Chapati
Chapati is the easiest, quickest and most versatile of all Indian rotis.
Deep fry it in hot oil and you get Poori
- a puffy chapati - yummy to be eaten with potato masala. Another favourite but has to be eaten hot from the wok, hence not so suitable for entertaining.
Cook on top of an open fire just before you serve and you get Pulka, another inflated bread minus the oil. this is a dramatic option for babrbecue!
And cook it on the griddle with a few drop of ghee, you get the yummiest, tender and healthiest leavened bread to go with curry or your favourite masala.
I learnt to make chapati from a lady who has a stall in the old food court where you can eat al fresco under the stars every evening in what we call PJ Old Town, a suburb just outside Kuala Lumpur. The Punjadi lady makes chapati from 6 PM everyday till midnight and her stall is usually crowded. You can order it to go with sardine masala, chicken curry, lamb curry of dhal curry and a variety of vegetable. I have been eating there since I was a tot and she recognised me in any age. I think she has met more boyfriends than my parents ever did too.
The older I get, the more sporadic my visit and then I told her I may only go home for about 2 weeks or less a year. And then she taught me how to make it along with her famous lentil curry, the sardine masala and lamb curry.
Unlike other cookbooks which show you to add water to flour immediately, she taught me to make it like pastry - the rubbing method - in fact she encourage the lifting of the flour as high as you can to get as much air as you can into the dough. But unlike pastry where the dough shouldn't be kneaded as much and less touching are desired, chapati dough has to be kneaded just like bread. this is leavened bread, after all. And then divided and allowed to rest in room temperature, covered in tea towel.
And then roll it out, leave under a tea towel to prevent it from drying and fry it on a hot griddle just before serving. It is a fabulous thing to make with children. My daughter loves the fact that she can use her own little chef tools like her little rolling pin and have fun leaving the flour all over the large teak table and on the floor and on her nose and hair...
Ingredients:
375 g/12 oz/3 cups atta flour or roti flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon ghee or oil
250 ml/8 fl oz/1 cup lukewarm water
Method:
Put flour in a large mixing bowl, setting aside about half a cup for rolling chapatis.
Stir salt through the flour, then add ghee or oil and rub in with fingertips, as though making pastry. Add the measured water all at once, moisten all the flour and mix to a firm dough. Knead dough for at least 10 minutes or until dough is smooth and elastic. Since there is no leavening agent in these breads, kneading is used to develop lightness. Gather dough into a ball, put into a small bowl and cover tightly with plastic food wrap. Leave for 1 hour or longer. This resting period is also vital for making light, tender breads.
Divide dough into balls of even size, about as big as a large walnut or small egg. Roll each out on a lightly floured board, lightly dusting board and rolling pin with reserved flour and keeping the shape perfectly round if possible. Roll out the chapatis to be cooked, and when starting to cook them, start with those which were rolled first, since the short rest between rolling and cooking makes the chapatis lighter.
Heat a tawa, griddle or heavy frying pan, put the first chapati on the hot pan and leave for 1 minute on medium heat. Turn it over and place second side down. After a further minute, press lightly around the edges of the chapati with a folded tea towel to encourage the disc of bread to puff up and bubble. Do not overcook or the chapatis will become crisp and dry instead of pliable and tender. Wrap the cooked chapatis in a tea towel. Serve warm with butter, curry or other dishes.
Chapati is the easiest, quickest and most versatile of all Indian rotis.
Deep fry it in hot oil and you get Poori
- a puffy chapati - yummy to be eaten with potato masala. Another favourite but has to be eaten hot from the wok, hence not so suitable for entertaining.
Cook on top of an open fire just before you serve and you get Pulka, another inflated bread minus the oil. this is a dramatic option for babrbecue!
And cook it on the griddle with a few drop of ghee, you get the yummiest, tender and healthiest leavened bread to go with curry or your favourite masala.
I learnt to make chapati from a lady who has a stall in the old food court where you can eat al fresco under the stars every evening in what we call PJ Old Town, a suburb just outside Kuala Lumpur. The Punjadi lady makes chapati from 6 PM everyday till midnight and her stall is usually crowded. You can order it to go with sardine masala, chicken curry, lamb curry of dhal curry and a variety of vegetable. I have been eating there since I was a tot and she recognised me in any age. I think she has met more boyfriends than my parents ever did too.
The older I get, the more sporadic my visit and then I told her I may only go home for about 2 weeks or less a year. And then she taught me how to make it along with her famous lentil curry, the sardine masala and lamb curry.
Unlike other cookbooks which show you to add water to flour immediately, she taught me to make it like pastry - the rubbing method - in fact she encourage the lifting of the flour as high as you can to get as much air as you can into the dough. But unlike pastry where the dough shouldn't be kneaded as much and less touching are desired, chapati dough has to be kneaded just like bread. this is leavened bread, after all. And then divided and allowed to rest in room temperature, covered in tea towel.
And then roll it out, leave under a tea towel to prevent it from drying and fry it on a hot griddle just before serving. It is a fabulous thing to make with children. My daughter loves the fact that she can use her own little chef tools like her little rolling pin and have fun leaving the flour all over the large teak table and on the floor and on her nose and hair...
Ingredients:
375 g/12 oz/3 cups atta flour or roti flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon ghee or oil
250 ml/8 fl oz/1 cup lukewarm water
Method:
Put flour in a large mixing bowl, setting aside about half a cup for rolling chapatis.
Stir salt through the flour, then add ghee or oil and rub in with fingertips, as though making pastry. Add the measured water all at once, moisten all the flour and mix to a firm dough. Knead dough for at least 10 minutes or until dough is smooth and elastic. Since there is no leavening agent in these breads, kneading is used to develop lightness. Gather dough into a ball, put into a small bowl and cover tightly with plastic food wrap. Leave for 1 hour or longer. This resting period is also vital for making light, tender breads.
Divide dough into balls of even size, about as big as a large walnut or small egg. Roll each out on a lightly floured board, lightly dusting board and rolling pin with reserved flour and keeping the shape perfectly round if possible. Roll out the chapatis to be cooked, and when starting to cook them, start with those which were rolled first, since the short rest between rolling and cooking makes the chapatis lighter.
Heat a tawa, griddle or heavy frying pan, put the first chapati on the hot pan and leave for 1 minute on medium heat. Turn it over and place second side down. After a further minute, press lightly around the edges of the chapati with a folded tea towel to encourage the disc of bread to puff up and bubble. Do not overcook or the chapatis will become crisp and dry instead of pliable and tender. Wrap the cooked chapatis in a tea towel. Serve warm with butter, curry or other dishes.
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