Roti, Chapati (Flat Indian Bread)

March 21st, 2007 filed under Breads
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Roti is also known as chapati or fulka. Roti is Indian flat bread made with whole-wheat flour. Roti is served with a variety of cooked vegetables, lentils, and yogurt.

Makes 8 Rotis.

Roti Chapati

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup whole-wheat flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup lukewarm water (Use more as needed)

Also needed:

  • 2 teaspoons ghee (clear butter)
  • 1/4 cup whole-wheat flour for rolling

Method:

  1. Mix flour, salt and water togather to make a soft dough (add more water as needed).
  2. Knead the dough on a lightly greased surface to make the dough smooth and pliable.
  3. Set the dough aside and cover with a damp cloth. Let the dough rest for at least ten minutes or more.
  4. Divide the dough into 8 equal parts.
  5. Make smooth ball and press flat. Take 1 ball; press it in dry flour from both sides.
  6. Roll in to a 6-inch circle. If the dough sticks to the rolling pin or rolling syrface, lightly dust the roti with dry flour. Tip: Use the dry flour just enough you need to roll the roti, too much use of flour will make the roti dry.
  7. Heat the skillet on medium high heat. Note: An iron skillet works best. To know if the skillet is hot enough, sprinkle few drops of water on the skillet. If the water sizzles right away, the skillet is ready.
  8. Place the roti over skillet.
  9. After roti start changing color and start puffing in different places flip the roti over.
  10. Flip again after a few seconds. Take a flat spatula and press lightly on the puffed parts of the roti. This will help the roti puff.
  11. Flip the roti again. The roti should have light golden-brown spots on both sides.
  12. Butter the roti, the side that is facing the skillet.
  13. Keep the rotis in a container with a paper towel covering the bottem.
  14. Tip: make sure to cover the container after each roti is made. This will keep the steam in and ensure the rotis are soft.
  15. Roti can be kept outside for up to 2 days wrapped in aluminum foil or in a closed container. For later use, roti can be refrigerated for 5-6 days.

197 Responses to “Roti, Chapati (Flat Indian Bread)”

  1. Lesley says:

    Thanks for this fantastic website. My teenage son is a vegetarian and next year he is going on a trip to India (we live in Australia) where he will have to shop and cook for himself. I’m trying to learn to cook vegetarian Indian cooking so that I can teach him before he goes. I bought a cookbook from Amazon.com, but found all the ingredient bewildering and there were no pictures to show that I was on track. So I was thrilled to try your roti recipe and find it all worked just like in your video! Thanks so much. I’m looking forward to trying other recipe too.

  2. Purnima says:

    hello aunty,
    can u tell me how to preserve chapathi for a week.
    my plan is to make excess chapathi on weekend,so that on weekdays whn i come home after work,just heat chappati n eat.

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