Instructions

1. Making the dough:
2. Place flour and dal in a bowl. Mix it in and make a soft and pliable dough adding as much or as little water as you need to get a pliable dough. The dough should not get too sloppy. If you are new at making parathas, it is better to have firmish dough, which is easier to control while rolling out. Experienced Indian cooks prefer softer dough, which makes softer roties, but it is a little more difficult to roll out. You don't need to knead it too much at this stage, just bring the dough together.
3. Leave covered for 15-30 minutes.
4. Knead briefly again, to make it smooth.
5. Rolling out the roties:
6. Place 2-3 tablespoons of dry flour on a plate. This will be used as dusting flour.
7. Break a golf ball size portion of dough and roll it into ball, using a little dry flour to dust.
8. Roll the ball in dry flour and place it on a flat surface. Then roll it out to approximately 7 cm. or 3 inches diameter, dipping it into dusting flour a couple of time to stop it from sticking.
9. Heat a griddle or tava.
10. Cooking:
11. Place the chapatti on a hot griddle or tava.
12. Turn it over when it becomes slightly darker in colour.
13. Cook the other side the same way. When it has a few brown blisters on the under surface, it is ready to cook on flame/under a grill.
14. Cooking on a flame: pick the chapatti with tongs, flip over and place directly on a medium flame, it will balloon up. Move it around continuously, flipping over frequently on both sides, coaxing it to balloon up. It should be cooked evenly all over. If you see steam escaping from somewhere, try to seal it with your tongs. The steam trapped inside helps the chapatti to balloon up and cooks it from inside.
15. Cooking under a grill: For beginners, it may be easier to cook chapatties under a hot grill. The grill pan should be low enough to allow the chapatti to balloon up without touching the flame or grill. Instead of putting the chapatti on gas flame, place it under a pre-heated grill, with non-blistered side up. Turn it over when it balloons up or gets a few brown blisters. Cook the other side. You have to be very watchful when cooking under a grill, because surface can burn very quickly as it comes closer to heat source when ballooning up.
16. Cooking on a griddle or pan alone: If you do not have a gas cooker or a grill, the Chapatties can also be cooked entirely on a tava/pan. 1. Place the chapatti on a hot griddle or tava. 2. Turn it over when it becomes slightly darker in colour. 3. Turn over once more. Press gently all over, using a kitchen towel, coaxing it to balloon up from the edges in, until the whole chapatti swells up into a ball. Continue to press it all over, turning over on the other side too, until all areas are cooked. Alternatively, you can buy a wire rack as shown in the picture and place it on top of an electric hob after the stage 3. Proceed as you would on gas, turning it over and cooking all over on both sides.
17. Serve hot and crisp. You can put a thin film of ghee or butter on one side before serving, but not for vegans.