Just Roll with It Sukhprit Kaur

“Let’s try that again” my Mom says as she picks up the piece of dough that I have rolled into an unrecognizable shape. “Now remember, the key to making your roti round is to move your shoulders and loosen your grip on the rolling pin.” I do as my mom says and achieve a rounder, yet still unevenly shaped roti, an Indian flatbread that is made in Punjabi households every day. My brother strolls in and laughs as he sees me roll out yet another unrecognizable shape. “You better try that again and make your rotis as round as the moon, or you won’t get married” he jokes as he grabs a water bottle from the fridge. I laugh along with him to the simile that has been used for ages.

It’s true that to this day many young girls’ eligibility for marriage is based on the roundness of her roti. Thankfully, I won’t be as judged on it as harshly because that only remains prominent in the rural parts of India now. However, I am still expected to be able to make round rotis for my future in-laws. That is why my mom is ever-so-patiently teaching me to make my rotis round, or as round as I am able to get them.

After numerous failed attempts, I feel like giving up. Okay Sukhprit, you can do it. Let’s try that again. I take a pinch of dough off the...