Making Chapati - Indian Bread

Chapati or roti is the traditional flat Indian bread, normally eaten with curries or cooked vegetables. It is made most often from wheat flour, cooked on a flat or slightly concave iron griddle called a tawa. It is similar to a tortilla in appearance. Like breads around the world, chapati is a staple accompaniment to other foods, may be spread with ghee (clarified butter).




Here are the ingredients:
1 1/2 cups Whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cup All purpose flour(maida) [For a 100% whole wheat chapati, substitute this with wheat wheat flour]
1 cup Water
5tsp Oil(sunflower or vegetable)
1tsp Salt
2tsp Sugar
1 cup wheat flour in a large plate for dusting the dough while rolling it out
Oil for brushing the chapathi

Method:

Mix all the above ingredients and knead it well to form a soft non sticky dough. Rest it for about 1/2 an hour.

Divide the dough into small balls. Flour the surface, using a rolling-pin, roll out the dough into a thin,round patty, about 4 inches in diameter.

Brush some oil over the surface and fold it into half and then fold it again into a triangle.


Dust the triangle with little whole wheat flour and roll into a large, flat triangle.

Preheat a non stick pan or a tawa over medium heat. Place the rolled dough on the palm of one hand and flip it over on to the tawa. When the color changes on the top and bubbles appear, turn it over and brush some oil over the surface. Flip it over and again brush some oil over the flipped surface. Cook lightly on both sides. When both sides are done, use kitchen tongs (chimta) to remove the chapati from the skillet.

Chapatis are usually eaten with cooked dal (lentil soup) or vegetable (Indian curry) dishes, and pieces of the chapati are used to wrap around and pick up each bite of the cooked dish.

You can have chapati with palak paneer, mixed vegetable palya or any other North Indian curries..

Tips
This chapati can be stored in air-tight containers in the freezer for upto 2 months. Just defrost and heat it up on tava before use or just microwave on high for a minute.