Shoti is a boat-shaped flatbread from Georgia made with flour, yeast, water, and salt. It is traditionally cooked in a toné, a Georgian clay oven, and is often eaten with salads. Variations of the recipe can produce other Georgian breads.
Shoti is a type of flatbread from the country of Georgia. It is one of many types of Georgian bread and typically made with white or wholemeal flour. Shoti is distinguished by its canoe or boat shape which makes it look something between an Indian roti and a naan. Due to its nature and name, it is likely of Indian origin or influence. In English, it is also called row bread and can be found in Georgian bakeries and restaurants around the world.
In addition to containing whole wheat or white flour, shoti is made with just a few ingredients: active dry yeast, room temperature water, and salt. The yeast is dissolved in the water, then the flour is added slowly to form the dough. The baker then divides the dough into lumps and takes each end of the lump of dough and stretches it until it’s in the shape of a boat. The number of shoti that can be made from the dough depends on how much is made and how big the shoti is.
Traditional Georgian shoti is cooked in a toné. A toné is the Georgian version of a tandoor or clay oven. The clay oven is made of air-dried clay and is round or beehive-shaped. Placed in the center of a room or bakery, the toné is lit early in the morning and heated using a wood or charcoal fire at its base. Like tandoors, the toné is covered with a wooden lid when the bread is baking.
When cooked in a toné, shoti takes up to 10 minutes to prepare. They should be crispy around the edges with a soft texture in the center. In the absence of a toné or tandoor, shoti can be fried in the same way as roti or baked, although the amount of time and quality of bread can vary from appliance to appliance.
Shoti forms a central element of Georgian cuisine and is often eaten hot and fresh or with a salad. Georgian salads that are eaten with bread include lobios, or bean, salad, katmi, or chicken, salad, and tevzis, or salmon, salad. They can also be eaten with Western salads made with spinach or eggplant.
Small variations in the recipe can create a number of other Georgian breads such as adding cheese to make kachapuri or adding beans to make lobiani. If sugar and spices are added to the basic shoti mix, it produces a spiced bread called nazuki. Other Georgian breads include tonis puri, mexumi puri and cadi.
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