Bread Loaf With Chapatti Atta Flour 2, A Step-by-Step Guide
Chappati Atte Bread
Paul Youd
Note from Mamta: It is difficult, if not impossible, to get hold of the 'strong' or 'high gluten' flour, which is best for bread making, in many places in India. A mix of chapatti flour and plain white flour (maida) works beautifully! So, if you have an oven, here is your chance to try it. If you do not have a bread tin, make it 'free-form' on a tray. I have made this bread with mixed seeds, dry cranberries and raisins, all worked well. You can try other additions of choice.
Why is bread called Double Roti in India? Here is an explanation from reader Chitra Rajyashree of USA: "When I was growing up in India, I asked my mother why they call bread 'double-roti'? This is what she told me; "it is called double roti because the mass of dough doubles up in size for making bread as the yeast works its magic!"
Read the Notes at the bottom of the page, before making the bread
Ingredients
150 gm chapatti flour+250 gm. maida white flour (40/60 mix). (You can use all 400 gm. plain white flour (maida) for white bread)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 sachet or 1 tsp. fast action dried yeast (or Easy blend yeast*-see notes)
250 ml. lukewarm water
1-2 tbsp. or a good glug of olive oil
A bread tin or a baking tray
Instructions
Making Dough:
Measure 250ml of lukewarm water. Place 100g of flour (from the 400 gm. measured) on top of the liquid and sprinkle the yeast over the flour. Stir vigorously and leave for five minutes. It will begin to look frothy when ready.
Place rest of the flour, yeast and salt in a large mixing bowl, or a 'paraat', and mix.
Pour the yeast liquid and olive oil into the flour. Have a little extra water to hand to add if necessary. It is better for your dough to be wetter/softer/slack, rather than drier or 'tight'. Soft dough makes softer bread.
Begin to mix by stirring the ingredients together. Use one hand to turn the bowl round, whilst the other hand begins to squeeze the mixture together. You should be constantly checking that the dough is soft and squeezable. Don't be afraid to add more water. As it forms into a solid mass, keep turning it over to pick up the flour at the bottom of the bowl, and squeezing it through your hands. When all the flour has been mixed in, wipe the bowl around with the dough, turn it out onto the worktop and begin to knead.
Knead by flattening the dough out (don't flour the worktop), folding it over, flattening it out, folding it over and so on and so forth, until it is smooth or until you get fed up! If the dough is too sticky, put some additional flour in the bowl and put the dough back in, turning it over to coat it with flour. Or, you can pour a little olive oil over the dough to make it easier to handle. This is just like making well kneaded chapatti dough.
Cover with a dry tea towel and leave to prove for about an hour or longer, on your worktop. Or place in an oiled plastic bag until you are ready for baking. Do not put it in your bread baking tin at this stage.
When you are ready for baking the loaf, take the dough out of the bowl/bag and place it on your worktop. Flatten it out into a rough rectangle, with one side the same length as your bread tin**. Roll the dough up tightly and place it in your prepared loaf tin with the seam side down. Leave to rise on your worktop and cover with a dry tea towel. When the loaf has risen enough, it will have roughly doubled in size. It should 'spring back' when pressed gently with a finger.
Baking:
Place it in a pre-heated oven to 220 C or Gas Mark 7 and bake for between 25 and 30 minutes, checking after 15 minutes to see if you need to move it around in the oven. The loaf is done when it is browned underneath (you have to take it out of the tin and look). If the top is done but the bottom is still pale, place the loaf back in the oven upside down in the tin.
**It has to be a rectangle so that when folded, it fits in the bread tin. Or you could free shape it and leave it to rise on a baking tray, ending up with a bloomer bread, a loaf with rounded edges, see picture 3 from top.
Notes
Simple bread making rules:
Use strong/bread flour, when available.
Don't kill the yeast with hot water. Always use tepid warm water. Make sure the dough is soft and squeezable. The more moisture you can keep in the bread the better it will rise and the longer it will keep.
Always give the yeast time to do its work after the final shaping wait until it has substantially increased in size before baking. Don't be in a hurry.
Look for some colour underneath the bread to indicate it's done. It's always better to over cook your bread than under cook it.
Activating Yeast*:
When using Easy Blend yeast, it is not strictly necessary to activate it, but the granules of yeast can remain visible in the dough, even after the dough has been kneaded for a while. This can look unpleasant. That is why I make a 'sponge' first. In the sponge I include some vitamin C which helps the gluten form. This can be 1 tsp. tomato puree or 1 dessert-spoon of fruit juice or 1/4 tablet of vitamin C, crushed.
(When using Active Dried Yeast, it has to be activated. If not sure which yeast you have, read the instructions on the packet.)
To make a sponge:
Measure 250 ml. of lukewarm water and add the vitamin C source to it.
Place 100 gm. of flour (out of the 400 gm. that you have measured for the bread) on top of the liquid and then sprinkle the yeast on top of the flour. Stir vigorously and leave for five minutes or longer. Do not worry about small lumps, they will 'dissolve' soon. When ready, it looks frothy.
Notes
Simple bread making rules:
Use strong/bread flour, when available.
Don't kill the yeast with hot water. Always use tepid warm water. Make sure the dough is soft and squeezable. The more moisture you can keep in the bread the better it will rise and the longer it will keep.
Always give the yeast time to do its work after the final shaping, wait until it has substantially increased in size before baking. Don't be in a hurry.
Look for some colour underneath the bread to indicate it's done. It's always better to over cook your bread than under cook it.
Activating Yeast*:
When using Easy Blend yeast, it is not strictly necessary to activate it, but the granules of yeast can remain visible in the dough, even after the dough has been kneaded for a while. This can look unpleasant. That is why I make a 'sponge' first. In the sponge I include some vitamin C which helps the gluten form. This can be 1 tsp. tomato puree or 1 dessert-spoon of fruit juice or 1/4 tablet of vitamin C, crushed.
(When using Active Dried Yeast, it has to be activated. If not sure which yeast you have, read the instructions on the packet.)
To make a sponge:
Measure 250 ml. of lukewarm water and add the vitamin C source to it.
Place 100 gm. of flour (out of the 400 gm. that you have measured for the bread) on top of the liquid and then sprinkle the yeast on top of the flour. Stir vigorously and leave for five minutes or longer. Do not worry about small lumps, they will 'dissolve' soon. When ready, it looks frothy.
