Chapati Food

CHAPATI RECIPE

Steps:

• Combine all the ingredients. Continue kneading for 5 minutes until it is soft and pliable.
• Divide the dough into portions between 40g to 45g each.
• Apply some oil on the top of the dough. Cover it with a damp cloth and let it relax for fifteen to twenty minutes.
• Flour the work surface heavily.
• Flatten the dough with your palm. Dip the dough into some flour and shake off the excess.
• Roll out the dough with the rolling pin to a circle of 15cm/6inches in diameter. (Please refer to the video for demonstration).
• Set the stove to medium-high to heat the tawa.
• Place the chapati on the tawa. When some larger bubbles appear, turn it over to the other side and cook for another half a minute.
• When some brown spots are starting to form at the bottom, flip it over again so that the side with the brown spots is on top.
• Tap to deflate the air to avoid the chapati's contact point with the tawa from burning due to high heat.
• Flip the chapati a few times until you get the desired color and remove it from the tawa.
• Apply a light coating of ghee on the top side.

CHAPATI (INDIAN FLAT BREAD)

Steps:

• In a large mixing bowl stir together the whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, and the salt. Add 3/4 cup of the warm water while mixing constantly with your hands till the dough is moist. Add the remaining water, 1 tbsp at a time, mixing constantly with your hands. Keep working the dough till the dough forms a ball and holds its shape. (The dough will be stiff).
• Dampen your hands. Keep the dough in the mixing bowl to knead. Knead in an additional 2 tbsp all-purpose flour, if necessary, to make a moderately stiff dough. Knead dough till smooth and elastic (8 to 10 minutes). Continue dampening hands, as needed, during kneading. The dough is ready for shaping when you can lightly and quickly press two fingertips 1/4 inch into the dough and the dough springs back.
• Shape the dough into a ball. Cover the bowl with a damp towel. Let the dough stand in a warm place for 30 to 60 minutes.
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead dough 1 to 2 minutes more. Divide the dough in half. Form each half into a 12 inch long roll. Cut each roll into 12 one-inch pieces. Flatten each piece of dough with the palm of the hand.
• Sprinkle some flour over the flattened balls. Cover with plastic wrap. Let rest for 30 minutes.
• On a well floured surface roll the flattened ball into a circle 7 to 8 inches in diameter, turning the dough over once and firmly pressing and stretching the dough with the rolling pin.
• Roll around the rolling pin, and transfer to a hot, greased griddle or heavy skillet. Cook over medium heat about 1/2 to 1 minute or until tiny brown spots appear. Using tongs, turn and cook 30 seconds more. Remove from heat; Brush with Usli Ghee or melted shortening. Repeat with the remaining balls.
• Stack the hot Chapati in a napkin-lined breadbasket to keep warm. Serve immediately.

INDIAN WHOLE WHEAT GRIDDLE BREADS: CHAPATIS

Steps:

• Pour the flour and salt into a large bowl. Slowly pour water into the flour, moving your other hand through the flour in circular motions, until it starts to come together. Then, either in the bowl or on your counter (which you might want to lightly flour to prevent sticking), knead the dough for about 10 minutes. The dough should be soft and pliant.
• Return the ball of dough to the bowl and rub the surface of the dough with a little oil to keep it from drying out. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp cloth and allow to rest about 30 minutes.
• When you're ready to make chapatis, assemble your tools: a small, flat bowl of whole wheat flour, a small bowl of olive oil or melted butter with a small spoon in it, and a paper towel-lined plate or container for the finished breads.
• Heat a flat griddle or cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Meanwhile, on a lightly-floured surface, work the ball of dough into a long log. Cut into 12 equal pieces by cutting it in half, and then half again. Cut each of the quarters into 3 equal pieces. Return to the bowl and cover with a damp towel to prevent them from drying out.
• To roll the chapatis: Roll a piece of dough between your palms to form a ball, and then flatten with your palm. Dunk this puck in the bowl of flour, and then roll until it's a 4-inch circle. Spoon about 1/4 teaspoon of oil in the center of the circle, and spread it out almost to the perimeter of the circle using the back of the spoon. Fold the circle in half, then in half again, so it forms a triangle. Seal the edges, and dunk in flour again if it's sticky.
• Start rolling, turning the triangle a quarter turn after each roll, until it's about 6-inches wide, with an even thickness. After some practice you'll be able to roll the chapati and rotate it without picking it up; I do this by weighing down a little on my right hand and pushing the chapati around that way.
• Test the griddle by sprinkling a little flour on it; if it turns brown immediately, it's ready. Flapping the chapati between your hands to remove any excess flour, slap the chapati onto the griddle. It should start darkening almost immediately.
• When small bubbles start to form, spread a little oil over the surface of the chapati, then flip. It should start to puff up. Spoon a little oil over this side too, and when it's puffed up a little more, flip. Press down on the edges of the chapati with your spatula or (if you're brave!) with a dry rag. This will seal the edges and encourage the entire chapati to puff up. If you spot any holes, press down on those too so the air doesn't escape. Allowing the air to stay inside the whole chapati makes it flaky and light. But don't fret if your first few don't puff up; it takes practice! It will still taste delicious.
• Remove to your container. Repeat with the remaining dough, and serve the chapatis hot.

CHAPATIS

Steps:

• You will need a medium-sized bowl, a rolling pin, a castiron griddle or heavy skillet, and a small cotton cloth or a paper towel.
• In a medium-sized bowl, mix together the salt and the flour. Make a well in the middle and add just less than 1 cup warm water. Mix with your hand or with a spoon until you can gather it together into a dough (depending on the condition of your flour, you may need a little extra water or a little extra flour to make a kneadable dough). Turn out onto a lightly floured bread board and knead for 8 to 10 minutes. Cover with a damp cloth or a plastic wrap and let stand for 30 minutes or for up to 2 hours. The longer the dough stands, the more digestible the breads.
• Divide the dough into 8 pieces and flatten each with lightly floured fingers. Continue flattening with a rolling pin until each piece is 8 inches in diameter. Once you have started rolling, roll out each bread without flipping it over. To keep the bread from sticking to your bread board, make sure that the bread is lightly floured underneath. Cover the breads with the damp towel or plastic wrap as you roll out others (make sure not to stack the rolled out breads; if you don't have enough counterspace for the breads, roll out just a few and begin cooking, rolling out the others as the breads cook).
• Heat a castiron griddle or skillet over medium-high heat. When the griddle is hot, place a chapati on the griddle, top side of the bread down first. Let cook for only 10 seconds and then gently flip to the second side. Cook on the second side until small bubbles begin to form, approximately one minute. Turn the chapati back to the first side and finish cooking (another minute approximately). At this stage, a perfect chapati will start to balloon. This process can be helped along by gently pressing on the bread. The bread is hot, so we find the easiest method is to use a small cotton cloth or a paper towel wadded up to protect your finger tips. Gently press down on a large bubble forcing the bubble to extend itself wider. If the bread starts to burn on the bottom before it has ballooned, move the bread (with the help of your paper towel) across the skillet, dislodging it from the point at which it is beginning to burn.
• When you are satisfied with your chapati, remove it and wrap in a clean towel. Continue to cook the other breads, stacking each as it is finished on top of the others.

CHAPATI

Steps:

• If working by hand: In a medium-sized bowl, mix together the salt and the flour. Make a well in the middle and add the warm water. Mix with your hand or with a spoon until you can gather it together into a dough (depending on your flour, you may need a little extra water or a little extra flour to make a kneadable dough). Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 8 to 10 minutes. If using a food processor: Place the flour and salt in the processor and pulse to blend. With the blades going, slowly pour the water through the feed tube. Leave the machine on for about 15 seconds after a ball of dough forms, then turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead briefly.
• Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let stand for 30 minutes or for up to 12 hours. (The longer the dough stands, the more digestible the breads and the easier they are to shape.)
• Divide the dough into 8 pieces and roll each into a ball under your lightly cupped palm. Place some flour on your work suface, dust your palm with flour, and flatten each ball in the flour, pressing both sides into the flour in turn.
• To shape the breads, work with one piece at a time (leaving the others lightly covered). Working on a lightly floured surface, and without turning the bread over, flatten it with a rolling pin, rolling from the center outward, with light strokes, and rotating the bread slightly between each stroke, until the bread is 7 to 8 inches (17 to 20 centimeters) in diameter. Repeat with the remaining 7 breads, keeping the others loosely covered. Do not stack the rolled out breads; if you don't have enough counter space for the breads, roll out just a few and begin cooking, then roll out the others as the breads are cooking.
• Heat a cast-iron griddle or skillet over medium-high heat. Rub the surface with a well oiled cotton cloth or paper towel. When the griddle is hot, place a chapati top-side down on the griddle.
• Let it cook for only 10 to 15 seconds, then gently flip to the second side. Cook on the second side until small bubbles begin to form, approximately one minute. Turn the chapati back to the first side and finish cooking (another minute approximately). At this stage, a perfect chapati will start to balloon. This process can be helped along by gently pressing on the bread. The bread is hot, so we find the easiest method is to use a small cotton cloth or a paper towel wadded up to protect your finger tips. Gently press down on a large bubble forcing the bubble to extend itself wider.
• If the bread starts to burn on the bottom before it has ballooned, move the bread (with the help of your paper towel) across the skillet, dislodging it from the point at which it is beginning to burn.When you are satisfied with your chapatti, remove it and wrap in a clean towel. Continue to cook the other breads, stacking each as it is finished on top of the others and wrapping it to keep it soft and warm.

CHAPATIS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, stir together the flours and salt. Use a wooden spoon to stir in the olive oil and enough water to make a soft dough that is elastic but not sticky.
• Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface for 5-10 mins until it is smooth. Divide into 10 pieces, or less if you want bigger breads. Roll each piece into a ball. Let rest for a few mins.
• Heat a frying pan over medium heat until hot, and grease lightly. On a lightly floured surface, use a floured rolling pin to roll out the balls of dough until very thin like a tortilla.
• When the pan starts smoking, put a chapati on it. Cook until the underside has brown spots, about 30 seconds, then flip and cook on the other side. Put on a plate and keep warm while you cook the rest of the chapatis.

CHAPATI (EAST AFRICAN BREAD)

Steps:

• Mix 2 cups flour and salt together in a bowl. Slowly mix in enough water to make a thick dough. Mix in oil until combined.
• Knead dough on a cool surface for a few minutes, adding a few spoonfuls of flour. Return dough to the bowl, cover with a clean cloth, and let rest for 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F (95 degrees C).
• Heat a skillet or griddle over medium heat.
• Divide dough into orange-sized balls. Flatten into 6-inch circles. Fry in batches in the hot skillet, turning once, until golden brown and spotted, 6 to 8 minutes. Repeat with remaining dough. Keep chapatis warm in the oven.

HOW TO MAKE CHAPATIS

Steps:

• To make the dough we're going to add our flour to a bowl and sprinkle the salt. This is optional, in case you know you don't use salt that's fine too.
• Incorporate the salt well, and then we'll pour oil inside it.
• Now you want to mix the flour again to make sure all the oil gets incorporated in to the flour and you don't want lumps of oil in there. just for a few seconds.
• When the oil and salt are nicely incorporated, add water slowly. This water has been warmed in the microwave for about 30 seconds, pour little at a time and just mix.
• We have used whole wheat flour from the Indian store as its a little different from the whole wheat flour that you find in the grocery stores.
• The one in the American grocery stores is usually a lot darker in color, so chapattis turn a little browner than you probably like them, this one is available in any Indian store its called chapatti atta and is readily available.
• Just mix all that dough in and form a nice ball.
• It doesn't take a lot of time at all, but people are scared to do this, because you're using your hands and that freaks people out, but it really is not that bad. It literally takes under a minute to make this dough.
• When the dough is in a nice ball, we're going to take just a couple of drops of oil, just to lightly coat it and in that way it doesn't form a dry skin on top of the dough. Then keep it covered for about 15 to 20 minutes.
• So if you are not comfortable using your hands while making the dough, here's another alternative way of doing it. Here's the whole wheat flour, I'm going to use the food processor, and if you notice I'm using a chopping blade instead of a dough blade, because it just mixes better and it gets all the edges and there's nothing left at the sides.
• I'm going to mix in the salt at this point and I'm going to give it a mix.
• Then I'm going to add in the oil.
• I've also heated up the water for 30 seconds and am going to pour it in very slowly once i have the food processor on. This is just as easy.
• It's best just to give it one knead by hand just to incorporate everything and make sure there's no air bubbles and all in it.
• This food processor option is really good if you're making dough in bulk because i understand that dough freezes really well
• Then put a couple of drops of oil and just smother a little bit, rub it a little bit so that it doesn't dry out and cover it up. Then set it aside for 15 minutes as before.
• After it has been resting for about 15 to 20 minutes we're going to knead the dough one more time quickly.
• This is 1 and 1/2 cups of dry flour, so it makes approximately 9 chapattis. But there's no signs involved, so if you like really big chapattis it can be less and if you want small ones you know it'll make more.
• But something that fits in to your palm or close fist, a kind of a golf size ball is perfect.So just divide it out.
• Before we start rolling out our chapattis we'll go ahead and turn on our stove and get our pan heated.
• The pan we are using is called a tawa. You can also use a non stick frying pan.
• Put the stove on medium heat, or a little bit higher than medium. And you want to make sure your pan is really hot before you put your first chapatti on.
• So while our pan is heating, we're going to take our dough and form a nice round ball. If you start off with a round ball, the shape changes, but your final chapatti will probably be round also.
• We're then going to dip it in some dry flour, shake off the excess and role it out.
• Now this rolling pin is my favorite. It's a thinner version, but a lot of people are used to the thicker version of the rolling pins. Whatever you have is absolutely fine and if you notice that your chapatti is sticking to the ground or to whatever surface you are rolling out on, take it and dip it again in the dry flour.
• This is a trick that my mom taught me when i was learning how to do this when i was little, you rub your hand across it, and instantly you'll feel where its thicker and where it's thinner and then you can just roll the parts that are thicker, that way you don't have a chapatti that is really thin on one side and really thick on the other side that also helps in blowing up when you're cooking it.
• The tawa looks hot so we're going to put our rolled chapatti in and move it around to make sure it doesn't stick.
• Then we leave it alone until we start seeing bubbles appearing, and then we're going to flip it around, and let go for a few seconds.
• Now we're going to take some oil and you can just dip your spoon in to your oil and then whatever is left, the remainder few drops, just put it on and smear it on like that and flip it around and press. You want to press where it bubbles to force the air to the other side which is not risen yet. Smear the oil again and press.
• You want to cook the chapatti until you see that all the doughiness is gone and it looks fully cooked. It's ok to have little brown spots on it.
• It looks delicious and there's nothing like home made chapattis. You can buy these from the store but when you taste these like fresh off the stove it's awesome.
• And one of the other reasons why it doesn't taste as nice sometimes is a lot of people don't use oil in their chapattis, but I put oil inside the dough and what happens with that is that when you eat the chapatti a little bit later on, it still tastes nice and soft, as supposed to the dough which has been prepared without oil, which tends to turn a little bit chewier.
• Once the chapatti is cooked I like to keep it in a nice insulated cannister like this. It helps it to stay nice and warm. So you can finish all your chapattis and sit with you family and enjoy your dinner and they'll still be piping hot.
• note: if u dont wish to use oil on ur chapatis just use a clean cloth to press the chapatis after u have flipped them the second time n press lightly to ensure the air is distributed evenly and the chapatis wud puff up.enjoy !