i started making roti and tortillas at home a few weeks ago, and i am never buying them from the store again! they are too good made fresh, and unbelievably cheap as well. I just made some roti now. NOM!

4/1/2010 6:12:28 PM

how are you making them

4/1/2010 6:13:24 PM

homemade rofl

4/1/2010 6:13:38 PM

this thread is (ir)relevant to my interests

4/1/2010 6:13:44 PM

What got you started? -- Did you just buy a tortilla press on a whim?

(This is a good idea -- I often make my own pasta, so I should do this too.)

I also want to make some injera. Yum!

4/1/2010 6:16:57 PM

well, my basic recipe is 1 cup of whole wheat flour, 1/4 tsp salt, 1 tsp oil, and 1/2 cup warm water. mix it all up and knead the dough a little bit, then coat it in oil and let it sit, covered for 10 minutes. then you break that up into 8 balls and re-knead them. roll them out about 5-6" in diameter and then cook in a dry, heavy bottomed pan til they are puffy and a little browned on both sides.


atta flour is better for indian style breads. its made from durum wheat and has a lighter color and grainier texture than baking whole wheat flour. you can use cornmeal or regular flour too.


i dont press them, just roll them. what got me started is finding a huge bag of the flour on clearance at the grocery store for like a dollar and wanting to spend less on groceries.

[Edited on April 1, 2010 at 6:18 PM. Reason : ]

4/1/2010 6:16:59 PM

yeah, I totally FUBARed my homemade tortillas.

Not something i'm trying until I have a better rolling pin and/or a tortilla press.

4/1/2010 6:19:06 PM

Homemade tortillas are really good but it's so much trouble to make them, plus you can only cook 1 at a time unless you have a huge cook top.

4/1/2010 6:19:09 PM

well, time management is important in the kitchen, but its really not difficult at all. takes under a minute to mix the dough, and only a couple minutes to roll them out as well. plus while they are grilling they dont need constant supervision so you can prepare the rest of your meal in the interim.

4/1/2010 6:21:43 PM

I realize this thread is about the homemade comestibles....which I do not often make. Hear me out, maybe I can offer some insight.

I am in outside sales, which is currently salary+commission, but will move into straight commission starting at the beginning of July 2010. I have been in this position since July 2009. I have competition from several direct manufacturing sales reps, large distributors, and local distributors. Here are the advantages and disadvantages of each:

Direct Advantages: Immediate knowledge of new technology, no middle man mark up, one shipping bill (paid by manufacturer or buyer of goods), access to larger range of non-commodity items, control inventory, have access to many distributors that can effectively sell their goods which increases market share, and set prices of commodity they manufacture.

Direct disadvantages: Typically have 1-3 sales reps per region (i.e. southeast, mid-atlantic, northeast, etc.) limiting the number of accounts they can successfully manage/cold-call, lack physical customer service or physical technical service available to or affordable for smaller users or altogether, are sometimes not trustworthy because they will go in behind their distributors that sell their commodity to one account in large quantities (i.e. they missed a big account, and have found out about it through a distributor selling their particular product) which leads to the distributor not selling their product anymore, have too many distributors selling the product ultimately driving the set price down through deviations, possibly rely on distributors to actually sell the product, and competition from other direct sources.

Large distributor advantages: have access to other commodities that go hand in hand with other manufacturers (poor example- grocery stores sell milk as well as cereal), get direct pricing, many locations regionally or nationally easing the shipping burden of buyers with multiple locations, personal service either customer or technical, many sales reps that are able to cover a broader territory, access to multiple manufacturers of the same commodity allowing to keep prices in check, service programs that smaller companies can't offer and direct providers can't match in price or value, and experts of many many commodities as opposed to one or a few.

Large distributor disadvantages: smaller local distributors creating price wars (think Michael Scott Paper Co vs Dunder-Mifflin), direct mfg's going in behind and stealing business, limited access to all of the mfg's (you won't find Harris Teeter name brands in Food Lion and visa versa), can't truly set prices because it's based on both supply and demand, territory management, and tough growth prospects in slower economies (this is true for direct as well really)

Local distributor advantages: Typically a good ol' boy setting where the seller and the buyer know each other for years (this does happen at all levels, but mostly at the local level), local folks are right down the street and can be used in emergencies, if the local guy buys at high enough volumes then there is no shipping charge to the end user, and access to both direct mfg's and large distributors.

Local distributor disadvantages: easily beaten in price, array of commodities, array of technology, lack of trained staff, low cash flow, etc etc etc.

This is what I have noticed in my six months, I am sure there are plenty more that need mentioning. The way I am setting myself apart as a sales person is this: I go after the big accounts right now while I am new. The big accounts, if I land them, will take care of me while I am new and building a customer base. The money made off of those allows me to focus free time on smaller accounts that get me higher margins. I build up big accounts, I would like to have 5-10 of these, then get 20-30 medium accounts. If I lose 1 or 2 big accounts, the 20-30 medium accounts keep me afloat while I go after new big accounts. I don't really waste time on small accounts simply because they basically pay for breakfast or something really small.

I will say this, if you can't get a big account in the first 6-8 months (assuming you have cash flow that you can ride this long) you could be in a world of trouble. If you can get one, it will really make going after the others a lot more enjoyable and less stressful. It's simply just very exhausting wasting any time on anything other than big accounts in the very beginning. You work just as hard on the medium sized accounts and see 1/3 to 1/36 of the money in my situation.

If you have any other questions, you can PM me. I hope this helps in the slightest!

4/1/2010 6:22:46 PM

I made pitas one time, but my oven needed to be at 500, plus I had to keep opening the door to remove the pitas, and overall, it took forever and was probably a waste of gas. What I need is an old-fashioned wood-fired oven that will stay hot despite being open....

4/1/2010 6:23:39 PM

btw
if anyone wants some flour

I have 25lbs of it

it's cheaper to buy in bulk from sam's, and let some go to waste (though I ended up having adequate containers) than to buy the 5lb bags from the grocery store

4/1/2010 6:24:53 PM

you let SOME go to waste? 25 lbs is only some!? holy shit, how much did you buy!?

4/1/2010 6:26:04 PM

lol

Quote :

"(though I ended up having adequate containers)"

i.e., I didn't put any to waste, after all

But I had planned to.

4/1/2010 6:26:56 PM

well alright then. didn't know if perhaps you were buying flour by the pallet

4/1/2010 6:27:41 PM

there are some great vids on youtube that show the process. i like these two girls. http://www.youtube.com/user/ShowMeTheCurry

4/1/2010 6:28:23 PM

i hate their username

4/1/2010 6:28:46 PM

Quote :

"well, time management is important in the kitchen, but its really not difficult at all. takes under a minute to mix the dough, and only a couple minutes to roll them out as well. plus while they are grilling they dont need constant supervision so you can prepare the rest of your meal in the interim."

Not difficult, no, but considering the alternative of just buying them I would consider the extra effort trouble.

It's not hard to make pie crusts or cake frosting either but I usually buy those things too.

4/1/2010 6:28:58 PM

Oh god no
I only have so much freezer space

^ew.

[Edited on April 1, 2010 at 6:29 PM. Reason : sd]

4/1/2010 6:29:02 PM

I used to do this but its been several years. I should start making them again if I can remember what I did. No press, just a rolling pin.

I would make them in the afternoon to be used for dinner, and my brother and sister would steal them before dinner time. I guess they were that tasty that they couldn't wait to eat them.

4/1/2010 6:29:47 PM

well, I live in canada now and a bag of tortillas is upwards of 3 dollars. Making my own is virtually free, they cost maybe 1 cent each. plus i love to cook so its fun for me.


I tried making some Puri but i dont think the recipe i tried was good the first time around. i might try paratha soon too

4/1/2010 6:36:36 PM