Instructions: Indian bread is always served freshly baked. The origin of the roti or bread can be dated back to Aryan times when early migrants settled along the fertile Indus valley. The Punjabis of that region soon assimilated the roti into their own cuisine making it a staple food. Today it is common to see a family sitting down to fresh rotis mostly of cornmeal served piping hot.

manufacture
In India corn is commonly called maize and is grown as a vegetable or for grinding into flour Native to South America corn is grown in several countries. The golden grain is studded on cobs which are enclosed in a lime green fibrous casing with wispy tasselled tops. Coarse milling of the dried grain gives cornmeal and finer milling produces coinflour which is rich in fats and carbohydrates.

appearance and taste
Comflour is fine white an soft. It is odourless and has a mild taste. Cornmeal on the other hand is coarse grainy and pale yellow in colour. It gives a chewy texture to the dish. If fried both the flours become very crisp.

buying and storing
As commeal has a high proportion of oil it does not keep very well. Buy small amounts and use up within 4 months. Commercially available cornflour has additives to increase its shelf life and as such it can be kept for up to a year.

culinary uses
Although cornflour is opaque and remains white when dissolved in water heat tums the solution transparent. That is why it is sometimes used to thicken curries without changing the colour or flavour. Cornmeal is added to batters and vegetables. Both are kneaded into a hard dough to make fresh bread or rotis. In other countries cornflour is made into porridge cakes or bread. Cornflour with milk and sugar sets to form a quick cold pudding. The flour is always first dissolved in cold liquid and then poured into hot liquid to cook it.

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