Monday, April 30, 2012

Chapatis

In Kenya I've tasted the most delicious chapatis. The ingredients in chaptis are few but I've never tried to make them. Today I tried today using this recipe from Allrecipes.com My chapatis didn't look anything like what I thought they should look like and it took awhile to get the hang of the correct heat for the pan without setting off my fire alarm from smoke, *laugh.

The dough is rolled into balls and ready to be rolled into chapati circles.

These chapatis were fine and look more like the one's I've had in vegetarian restaurants here. I need to continue to make these to 'perfect' them.  I also need to make sure the heat source is right so they bubble up like they are supposed to. Some of my chapati pieces bubbled up and others did not.

One recipe I reviewed didn't oil the pan first. I tried that approach and it didn't work. It only smoked. Perhaps I had the heat too high.  I found lightly greasing the pan worked much better. I also preferred my cast iron skillet to my metal pan for this recipe.  I also checked on line and found some native chapati makers from Uganda and Kenya. They used much more oil in the pan than I saw in the recipe and one used no oil at all. So I guess I will experiment as I know all stoves are different. Unfortunately my burners are either too hot or not hot enough so I probably need to use the oil until I get my burners fixed. Not sure how to do that. Perhaps I need a new fuse in the stove that controls the burner.

Next time I will also use more whole wheat flour next time as today I was low on this ingredient. I will also play around with increasing the recipe next time so I can make larger chapatis.

This one is puffing up properly.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 3/4 cup hot water or as needed

    Directions

    1. In a large bowl, stir together the whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour and salt. Use a wooden spoon to stir in the olive oil and enough water to make a soft dough that is elastic but not sticky. Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface until it is smooth. Divide into 10 parts, or less if you want bigger breads. Roll each piece into a ball. Let rest for a few minutes.
    2. Heat a skillet over medium heat until hot, and grease lightly. On a lightly floured surface, use a floured rolling pin to roll out the balls of dough until very thin like a tortilla. When the pan starts smoking, put a chapati on it. Cook until the underside has brown spots, about 30 seconds, then flip and cook on the other side. Continue with remaining dough. 

    Ready for dinner.

    So overall the taste was fine. It's just the appearance that needs work. Have you ever tried to make chapatis? If yes, what are your tips?

20 comments:

Dimple said...

These look good.
I've never tried to make any kind of flatbread. Maybe I will, but with some other flour, as I have to avoid wheat.

Diane said...

I tried making some at the weekend using a very similar recipe. They were edible but I was not very impressed!! Diane

affectioknit said...

I think yours look spectacular...I want to try them...

Have a lovely day!

Anonymous said...

Joyful,
Hi! I've never tried to make Chapatis. I would imagine they taste pretty good. Yours looks good to me. Thank you for sharing.
Pat

Beth Zimmerman said...

Is it sort of like a fry bread or pita? That's what it looks like to me. I'm not a very creative cook these days! Used to be ... maybe it will come back some day!

Vicki Boster said...

Hey - that's just what I was going to say - your previous commenter ask if it was like fry bread - just what I was thinking too! Actually - I think yours looks better than the fry bread we had when we traveled out west. My favorite "fried bread" is fried cornbread!

Love hearing from you -- always means so much to me!

xo,
Vicki

Joyful said...

It isn't like fry bread. I know about fry bread and in fact I make some. We call it "bannock" or "fry bread". The chapati is traditional East Indian bread and is a flat bread (no yeast or baking powder) unlike fry bread which usually have baking powder. Also, there is a minimal amount (or none) of oil used in making chapatis whereas in fry bread you are basically deep frying the bread.

Joyful said...

Dimple, I would be interested in whether any other kind of flour you use works out for you!

Joyful said...

Diane, I understand what you mean. I think the trick is to get the pan at just the right heat. Next time I will use the bits of water on the hot pan "trick" to test how hot the pan is. I also think the flour is key. I used mostly white flour. In Kenya they use a special "chapati flour" and I think it is mostly whole wheat. I'm going to try that next time.

Joyful said...

Thank you. I'm sure you will like them. I know you are an adventurous cook.

Joyful said...

Thank you for your encouraging words, Pat.

Joyful said...

Thank you, Vicky for your kind words. Please see my response to Beth (above) about the fry bread. I've never tried fried cornbread before. I'm sure it tastes great. Blessings. xo

VaishVijay said...

Chapati is our staple food. We use only wheat flour to make soft oil free chapatis. The trick is, leave the well kneaded dough in a covered vessel for say atleast 15 mins. Also, you need to make sure that the pan is moderately hot when you put the rolled dough in it.

Check out this link for a step-by-step instruction with pics.

http://indianfood.about.com/od/breadrecipes/ig/How-to-Make-Chapatis/

TQ for visiting my blog:)

momto8 said...

we did try to make something very similar to this..I kept burning it... I would like to try again...yours look good!!

Joyful said...

Thank you Vaish, for stopping by and leaving those tips! I will give them a try.

Joyful said...

Annamarie, thanks for the comment. I had a similar problem with the pan being too hot esp. without the oil but Vaish (above)gave me some tips which I will try. Perhaps you can try again too ;-)

Heidrun Khokhar, KleinsteMotte said...

Why yes I have, I stared back in the late '60's when I began to hang out with some uni students where I was studying. They taught me some curry recipes too. Your's look fine. We don't actually put oil into the chapatis or the tawah cast iron pan. The oil is used more in parathas and in puris.

Joyful said...

Hi Heidi, it's great that you know how to make chapatis and curry dishes. I've tried some chicken curry myself. It's so good. I know the Kenyans use oil in making their chapatis and they are also a little thicker. I like them like this very much!

Lydia said...

Ooo this looks easy and delicious! I will have to try it soon and let you know how they turn out :)

Joyful said...

That would be wonderful Lydia. I'd love to see your photos when you're done :-)

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