Roht

Ingredients

Dough

• 600 gplain flour
• 7 gfast-action dried yeast
• 150 gcaster sugar
• 1 tspfine salt
• 2 tspground green cardamom
• 250 mlwhole milk, lukewarm
• 120 mlsunflower oil
• 60 gghee, melted
• 2large eggs

To finish

• 1egg yolk beaten with 1 tbsp milk
• 2 tbspnigella seeds
• 1 tbspsesame seeds
• 1 tbspcaster sugar

Directions

1. Whisk the lukewarm milk with the yeast and a tablespoon of the sugar and leave 10 minutes, until it is visibly frothy.
2. Mix the flour, remaining sugar, salt and cardamom in a wide bowl, make a well and add the yeast milk, eggs, oil and melted ghee.
3. Bring together and knead on an unfloured surface for 10 minutes; the dough stays soft and slightly tacky from the fat but should pull cleanly off the work surface at the end.
4. Cover and prove in a warm place for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes, until doubled and domed.
5. Knock back gently, divide in two and pat each piece into a round 22 cm across and about 2 cm thick, directly on a lined baking sheet.
6. Stamp the pattern: press a fork or the tines of a khatam stamp in concentric rings from the centre outward, then run a knife tip round the edge to score a border. Press firmly, the dough will rise and half swallow the marks.
7. Prove the shaped loaves, uncovered, for 30 minutes while the oven heats to 180°C (350°F) fan.
8. Brush with the yolk wash, scatter nigella, sesame and the last spoon of sugar, and bake 25 to 30 minutes until deep chestnut brown and hollow when tapped underneath.
9. Cool on a rack for at least 20 minutes. Roht is cut in wedges and eaten with tea, and keeps four days wrapped in a cloth.

Technique

• Roht is enriched but not laminated, so the crumb should be close and cakey rather than airy. Overproving gives a bready, dry loaf that stales in a day.
• The stamped pattern is the point of the bread. Afghan families own a wooden khatam stamp, and different rings mark births, naming days and Nowruz.
• Use green cardamom ground from whole pods on the day. Pre-ground powder loses almost all its perfume in a few weeks and the bread tastes flatly sweet.

Substitutions

• No ghee: use the same weight of unsalted butter, clarified by melting and pouring off the milky solids, or simply add 60 g more sunflower oil for a plainer, softer loaf.
• For a dairy-free version, swap the milk for water and the ghee for oil; the crumb is slightly less tender but it still stamps and bakes well.

Variations

• Kabul bakeries make roht in one huge round scored into a wheel, sold by the slice.
• A Herati version adds a tablespoon of ground fennel seed and a pinch of saffron to the dough.

Frequently asked questions

What is Roht?

Roht is a bread & pastry from Afghanistan: sweet cardamom bread stamped with patterns, baked for births and Nowruz.

How long does Roht take to make?

Roht takes 30 min of preparation and 2 hr 15 min including proving of cooking. The recipe makes 2 large loaves, 12 wedges. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Roht?

Yes, within limits. No ghee: use the same weight of unsalted butter, clarified by melting and pouring off the milky solids, or simply add 60 g more sunflower oil for a plainer, softer loaf. For a dairy-free version, swap the milk for water and the ghee for oil; the crumb is slightly less tender but it still stamps and bakes well.

What is the most important thing to get right in Roht?

Roht is enriched but not laminated, so the crumb should be close and cakey rather than airy. Overproving gives a bready, dry loaf that stales in a day.