Desi ghee roti
Preparation Time
15 minutes
Cooking Time
25 minutes
Difficulty Level
easy
Meal Type
Dinner
Serves 4
Key Ingredients
- Ghee, for brushing
About This Recipe
In north Indian homes the last thing a phulka meets before the plate is ghee: a brush or a spoonful spread over the hot bread while it is still puffed. That is the whole difference between a plain roti and a desi ghee roti. The rotis below are classic phulkas, each rolled from 30 g of atta and puffed on a dry tawa, with the ghee added after the puff, never in the dough.
Why brush after the tawa and not knead the ghee into the dough? Ghee in the dough makes a softer, paratha-like roti that puffs less; brushed on after, it keeps the phulka's papery puff and sits on the surface where you taste it. The everyday measure is a teaspoon per roti; two make it richer, and the table below shows what each measure adds.
One phulka holds the atta of 30 g, so these numbers are for a single roti with different amounts of ghee.
| Per roti | Kcal | Protein |
|---|---|---|
| brushed with 1 tsp ghee | 142 | 3.2 g |
| brushed with 2 tsp ghee | 187 | 3.2 g |
| brushed with 3 tsp ghee | 232 | 3.2 g |
The protein stays the same because ghee adds fat and nothing else in the count; the protein comes from the atta. Use a bilona ghee for the brushing, since its aroma is the whole point of the extra spoon.
Ingredient List
Serving Size:
1x
2x
3x
Dough
- Whole wheat flour (sharbati atta) — 2 cups
- Warm water (plus a spoon or two more if the dough feels dry) — 3/4 cup
- Salt — 1/2 tsp
For rolling
- Dry atta, for dusting the board — 2 tbsp
For brushing
- Ghee, for brushing — 8 tsp
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Serving Suggestions
Serve the rotis hot, straight from the tawa to the plate, with dal, a dry sabzi, raita or pickle, or wrap one around a spoon of jaggery for children. Leftover phulkas keep for up to two days in the fridge and soften again on a warm tawa; older ones are exactly what desi ghee churi is made from.
Tips for Cooking Desi ghee roti
Knead the dough until it is smooth and just short of sticky; a dry dough rolls into stiff rotis and a wet one into torn ones. Let the tawa get properly hot before the first roti, and press the phulka with a cloth the moment it puffs, or it deflates into a chewy disc. Brush the ghee while the roti is still hissing; a cool roti just carries the ghee on top.
Chef’s Note
The puff is the doneness cue that matters: a phulka that has puffed all over is cooked through, and the ghee brush finishes it. With a teaspoon of ghee a roti comes to about 142 kcal, with two about 187 and with three about 232; the table keeps the three measures separate.
Per serving (approx.): 283 kcal, protein 6.4 g, carbs 39 g, fat 11 g, fibre 6.7 g. Computed from IFCT 2017 / USDA values for the listed quantities. Measures: 1 cup = 240 ml, 1 tbsp = 15 ml, 1 tsp = 5 ml.
Happy Cooking
!!
ByCOWBERRY
Jul 04, 2026
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