Chapati...How to make soft chapatis

Chapati or Chappati or Chappathi is a common Indian flat bread and  is a regular staple dish in North India and Pakistan. There are many forms of chapatti with slight variations, namely Roti, Paratha/Parantha, etc. I am basically a rice person and   love to eat idlies and dosas. But my son likes everything other than idli and dosa.  As mothers,  we  strive  to  give our children the best. So I tried a lot to make soft chapattis as my son likes them.  Always I wonder on seeing North Indian ladies making soft chapatis with no effort. I asked whoever I met with for the tips to make soft chapatis. Based on their advice, I followed many gimmicks,  adding hot milk, banana, curd, hot water, etc, etc … but everything resulted in big “zero”. Finally I got the secret from one of my aunts and  I  succeeded.  It’s not such a mind blowing secret …. What I missed out is only kneading!?  I mean, we need to knead the dough atleast  for about 5 minutes.

Making soft chapattis follows simple steps but making perfectly  round and  soft chapattis is not an easy job for beginners. As they say practice makes  perfect! 

Ingredients:

• Whole wheat flour – 1 cup
• Water and salt as needed
• Oil – 1 tbsp
• Maida/ All purpose flour– 3 tbsp for dusting.

Method:

1. Take wheat flour in a large bowl, add salt and mix well with the flour.
2. Add water little by little, mixing the flour with water. Make a soft dough. Knead  well the dough for 5 minutes adding oil in between.
3. Keep it covered and let it stand for ½ an hour.
4. After ½ an hour, make small balls out of the dough.
5. Roll the dough into thin, round discs using roller pin, dusting the ball with maida/ all purpose flour.
6. Place the tawa/skillet on a stove. Let it get heated.
7. Place the rolled chapati on the heated tawa, wait for bubbles to come on the surface. Flip the chapati immediately and leave it for a minute.
8. Cook on both sides on high flame, flipping it now and then, till brown spots appear and chapati gets cooked completely.

Your soo..fft chapati/roti is ready to eat!

Note:

• The amount  of  water added should be enough to make a soft dough so that if we insert our finger, our finger should pass through without any effort. This is the main factor deciding the softness of your chapatti.
• For kids, you can apply some butter/ghee on  the top of the cooked chapatti. For elders, we can use gingelly oil and those on diet can avoid this step.

Tags: How to make soft Chapatis, How to make rotis, chappathi recipe, chapathi recipe, Flat Indian Bread recipe, Indian unleavened flatbread recipe, Indian flat bread recipe, soft rotis, soft chapathi recipe, North Indian recipe