Katlam

Sheetal Raina

During the lockdown in 2020, many of us found solace in cooking and turned into chefs, rediscovering old family or traditional recipes. I came across Namrata Raina’s Katlam recipe that year and have successfully recreated it a few times since. I’m sharing her recipe here and hope that you can also enjoy the familiar taste. While I’ve transcribed the recipe below, you can also check out her YouTube channel for a step-by-step guide.

Ingredients: 

All-purpose flour: 2 cups

Salt: ½ tsp

Ghee: 10 tbsp (for making paste)

Rice flour: 3 tbsp (for making paste)

Egg yolk: 1 (for egg wash)

Poppy seeds (options) 

Do not use baking powder, baking soda or yeast

1. Gently knead the flour into soft dough with salt and water. Apply some ghee over the dough. Cover the dough and let it rest for 15 minutes. Divide the dough into 4 portions. Roll out one portion into a thick round roti.
   
2. Mix the ghee and rice flour to make a paste. Apply ghee paste all over the roti and make folds (lengthwise trifold, then fold into small square, check out the video). Roll the roti and make a very thin square shaped layer and apply ghee paste all over it and fold into half, twice. Roll out into square again.
   
3. Divide the square into 4 equal parts, fold one part into the another, roll into a ball and roll out into small round. Do the same with other 2 parts.
   
4. Grease a baking tray, place all the Katlams on the tray. Apply egg wash/milk over the katlams. Sprinkle some poppy seeds. 
   
5. Preheat the oven for 35 minutes at 250 C and bake at the same temperature for 15 minutes.