How to Make Rice Flour at Home: Chawal Ka Atta and Chawal Ki Roti (Video)

Transcript

Did you know one kilo of rice yields almost a kilo of flour?

Did you know one kilo of rice yields almost a kilo of flour?

Homemade Rice Flour

Did you know one kilo of rice yields almost a kilo of flour? Today I’ll show you how to turn plain rice into fine flour at home, and why that matters for tasty roti, crispy pakoras and more.

At a glance

A quick snapshot: half a kilo of rice gives you about 480 grams of flour after sieving. Use ordinary white rice or broken basmati for the best result. Keep it in a dry, airtight jar and it will stay fresh for two to three months.

Make rice flour step by step

Start with clean rice straight from the bag. A quick wash makes the flour whiter and softer, but you must dry it completely, damp flour will sour fast. Spread the washed rice on a clean cotton cloth, fan it for three to four hours, turning once. Then grind one-cup batches in a dry mixer, doing 15- to-second bursts with short rests so the flour doesn’t heat up.

Fine vs coarse flour

Fine, silky flour behaves like cornflour, perfect for chawal ki roti, baking, and batter for pakoras. A medium, slightly sandy texture works well for idiyappam, pithe, chilla, and thickening curries. Coarse ground rice, similar to fine suji, is ideal for firni, kheer, or a crunchy coating on fish and tikki.

Crack-free chawal ki roti

Rice flour has no gluten, so cold water gives a crumbly paste. Bring a cup of water to a boil with a pinch of salt and a teaspoon of ghee, then turn off the heat. Stir in a cup of fine rice flour quickly until no dry spots remain, cover, and let it steam for ten minutes. While still warm, knead with wet palms for three to four minutes until the dough feels like soft clay. Add a splash of hot water if it feels dry. Stack the cooked rotis in a cloth to keep them from drying out.

Rice flour in pakoras & desserts

For extra crunch, mix two tablespoons of rice flour into every cup of besan before frying pakoras. The rice starch creates a glassy, crisp shell that stays crunchy as it cools. The same trick works for tempura-style batters and fried fish. For firni, whisk four tablespoons of coarse rice flour into half a cup of cold milk, then stir it into a litre of simmering milk until smooth.

Gluten-free baking blend

Rice flour is naturally gluten-free, but on its own it can feel dry and sandy. Blend two cups of fine rice flour with one cup of cornflour, tapioca or arrowroot, and add a teaspoon of isabgol husk per cup as a binder, or an egg per cup. Let the batter rest for fifteen minutes so the flour hydrates before baking. For anyone with coeliac disease, grinding clean rice at home and storing it in a sealed jar is safer than buying bulk flour that may have shared equipment with wheat.

Worth knowing first

If your flour smells sour, looks grey or green, clumps, or has insect webbing, toss it. Brown rice flour goes rancid quicker because of the oil in the bran. And for anyone with coeliac disease, stick to certified gluten-free flour or grind your own in a clean jar.

Storing rice flour long

Moisture and insects are the two enemies of rice flour. Keep it in a dry, airtight glass or steel jar in a cool cupboard away from the stove. White rice flour stays fresh for two to three months this way, or up to six months in the freezer. Brown rice flour only lasts about a month in the pantry, so freeze it for longer storage.

How it’s used

Across South India, women draw kolam patterns with rice flour each morning as a welcome and a snack for ants and birds. In Bengal, fresh rice flour makes winter pithe for Poush Sankranti, and Kerala’s puttu and appam start with it too. It also works as a gentle scrub base for skin.

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