130) CHAPPATI

CHAPPATI

INDIAN WHOLE WHEAT FLAT BREAD

Ingredients:

     1)    Atta (whole wheat flour) – 1 kg.

     2)    Ghee (clarified butter) or any cooking oil – 2 tablespoons

     3)    Salt – 1½ teaspoons

     4)    Maida (refined whole wheat flour) – 150 gm.

     5)    Water – 400 ml. (approx. see note no. 4)

To Cook:

          Heat the water up to a temperature you can bear to touch with your fingers. Select a wide strong bowl to knead the dough. Pour in the warm water. Put in the ghee and the salt. Tip in the atta. Knead well till the dough is soft. Rest for half an hour and knead again.

          Scoop up some dough with your fingers and roll into bite sized balls with your palms. There is no hard and fast rule regarding the size of the ball or the thickness of the chappati. The only thing is the size of the ball should conform to the size of the pan on which you are going to roast your chappati. If your pan is small, you can make lime sized balls. If it is bigger, you can go up to lemon sized balls. Dip each ball in maida before you set it aside so that the balls may not stick to one another.

          Now use your rolling pin to roll the balls one by one into chappatis. Dip the chappatis in maida once or twice in between to avoid their sticking to the board or to the rolling pin. Remember that the thinner the chappati, the tastier it will be. Set aside the rolled chappatis one on top of the other but remember to dust and wipe a little maida on each one to avoid sticking together.

          Heat up the flat pan and grease lightly with ghee or with butter or with cooking oil and slap on the chappati. Sprinkle a few drops of ghee or oil on top of the chappati. Use a flat lightweight ladle to flip it over. When both the sides are roasted (but not burnt), lift out the chappati and set aside. Grease the pan lightly and slap in the next one. Pile up all the roasted chappatis on a plate or a casserole so that they remain hot and soft for serving.

Chappatis with date and paneer peas masala

Chappatis can be eaten along with almost any curry or with salad. Enjoy!!!

Chappatis with vegetable kurma

Notes:

     1)    Do not cover the hot roasted chappatis with lid but only with clean cotton cloth, for the water vapour from the hot chappatis can condense on the lid, flow back in and ruin the chappatis.

     2)    You can make chappatis using maida also in which case there is no need to warm up the water. Maida chappatis are soft and tasty only when hot and contain no essential dietary fibre.

     3)    High cholesterol patients can make atta chappatis without using an oil, ghee or butter at any stage. The only thing is you will need to use a non-stick pan for roasting the chappatis and to eat them hot before they lose their taste.

     4)    Different wheat flours need slightly different quantities of water to come to the right consistency. In this case, the consistency should be a bit softer than pastry dough but not wet.

     5)    If you wish, you can use 100 gm. of very finely chopped herbs of your liking in the dough to make herb flavored chappatis.

     6)    Diabetic and cardiac patients who need to eat chappatis without any curry can include a little powder of roasted cumin seeds and black pepper corns in the dough, for a tasty hot meal.