Home-made CHAPATIS
makes 8-10
2 cups Atta flour (or wholemeal or stone-ground wheat – or try a GF grain flour, sifted)
1 teaspoon salt
Approximately 1 cup warm water
You will need a medium-sized bowl, a rolling pin, a cast-iron 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 counter space for the
breads, roll out just a few and begin cooking, rolling out the others as the
breads cook).
Heat a cast iron 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.
Yield: 8 chapatis, 7 to 8 inches across, thin and supple.