In Kerala, one can’t get enough of pathiris during the month of Ramzan

Abida Rasheed, doyenne of Moplah cuisine, says: “I make all the different kinds of pathiris during Ramzan at home since my mother and husband are from different parts of Kannur, and my father is from Kozhikode.”

Dough it right

The three basic ingredients of rice pathiri are roasted raw rice flour, water and salt. The dough is made by cooking flour in boiling water. Kneading the dough itself is an art, and has to be done while the dough is still warm.

The bread has to be dusted generously with rice flour (that is why they are called podi pathiris as well). If these conditions are not met, pathiris may not puff up when they are cooked. “The flour should be of good quality. Besides this, the proportion of the flour to water will have to be correct to get the right consistency. It is not an easy process, but even now I make my own pathiris at home,” adds Ummi Abdulla, an 86-year-old expert of Moplah cooking.

Although pathiri or orotti flour is available in the market, many still use freshly milled flour. Rafiya CK, a home-chef from Kozhikode, says that at least five kilograms of rice flour, roasted and plain, are stocked in most households during the month of Ramzan to make pathiris alone. “While I use a press, at my in-laws’ place they make heaps of it using a rolling pin. And all of them look identical,” she says.

While the thin pathiris are rolled out using rolling pin or in pathiri press, the thick ones are hand-pressed by flipping the dough in the hands. Experienced cooks stretch and flatten the balls in no time with their hands. “Pathiris taste better if you cook them on a banana leaf instead of directly placing them on the pan,” says Abida.

Tyre pathiri, a hand-pressed variety made of boiled rice, is placed between banana leaves and cooked in clay pots. Then it is held upright using two spatulas and wheeled around in the pot to cook its edges. It tastes best with coconut milk, explains Rafiya. The trickiest to make is the super-light nura (foam) pathiri. A batter of rice flour and eggs is beaten vigorously, and the foam that rises to the top is poured on a hot pan.

Although coconut milk is considered the best accompaniment for pathiris, Abida says it can be combined with any curry, such as mutton stew or kurma, chicken curry with roasted coconut or fish curry. The katti pathiri-cumin chicken combination is a favourite at her home, says Rafiya. And among her favourites for Ummi is a dish made with maas or dried fish.

And then there are the pathiris that are prepared as snacks for Iftar. Popular ones include meen pathiri (steamed rice pancake with fish masala), irachi pathiri (double-layered puri stuffed with meat) and niracha pathiri (with sweet filling). Chatti pathiri, athishaya pathiri and ithal pathiri are all layered ones. While the first two are prepared with maida and has sweet and savoury fillings respectively, ithal pathiri is made using rice flour. “Ithal pathiri or ithal roti is so yummy. At the same time, it takes time to get the layers correctly,” says Ummi.

Thurkki pathiri or a spicy-sweet deep-fried dumpling is a traditional snack popular in parts of Kannur, she adds. Kunji pathiri (kakkarotti or kunji pathal) or steamed coin-shaped pathiris mixed in a meat gravy is also prepared in many households.

Thurkki pathiri is fried dumpling with sweet and spicy fillings
 
| Photo Credit:
Special arrangement

All said and done, the fillings can vary from one kitchen to the other. It all depends on the preferences of the family members.

However, in central and northern Kerala, while rice pathiri and orotti are a must, the accent is not much on the stuffed or layered pathiris, says chef Naushad, who hails from Thiruvalla in Kottayam district. “I prefer orotti to pathiri. We also have neypathiri, in which we add sesame and, sometimes, turmeric,” he says.

Kunji pathiri, kunji pathil, kakkarotti or chakkoli is steamed coin-shaped pathiris in a meat gravy
 
| Photo Credit: Nabila Shanavas

Thiruvananthapuram-based Nabila Shanavas, a home chef and restaurateur, prepares both the traditional and snack varieties, at home and to be sold as iftar snacks at her restaurant, O’roti. “Thanks to my sister-in-law who is from Kozhikode, we have a scrumptious spread of pathiris at home. Some of the dishes — muttapathiri or ottada, for example — come from my mother’s side who is from Thiruvamcode in Kanyakumari district. While we prepare it with rice flour and egg, in Malabar region they use maida. We have a special clay pot to cook this pathiri and it goes well with coconut milk or ghee, and sugar. Chakkoli is our version of kakkarotti. Then there is omana pathiri, which is basically maida dosa with a sweet filling,” Nabeela says.

The list just goes on, as experienced hands across the State experiment with taste, technique and ingredients in their kitchens in this holy month of fasting and feasting.