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How To Make Chapatti

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How To Make Chapatti
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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. Enlarge 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.
Serves:
4

Step : You Will Need:

  • 500 g Atta, (half wholemeal half plain flour)
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 4 cups (1000ml) water, or enough to make the dough
  • 1 rolling Pin
  • 1 griddle or frying pan
  • 1 spatula

Set aside approximately 3 tablespoons of flour (this is used for dusting the dough whilst you roll out each chapatti using a rolling pin).

Step 1: Prepare the dough

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.

Step 2: Leave to stand

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.

Step 3: Roll dough into balls

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.

Step 4: Dry Fry

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.

Serve hot.
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Tips & Comments
  1. Macb3th

    My god! How on earth can you make chapatti with 1 whole litre of water per 500g of Atta? This will just come out as sloppy flour glue!

  2. cheesepie

    THIS chappatii is overdone! It doesnt look round and it a bit too brown which means she used too much dry flour.

  3. buzz2003

    This is a nice video but the narratot says that it is "leavened" when it is of course, unleavened. just a slip but should be put right please.

  4. pegasusbridge

    I don't know why eveybody dumps on this chef's videos. She could work without a hair net and burn my chapattis anytime. Keep eating your mom's stuff and I'll watch her for some useful tips. Check out her Vindaloo and Kulfi.

  5. Magpies

    My mam kneads the aata for a while then refigerates it before actually making the chapattis. + This lady burn't one of the chappatis which she said was 'well done'!

  7. bigjala

    nobody should make chappatis like she has done here..it will only make them dry andhard to tear... one needs to knead it for quite some time and has to be put on fire to make them puff. and it definitly is not some toast. good well cooked chapattis does not even have burnt marks on them. milk and oil are used and the dough needs to be kept atleast 30 mins to rest before putting them under the rolling pin.

  8. Anonymous

    I have been eating mom-cooked chapattis for at least 10 years and I must say, this is not how my mom makes them. She adds some oil (very little) to the dough and also some milk - the milk makes the chapattis soft and they do not taste as if they are excessively dry. Also, while rolling a chapatti, my mom first rolls them into a thin circle, touches the top (exposed) surface of the circle in a few random places with her fingertips after having dipped them lightly in oil to sort of leave oil smears in a few places, then folds the circle in half, leaves oil smears in some more random places and then folds it in half again, to get a quarter circle. Then she rolls the quarter circle into a full circle of uniform thickness, without making any more folds. She then proceeds to roast them in a manner that is essentially the same as shown in the video. Why the oil and the folding: The folds cause the final chapatti to have very thin layers which is what a chapatti has. The randomly smeared oil causes some parts of the layers to 'cook' to a different extent which causes the layers to stick together in some places and separate in others. I would not call the bread shown in the video a chapatti. (PS: I know what I am talking about - I am from the city of Pune in India, where chapatti is a part of the staple everyday diet.)

  9. Anonymous

    My mum makes chappatis without leaving it for the length someone has suggested (no yeast involved, so it's unnecessary). Whilst making the dough, you could add a small amount of oil to keep it softer for longer, and use hot water.

  10. Anonymous

    This recipe tells only half the story - Chapatti dough needs to be kneaded for at least 5-10 mins then left to rest at least 30 mins to 2 hours before cooking or they don't puff (as hers didn't). No patting them out before cooking either? Well, not many non-Asian cooks are going to get the hang of that quickly but puffing is possible and it would be wise to advise stacking them in a tea towel once cooked to keep them warm and pliable. All in all, this film needs to be revised and re made!