Roat /Rote /Hanuman Ji Prasad.

(This recipe is Copyrighted and owned by Nanda Sahadeo. Anyone reposting it on their site without permission from Nanda Sahadeo is committing an infringement.)

Roat is one of those foods that our ancestors brought with them when they came from India. It is an offering,that  is made only for Hanumanji Puja (Jhandi). However, this can be made anytime to be eaten even without offering as it is after all a sweet. Many think Roat is difficult to make, you will see from this recipe how easy it is. All it takes is a little time and patience. Some people add raisins/currants into their recipe--this is not necessary at all and will be problematic if you want a nice crumbly roat. It can also cause your Roat to disintegrate when you fry it.. Some may add ground elaichi or cinnamon. This is to your taste or preference. It is a no-no to use a rolling pin to make the Roat, this will make it compact and tough. Use the ball of your palm to flatten the dough. This will allow the Roat to keep its soft texture and will come out flaky. A good Roat should break easily too.

This recipe will make 10 small sized roats like this size...

Or 5 larger sized Roats. Once you make the dough, you can choose your own size and with practise, will get your desired size. The key is to make sure that you fry them properly.

Ingredients:

4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
1-1 1/4 cups milk
1/2 cup ghee + ghee for frying.

Method:

1. In a deep bowl, mix the flour and ghee together until it is evenly mixed and is crumbly.

2. Add the sugar and mix until it resembles coarse bread-crumbs.

3. Add the milk a little at a time. Bring together to form a soft dough. It may or may not need all of the milk. Please do not knead the dough or else you will get a tough textured roat.

4. Divide into desired size--I made them the size of a tennis balls and this yeilded 10 roats with this recipe.

5. Sprinkle some flour onto a flat plate, place one of the ball into the center. Using the flat of your palms, press down gently but firmly to flatten into a evenly round shape. Then take your finger and make a small hole in the center--this allows it to fry evenly.

6. Pour ghee into a heavy bottomed karahi/pan-- it should cover the pan at least about 4 inches or so.
7. Heat the ghee --not so hot that smokes come off or else it will brown too fast and will be raw inside.
8. Gently lower a roat into the pan. The flame should be medium low.

9. Allow to brown on one side then flip to fry the other. Do not get impatient at this point. If you flip it before it is properly cooked on the first side, it may crack when you flip it. Wait until you notice the edges are getting a little golden and then you know for sure it is time to flip.

10. When both sides are a nice medium brown, remove and drain.

Your roat is ready to serve to Hanumanji.

PS.
The size of the Roat is upto you. We made a Mala of 108 Roats for our Puja. Am sharing the photo from the Puja and you will see the Roats. Hanuman Ji is in the Background .