How To Make Chapatti
Chapatti is a basic unleavened bread used as an accompaniment to many dishes as an alternative to rice or naan bread. We teamed up with Shahena Ali, of the Maharaji restaurant in Benfleet, Essex, to show you how to cook it.
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You Will Need:
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Set aside approximately 3 tablespoons of flour (this is used for dusting the dough whilst you roll out each chapatti using a rolling pin).
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Step 1:
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Prepare the dough
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Take the remaining flour and enough water to create a firm but elastic pliable dough. Knead the dough well for 5 minutes. To speed up this step, you can use a food processor.
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Step 2:
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Leave to stand
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Leave to stand for 10 minutes or more whilst leaving it in a bowl and covered with a moist cloth or cling film at either room temperature or better yet, in the fridge. Just before you plan to use, knead the dough briefly again.
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Step 3:
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Roll dough into balls
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To make one Chapatti, roll a portion of the dough into a ball in between your palms. Roll this out using a rolling pin, on a floured surface, to approximately 20 cm in size. Roll from centre outwards, so that the edges are thinner than the centre. You will need to dust it with dry flour a couple of times during the rolling out process.
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Step 4:
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Dry Fry
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Heat the griddle or frying pan, but ensure that it doesn't get smoking hot.
You must cook one at a time. Place the chapatti on the heated pan. Do not use any oil. Turn it over when it changes colour slightly to a light golden brown, you should see a few blisters on the surface.
Cook the other side the same way. Turn it over again. -
Press gently all over, using a flat spatula. Cook until nicely browned and crisp yet flexible/ soft on both sides. Don't cook them too fast or they will become too stiff.
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Serve hot.