Chapati

It is finished off the griddle, straight on the flame, where it balloons.

Vegetarian, but not vegan — contains dairy (ghee).

Ingredients

• 400 g atta, or fine wholemeal flour
• 280 ml water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon sunflower oil, optional
• ghee, to brush

Method

1. IT IS FINISHED OFF THE GRIDDLE, STRAIGHT ON THE FLAME, WHERE IT BALLOONS. Its article gives the two stages: cooked on an iron griddle known as a tava, THEN puffed up over direct heat. That second move is the whole character of the bread and it is the step people leave out. Thirty seconds a side on the dry tava until it is set and freckled, then lift it with tongs and hold it flat over a bare gas flame. Steam trapped between the two skins has nowhere to go and the whole thing inflates into a sphere in about four seconds. Left on the griddle to finish, it cooks through perfectly well and stays flat and slightly tough -- a good flatbread and not this one.
2. THE DOUGH IS SOFT, AT 60 TO 80 PER CENT OF THE FLOUR WEIGHT IN WATER. Its article gives that range, and it is the number that separates this from the deep-fried bread in the same batch: Puri, as on its own page, is about 48 per cent and deliberately stiff. Two hundred and eighty millilitres to four hundred grams is 70 per cent -- a dough that is tacky and slightly sticky to handle, which is correct.
3. THE SALT AND OIL ARE BOTH OPTIONAL AND BOTH SMALL. Its article puts salt at 0.5 to 2 per cent of the flour and oil at about 5 millilitres per 100 grams, and calls both optional. The oil makes it softer the next day.
4. IT IS KNEADED WELL AND THEN RESTED FOR HALF AN HOUR. Eight minutes to a smooth soft dough, then covered and left. An unrested dough springs back as you roll it and will not go thin evenly, and an uneven chapati will not balloon.
5. ATTA IS STONE-GROUND AND THAT IS NOT A DETAIL. Its article names the chakki, a stone mill. Stone-ground wholemeal carries the bran finely and absorbs more water; roller-milled wholemeal gives a coarser, drier dough that tears.
6. IT IS ROLLED EVENLY AND THIN -- ABOUT TWO MILLIMETRES. Turn it a quarter after each pass so it stays round and the same thickness throughout. A thick patch will not inflate and a thin one tears and lets the steam out.
7. THE TAVA IS HOT AND DRY. No fat on the griddle at all. Medium-high, and the first side only until it changes colour -- about thirty seconds -- then the second for a little longer until pale brown spots appear.
8. IT IS BRUSHED WITH GHEE AND STACKED UNDER A CLOTH. The steam from each one keeps the stack soft. Left in the open they go leathery within minutes.
9. THE SAME BREAD IS FRIED RATHER THAN GRIDDLED ELSEWHERE. Its article notes an East African version that is fried instead, which is worth knowing because it explains why the word travels further than the method does.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under India · All recipes