I can’t resist a warm chapati with a curry. This traditional Indian side dish is very easy and only takes a couple of ingredients. If you are eating them straight away you don’t need oil. If you want to make them and store them for later in the day I would put a teaspoon of oil in with the flour and water.
In a bowl put a cup of plain flour flour and slowly add hot water to it, stirring all the time (I use a wooden spoon). when it turns into a soft dough, turn it out onto a flat surface and start kneading it until all the flour has been turned into a soft dough.
The dough should be soft but not sticky, add more flour if its sticky, if its very dry add some splashes of water and knead.
knead the dough for 5 mins, then let it rest for 5 mins under a clingfilm to stop it drying out. When you are ready to make the chapatis roll the dough into a long shape and cut it into chunks about the size of a golf ball and roll them into balls and flatten slightly ready to roll.
I use a chapati rolling pin which has tapered ends, it really helps to roll the dough out as the tapers keeps the rolling pin away from the dough as it’s spreading.
Roll out all the dough balls into thin (about 2 mm thick) circles and pile them on top of each other ready to cook. At this point you can stop and cook them when ready to eat them as they only take a few minutes.
Heat a dry frying pan and wait until its hot. cooking one at a time, place the first one on the frying pan and wait for bubbles to appear.
Once the bubbles appear turn over and use a fish slice to press the chapati down to help it cook.
While it cooks the water inside turns to steam and can blow the chapati up like a balloon, if this happens gently press the chapati while it cooks, turn gain until both sides look brown and has a few dark spots. remove and place in a cloth to keep warm. Now repeat for the rest of the dough.
When complete cover the chapatis to keep warm and serve.
Chapati, Roti, Tortilla
Equipment
- Rolling Pin
Ingredients
- 200 gms plain flour
- 50 ml boiling water
- 1 tsp olive oil (optional)
Method
- In a bowl put a cup of plain flour flour and slowly add hot water to it, stirring all the time (I use a wooden spoon). also add the optional olive oil at this point, when it turns into a soft dough, turn it out onto a flat surface and start kneading it until all the flour has been turned into a soft dough.
- The dough should be soft but not sticky, add more flour if its sticky, if its very dry add some splashes of water and knead.
- knead the dough for 5 mins, then let it rest for 5 mins under a clingfilm to stop it drying out. When you are ready to make the chapatis roll the dough into a long shape and cut it into chunks about the size of a golf ball and roll them into balls and flatten slightly ready to roll.
- I use a chapati rolling pin which has tapered ends, it really helps to roll the dough out as the tapers keeps the rolling pin away from the dough as it's spreading.
- Roll out all the dough balls into thin (about 2 mm thick) circles and pile them on top of each other ready to cook. At this point you can stop and cook them when ready to eat them as they only take a few minutes.
- Heat a dry frying pan and wait until its hot. cooking one at a time, place the first one on the frying pan and wait for bubbles to appear.
- Once the bubbles appear turn over and use a fish slice to press the chapati down to help it cook.
- While it cooks the water inside turns to steam and can blow the chapati up like a balloon, if this happens gently press the chapati while it cooks, turn gain until both sides look brown and has a few dark spots. remove and place in a cloth to keep warm. Now repeat for the rest of the dough.When complete cover the chapatis to keep warm and serve.
(All nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more).