Chapatti Or Roti, Indian Flat Bread Cooked on a Tava or Pan
Chapati or Roti or Phulka Cooked on a Tava
Mamta Gupta
This recipe is for people who have an electric cooker only or have a gas cooker but prefer not to make a mess on their it while cooking chapatties.
Chapatties are the staple food of North Indians, where rice is eaten in relatively smaller quantities than elsewhere in India. They are made either from whole meal flour or flour from which part or all of the husk (choker) has been removed. Some people like to smear each chapatti with a thin layer of ghee immediately after it comes off the fire. Though it tastes lovely with ghee, I prefer not to use any for health reasons. In my childhood days, it was considered mean or impolite to serve ghee-less chapatties to guests.
Size and thickness of a chapatti is a personal choice. I prefer mine not too thin and papery, there is no 'bite' to very thin ones. Many people choose to eat paper thin ones, it is totally a personal choice. Thin chapatti is also called 'Phulka'.
In my opinion, there is no better bread amongst Indian breads than a freshly made, crisp chapatti, eaten straight off the fire, with a hot (temperature) dal, vegetable or meat curry. Makes 15-20, depending on size.
Ingredients
500 grams chapatti flour
Enough water to make dough (enough to make a soft, pliable dough)
Optional:
Ghee, for smearing the surface of each chapatti
You can add 1/2 tsp. turmeric to the dough. Turmeric is a healthy spice and looks great. See last picture.
Instructions
Making dough: Save 2-3 tablespoons of dry flour or use extra, for dusting while rolling out chapatties. I keep about a cup in a round container, specifically for this purpose.
Place rest of the flour in a bowl and add enough water, a little at a time as you mix it in, to make a soft dough. If you are new at making chapatties, it is better to have a little firmer dough, which is easier to control while rolling out. Experienced Indian cooks prefer a softer dough which makes softer chapatties.
Knead for a couple for minutes, sprinkle a few drops of water on top, cover and leave to stand for 10-20 minutes or longer. You don't knead it for long. Pic 2
Knead a little again just before you are ready to begin. Now you should have a smooth, soft dough. Pic 3. You can make a dough in a food processor using a dough attachment.
Rolling out: Break dough into 10-15 portions, depending on the size and thickness of chapatties you prefer. Make each portion into a ball by rolling between your palms. I make one ball at a time as I go along, because I am quite quick now, after years of making them!
Heat a griddle or tava.
Dip/dust one ball into the dry flour, covering all sides, and roll out into a pancake shape with a rolling pin. You will need to roll it in dry flour on both sides a couple of time during this process. It should be rolled from centre out, with a flicking movement of the wrists, so that the edges are thinner than the centre. This helps them to blow up during cooking. Size is a personal choice, I make them around 16-18 cm. diameter.
Cooking:
Place the chapatti on a hot griddle or tava. I have a large tava, so I often make 2-3 chapatties at a time, but beginners should only cook one at a time.
Turn it over when it becomes slightly darker in colour.
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 very gently all over, turning it over on the other side too, until all areas are cooked on both sides. It should have a few blisters on each side. Some people prefer their chapatties to be pale, with no brown blisters on them, but I prefer them to be be fully cooked. If serving straight from the tava, they should be crisp.
To Store: If not eaten straight away, you can store them in an insulated Chapati box/dabba, as shown in picture. Wrap them in a kitchen towel to absorb the moisture released as they cool. Alternatively, you can make a pile and wrap them in double thickness of aluminium foil, to be reheated later. Foil wrapped chapatties can be reheated by leaving them in a Hostess Trolley.
To Freeze:
Cook and cool them completely spread out on a towel. Make stacks of the number you usually need and place them in a plastic sandwich bag. Label and freeze.
Half cook them up to griddle/tava stage, cool them and then freeze in bags. They can be finished off under a grill or as described in making chapatties.
