One of the cuisines that unfailingly cheers me up is Sindhi cuisine. Sindhi food is soul food at its best; simple, robust, full of flavour and just plain satisfying. So yesterday, when the lockdown and all its restrictions was getting to me, I made Sindhi Koki to cheer myself up. Indeed, the very thought of this filling wheat paratha laden with onion, chillies, and coriander was enough to drive away the blues.
Sindhis have been a major presence in my life. One of my next door neighbors for over three decades is a large Sindhi joint family, I live next to an apartment complex dominated by Sindhis, I studied engineering in a college run by Sindhis, one of my closest friends from college days is a Sindhi, the second job I held with a Sindhi family-run IT training firm, now several of my colleagues are Sindhis… the list could just go on. 🙂
Sindhis love to eat and to feed people and so food like Bhuga Chawal, Sindhi Kadhi, Macaroni Alu, Seyal Dabal (Seyal Bread), Dal Pakhwan, and more is something I relish. Anyway to cut a long story short, I love Sindhi food and among the favourites is Koki, a kind of thick roti flavoured with onions, green chillies, anardana (pomegranate seeds), cumin, and fresh coriander.
The perfectly made Koki is crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. All you need to enjoy this roti is chilled dahi and papad.
Tip 1: Koki has to be thick and so do not roll it thin. Keep it thick like a stuffed paratha.
Tip 2: The dough should be stiff but malleable. Do not make it soft like for roti because then it will stick when you try to roll it into a disc.
I first posted this recipe in July 2013 and have now updated it withe a recipe card and detailed stp-by-step photos.
How to Make Sindhi Koki
- To Make the Dough
- Mix the wheat flour, onion, salt, green chillies, cumin, anardana powder, chopped coriander, and 2 tsp oil.
- Gradually add water and knead into a firm dough that is harder than that of rotis. I needed less than 1/4 cup water to knead the dough. Remember the onions are also moisture rich.
- Cover and set aside for 10 minutes. This is an optional step
- Mix the wheat flour, onion, salt, green chillies, cumin, anardana powder, chopped coriander, and 2 tsp oil.
- Making the Sindhi Koki
- Divide the dough into 2 equal parts.
- Using a floured surface, roll each part into a thick circle about 5″ in diameter.
- Heat a tava and spread a little ghee on it.
- Place the koki on the hot tava.
- Cook over medium heat till the side touching the tava is evenly cooked and browned.
- Drizzle a few drops of ghee along the edges, if required.
- Drizzle a few drops of ghee on the face-up side of the koki and spread with a spatula.
- Flip the Koki and cook the other side.
- Once again, drizzle a few drops of ghee along the edges, if required.
- Divide the dough into 2 equal parts.
- When the Koki is cooked, serve hot with dahi and papad.
Recipe for Sindhi Koki
Sindhi Koki
Ingredients
- 1/2 Cup Wheat Flour (~75 gms)
- ¼ Cup Finely Chopped Onion (~40gms; 1 medium-sized onion)
- 1 tsp Finely Chopped Green Chillies (~2 green chillies)
- 1/4 Cup Finely Chopped Coriander Leaves
- 1/2 tsp Cumin Seeds
- 1/2 tsp Anardana Powder, Pomegranate Seed Powder
- 2 tsp Oil
- Salt to Taste
- Water (< 1/4 Cup)
- 1 tsp Ghee
Instructions
- Mix the wheat flour, onion, green chillies, cumin, pomegranate seed powder, chopped coriander, salt, and 2 tsp oil.
- Gradually add a little water at a time and knead into a firm dough.
- (Optional) Cover and set aside for 10 minutes.
- Divide the dough into 2 equal parts.
- Using a floured surface, roll each part into a thick circle about 5″ in diameter.
- Over medium flame, heat a tava and spread a little ghee on it.
- Place the koki on the hot tava, and cook till the side touching the tava is evenly cooked and golden brown. Drizzle a few drops of ghee along the edges, if required.
- Drizzle a few drops of ghee on the face-up side of the koki and spread with a spatula.
- Flip the Koki and cook the other side till it is golden brown. Once again, drizzle a few drops of ghee along the edges, if required.
- Serve the Sindhi Koki hot with dahi and papad.
Notes
- To make Anardana Powder, dry roast 1/2 tsp of anardana seeds for 1 or 2 minutes and then grind to a coarse powder.
- If you do not have pomegranate seeds (anardana), use black pepper instead.
- You can make a “no onion” version of the Koki using just black pepper and red chilli powder.
Very similar to pyaaz ka Paranthas made in north, but not quite as popular as its other stuffed varieties. I love Sindhi kadhi..please, Do post the recipe sometime, if you got one 🙂
Hi Sonal,
Thanks for stopping by!
I certainly will post Sindhi Kadhi soon. I love it as well.
Aruna
🙂 thanks.
My all family members specially my kids love Paratha so much .This type of stuffing is really good.I want to omit green chili and will add chili powder in small quantity.Because some times green chili make it too hot.Thanks for sharing.
Hi Tanushree,
Red chilly powder will work too. And serve it with a dollop of white butter…. Yummmmm 🙂
Aruna
Yes Aruna,I will definitely serve this with a dollop of white butter…Sounds yummmmmmmmmm 🙂
I always think, “Today I’ll be good and have a curry free day. Then your post appears in my inbox. And I think, “Oh well, there’s always tomorrow………………”
But there is no curry involved here at all….. 🙂
Thank you, Sophie!
I have never heard of this recipe. Thanks so much for sharing.. Am gonna try this one soon
Do and let me know how it tastes. 🙂
I love Sindhi Dal Pakwan…never come across this one…but sounds super interesting….gonna try it soon.
🙂
Hi, I discovered this site recently and have been enjoying a ton of time browsing through your recipes. One question on this one though – I do not see where you are using the roasted cumin seeds or green chillies in your recipe. Do you just add them into the dough when you are kneading? Should the cumin seeds be powdered before they are added or are they put in whole?
Thank you for pointing out the oversight. I updated the recipe. It helps to know that people are actually reading my recipes. 🙂
Oh I am absolutely reading them and trying some of them out as well. Thanks for updating the recipe. And keep them coming.
🙂 🙂
Sounds different and yummy… 🙂 🙂
The picture is mouth watering. I am cooking and learning koki with your blog.
Thank you so much for sharing the recipe. My family loved it!
Thank you. I am happy to hear you liked it.