It has a very nice taste and texture and is used for parathas, a type of flat bread. It's generally found only at an Indian store.

I took a Indian cooking class recently. So, then I bought some of the flour, and so far it's worked well as a substitution for white flour in muffins. But, it's generally not used with baking powder, etc., so I can't find much info about it.

Does it substitute equally for white flour, in general?

Ann.

Just tonight I made an apple pie with hot-water pastry crust (Fannie Farmer, Eleventh Edition), but I used Durum Atta flour.

It held together in a ball to be chilled, but, wouldn't roll out. So, I crumbled it into the pie plate and pressed it in.

I made the top crust using regular white flour, since I'd have to roll it out.

The pie was delicious this way!

I made another pie crust but mixed the two flours equally, this time.

At least for this type of shortening pastry crust, I think it's preferrable to use all durum atta (for bottom crust) if using it at all, and crumble and press it. My second pie tasted fine but I had a difficult time with the crust.

I'll have to look for that Indian cookbook, though, and try the recipes with the blended flours.