Food & Lifestyle Photographer Sneh Roy grew up in Mumbai and currently lives in Sydney. She remembers her mothers’ flatbread with homemade butter as if it was yesterday. When mum comes for a visit, she always ask her to make some…

Photo credits: all photo’s are from Sneh Roy, cookrepublic.

“Food was a big part of my childhood. I remember mum making small batch chocolates, pickles and spice mixes to sell. I remember summers spent on rooftop terraces pickling raw mangoes for the cooler months, taking our custom made whole spice mixes to be ground, taking our rolled cookies to the communal bakery to be baked on large sheets in their commercial oven and milling our own flour every month. I grew up surrounded by fruit trees so jams, chutneys and cakes were a big part of growing up, my favourite!

Mum would cook fantastic vegetarian food every single day. She loved to cook seasonal dishes and was very invention in the kitchen. She was very focused on providing food for energy and to heal the body from inside out. In a fast paced city life where she would work part time, she would still manage to prepare a simple three course meal every single day.

My love of cooking comes from my mum.Sneh Roy

A can say my mum is a very good cook and my love of cooking comes from her. She used to make so many delicious dishes that I used to love but it was a simple flatbread smeared with homemade butter and a sprinkling of sugar that I loved when I was a child. It used to be my after-school snack. It is a tradition I have continued with my two boys who also love this simple dish. But when my mum comes for a visit, I always ask her to make this for me.

The smell of charred dough bubbles on the bread as it roasted over an open fire is what comes to mind first. Followed by the hiss of the air escaping the puffed bread as mum would slap it down on a plate and smear it with butter. Oh heaven! I was often enlisted to help her knead the dough for the bread. It was one of my most favourite things to do. I would often eat the dough too much which would later result in a tummy ache. The house smelled divine and my little brother loved it as much as I did. I have even blogged about that memory and bread…”

One of Sneh’s boys.

Sweet butter flatbread rolls

for 20 pieces
Ingredients: 2 cups whole wheat flour | 1/2 teaspoon salt | 1 tablespoon olive oil | 1 cup warm water + extra butter to spread | raw sugar to sprinkle | extra flour for dusting

Place flour in a big bowl. Add the salt and olive oil. Toss it gently with your fingers. Make a well in the centre. Add the water. Knead gently at first, then with more force. Knead for about 5 minutes until mixture forms a smooth, pliable dough (it should give when you poke it and spring back slightly like a soft playdough). If you feel it is too hard, add a tiny amount of water and continue kneading. If it is too soft, add a tiny amount of flour and continue kneading. Have fun doing it.
Divide dough into little dough balls the size and shape of golf balls. Roll each in the palm of your hand and flatten it into a 1/2 inch thick disc. Dust this with flour and using a rolling pin, roll into a circle 12 to 14 cms in diameter and very thin.

Heat a crepe pan/frying pan on high. Place rolled flatbread on the pan. In a few seconds you will see little buumps break out on the dough. Flip the flatbread gently and cook the other side for about 20 seconds. Flip again and cook the other side until you it looks completely cooked with no raw bits (darker dough). One flatbread takes about a maximum of 2 minutes to cook.

Repeat this with the remaining flatbreads, or stop first to slather your first flatbread with butter, sprinkle some raw sugar, roll and enjoy.

Note that you can make these flatbreads and use them as wraps for salads, scrambled eggs, grilled chicken or tofu. You could use them in place of tortillas or sandwich your favourite filling and press them in a panini press.

See more of the recipe here.

All photo’s credits goes to Sneh Roy.