chapati recipe at bottom

[Guest guest]

naan at home...sounds wonderful!!! All of these Indian food

references really got to me. I made a lentil & brown rice soup

tonight and was compelled to use Indian spices. MMM, eating some now.

I don't have an Indian rice pudding recipe b/c I don't like any kind

of pudding. Sorry

Below is the recipe and instructions for chapatis. Shawn, they are

basically whole wheat tortillas. If you're not a huge fan of the

whole wheat taste, some people use 1 1/2 cups whole wheat and 1/2 cup

all purpose white (altho I don't). The ghee can be replaced with oil

and they still turn out just fine. Use a mildly flavored oil like

vegetable oil. Don't use a very flavorful oil like olive oil, etc.

[Hope this won't affect your opinion of me Niccii ]

 

Chapatis {makes 10 to 12}

 

Two cups durum/whole-wheat flour, sifted

one teaspoon salt

warm to luke warm water

ghee/oil (at room temp)

 

Mix flour and salt in a bowl.

Slowly mix in enough water to make a soft dough. The amount of water

needed will vary by humidity. I usually have two cups of warm water

beside me and just play with it. This way, I don't have to get more

water when my hands are in the dough.

Mix in one tsp ghee/oil.

Transfer the mixture in the bowl to a cool flat surface that is

dusted with whole wheat flour.

Dust your hands with whole wheat flour.

Knead the dough for about 5 minutes. Knead the dough, using your

fists as much as possible. Roll hard with both fists making sure to

use the side opposite of your thumb. Use your knuckles too. I knead

by rolling hard into the dough with my fist, then rolling my fist

another time with the knuckles down, repeating until it looks bumpy.

Fold the dough in on itself about 4 times and then knead again with

your fists.

Put the dough back into the bowl. Dip your hands into the warm water

and pat the dough. Cover bowl with a damp cloth, and let it sit for

30 minutes. This is a great time to start prepping for the main

course. The dough can sit for an hour or two if needed.

 

Cooking:

Pre-heat a skillet or griddle on medium heat.

Pull off the dough into just a little smaller than your fist..about

the size of a plumb or lemon.

Using a roller flatten each ball of dough into about a 6 inch circle.

This should be rather thin dough at this point.

Dab a little ghee or oil onto hot skillet or griddle where each

chapati will be placed.

Fry chapati. Turn it over to the other side when edges look golden

brown and are slightly turning up.

Put a little more ghee or oil on griddle before putting second side

down. When cooking the second side, use a spatula or damp paper towel

to push down areas of the chapati surface. You want to make little

air pockets inside the chapati. Eventually, the top of the chapati

will rise a little bit with air in it around the area you're pressing

down on. The air will go back down when you remove your hand and work

on another section of that chapati.

A cooked chapati will be golden brown with brown spots on each side.

Try not to turn the first side too early.

Put a little ghee/oil on hot chapati (optional)

 

Recommendations:

If wanting to serve immediately, use a griddle. Although I'd advise

having a helper b/c each chapati has to be tended to so much on the

second side.

If making one chapati at a time don't just leave the dough out. Pull

of a dough ball and recover with damp cloth. Keep dough damp until

ready to fry.

If you want to roll out all chapatis at once, place a damp paper

towel between each rolled out dough circle. Have your oven on warm

and put each newly fried chapati in oven covered with foil or a lid

until all chappatis are done frying. Try to serve as soon as possible

after making.

 

Hope this was helpful and I explained it clearly. Please ask if

something didn't make sense.

 

karen