On 11 Feb 2005, at 06:09, Himagain wrote:
See how to make Chappattis :
http://ashycook.topcities.com/breads/chappatis.htm
The recipe above follows. I'll offer a little more help, though I am
sure words are lacking when it comes to describinga sense of feel:
In theory chappatis are easy to make. In practice it's much harder to
make really good ones. Like most simple things, the practice of doing
it every day is what makes you good at it. Little things, like the
exact temperature of the pan, how hard you roll the dough, and so on -
these are the secrets you learn when you do it all the time. My friend
Ved's wife, Alka, showed me how to make chappatis. Hers are wonderful.
Mine are nothing like hers.
The flour you use will make a difference too. Chappati flour is
semi-refined. It's not whole-meal but it's not white either.
It is also a special kind of wheat, in its glutenating properties.
Don't bother with white flour or most brown flours. Spelt is good
though.
Mixing whole-meal and white flour 50/50 will give you something close
if you can't get the real thing. I sometimes use only white flour,
with passable results.
Although I've given quanties for the flour and water, add the last
few drops of water with care. It's easy to add too much and you'll
suddenly find the dry powdery mix in your bowl has turned to glue. Use
hot water but as you also mix the dough by hand, don't use very hot
water. You don't want to burn yourself, do you? The quantities here
will make about a dozen chappatis.
So true. It helped me to see it done live, but only insofar as I could
see it could be done and was delicious. I had to try and try again. My
children love them bettrer than any other bread. They love to help
cook them with me. we love the smell. They turn a simple vegetable meal
into a feast. Brilliant with just yoghurt, and satisfying. Great for
travel food. It is haute cuisine.
Ingredients:
2 mugs of flour
Two thirds of a mug of hot water
doesn't have to be hot. Don't bother. Amount varies with type of flour.
Salt
Put the flour in a bowl and add the water gradually with one hand
while mixing with the other. The dough will be very sticky at first
but will soon form a lump which won't stick to your hand so much. When
that happens, knead the lump a little with both hands to work out any
lumps of dry flour.
Leave to stand for twenty minutes or more first. Extra an be
refrigerated for one day as well.
Break off pieces of dough and roll them into balls about 5 or 6 cm in
diameter. Put a frying pan
The pan should be heavy steel, not non-stick. (Traditionally they are
round slightly concave, and lack a long handle. So, they can be spun
round when dabbing with a finger. Clay ovens are great, and used in
canteens).
on a high flame then turn the heat down a bit when the pan is hot.
Flatten a ball with the palm of your hand then roll it out on a
floured surface until it's about 25 cm in diameter.
Round is good. To make them round, after each roll (heavy-ish pin),
twist the chapatti with the flat of your weak hand a little as it
lies on a floured board (a few degrees or a quarter circle it doesn't
matter, don't measure as it even out in the end) , and roll again.
Don't turn the pin, just roll straight in the same direction away from
you, from the middle of the chapatti towards and right over its far
edge. Don't roll back towards you. Turning the pin will upset your
senses, and the turning of the bread make sit round. This action can
become very fast, and they are very round. There is no faster way, but
it takes a little practice. Roll to the edges. One of the biggest
problems is that they tend to get thin in the middle and thick at the
edges. Develop feel. And roll them thin (two to three mm).
Toss it gently from hand to hand to shake off the excess flour then
chuck it in the pan. About two minutes either side should see your
chappatti nicely cooked. Once you get going you can roll the next one
out while the previous one is cooking. Keep an eye on the temperature.
Don't let the pan start smoking but don't let it get too cool either.
It's a good idea to have a metal spatula or fish-slice handy to scrape
off flour that gets stuck to the pan between chappatis.
You'll need to have a little fat handy to add as you cook. Only add a
little. Ghee is best.
I usually dump it in the sink and rinse it all away when I've finished
cooking. Stack the chappatis on a plate and keep them covered with a
clean damp dishcloth. If you are using a gas flame you could take
advantage of a secret Alka showed me but you probably need tongs for
this. When a chappati is cooked, lift it out of the pan, move the pan
to the side and plonk the chappati straight onto the gas for a few
seconds. Turn it over and do the other side. It will puff up with air
then deflate when you take it off the heat. This makes the chappatis
less tough.
Absolutely, so always cook on a flame. Another thing you can do, and I
advise when you are learning to roll them evenly, is to press the edges
hard with your finger, or tool if too hot: this also cause the chapatti
to puff a little at the edges, and has the advantage of squeezing a
thickened edge.
regards,
John Plumridge
weblog: http://soupdrive.mightyzero.com/
