Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Recipe Wednesday - Chapati

If anyone has ever eaten Indian food, you've likely eaten some Naan.  For those who don't know what Naan is, it is almost like a tortilla that you tear into pieces with which to eat the curry.  There are many other tortilla-like breads that Indians use to eat besides just Naan, though.  One very easy and quick "bread" is the chapati. 

I came home from India in February with some recipes from my mother-in-law and as much as I want to make all of them, I've been a little chicken.  I'm worried I'll completely ruin everything.  I got brave one afternoon awhile back and tried my hand at making chapati.  It was sooo easy.  It helped that I watched Mom make it in her kitchen, though, so I took a few pictures to help those of you who may be visual learners.

Mix together until it forms a soft dough:
3c. whole wheat flour
pinch of salt
1 1/4 - 1 1/2 c. water (Add the last 1/4 cup or so slowly to be sure you need it.)


This recipe seems to be quite forgiving.  I wanted to halve this recipe and my brain went on vacation around the time I was figuring up my measurements.  I added too much water so had to add more flour little by little.  It still worked out in the end. 

Pull off a small bit of dough (think ping-pong ball or a bit smaller) and pat it into a circle, about palm size.


Apply a little bit of oil (you could use a silicone brush for this, but I just used the back of a spoon to spread it around) and fold twice - into a triangle.  Roll out the triangle.


The first couple of Chapati I didn't roll out thin enough and they ended up a bit dense.  As I went on I figured out the feel of it and the final chapatis were much better.

Apply a bit of oil to one side, lay that side to the heat and cook (over mediuim heat).  When you start to see air bubbles, spread on a bit of oil then flip to cook the other side. 


You can continue to flip/apply oil as long as you need.  (Don't go too crazy with the oil, it really doesn't take all that much.)

Serve this w/ a curry OR..... you can eat it with jelly, or PB&J!  It's pretty good that way.  It's actually how my boys ate it while in India.

Alex munching on a warm chapati, plain.

3 comments:

Mom said...

I looked up a couple of videos last week on making naan ... one I liked better than the other. I guess I didn't realize that in both of those recipes it called for yogurt to make it! I haven't made it yet, but I really do like naan, and I want to try making the tandoori chicken - it's really good with the naan.

The Rouse House said...

I made chapati last week as a side with Thai Honey Peanut Chicken. Your post was perfect timing :) We really liked it but I did have trouble getting it to cook evenly. And mine didn't poof up, but maybe that's because they weren't big enough. Thanks for sharing, definitely trying this one again!

Erin said...

Looks easy and yummy! I will have to try it, but need one of your Indian main dishes to try the Chapati with! :)