “Phulka Roti” it just means that it was roasted and puffed up over an open flame and finished off with a smear of ghee, butter or sometimes oil. These thin and soft breads are served with vegetable or meat curries, sometimes spread with ghee and sugar and rolled into cigars for kids, and sometimes leftovers are pan-roasted with a splash of oil for a snack.