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Mitho lolo
Sweet jaggery flatbread
مٺو لولو (mitho lolo): Sindh's thick, crisp sweet flatbread of jaggery, ghee and cardamom
Thick, crumbly and caramel-sweet, mitho lolo is the Sindhi tea-time bread, made in batches in Karachi and Hyderabad homes and kept in a tin for a week of breakfasts, and Sindhi Hindu families bake it for Thadri, the summer festival when only food cooked the day before is eaten. Wholewheat flour is kneaded with jaggery dissolved in warm water and a generous amount of ghee, pressed into thick rounds, patterned with a fork and cooked slowly on a tawa until crisp outside and short and biscuity inside, fragrant with cardamom. It is dunked into milky tea or eaten with a little white butter. Too much heat is the downfall: the sugar scorches long before the middle cooks through. Chef's tip: keep the flame low and turn the lolo often, and let them cool on a rack, because they crisp up only as they cool.
- Total time
- 40 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 6
Ingredients
For the dough
- 4 oz jaggery (gur) or brown sugargrated
- ½ cup warm water
- 10 ½ oz wholewheat flour (atta)plus extra for dusting
- 1 /2 tsp ground cardamom
- 1 pinch salt
- 5 tbsp gheemelted
- 1 tbsp white poppy seeds or sesame seeds (optional)
For cooking
- 2 tbsp ghee
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Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Dissolve 4 oz jaggery (gur) or brown sugar in ½ cup warm water, stirring; strain if gritty and let it cool to lukewarm.
3 minStep 2: Mix 10 ½ oz wholewheat flour (atta), 1 /2 tsp ground cardamom and 1 pinch salt, then rub in 5 tbsp ghee until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
2 minStep 3: Add the jaggery water a little at a time and knead to a firm, smooth dough; cover and rest for 10 minutes.
5 minStep 4: Divide into 6 balls and press or roll each into a round about 12 cm across and 1 cm thick; prick the tops in a pattern with a fork and press on a few 1 tbsp white poppy seeds or sesame seeds.
3 minStep 6: Cool completely on a rack, then store in an airtight tin for up to a week.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 330 kcal
- Protein
- 5 g
- Carbs
- 46 g
- Fat
- 14 g
- Fibre
- 4 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does mitho lolo take?
- About 40 minutes in total: 15 minutes to prepare and 25 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 6 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- Can I make it ahead?
- Yes. It keeps well, so you can cook it earlier in the day or the day before and reheat it.
- What can I use instead of jaggery (gur) or brown sugar?
- Dark brown or muscovado sugar, same amount.
- What can I use instead of ghee?
- Butter, same amount (keep the heat a little lower, butter burns sooner).
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