How to make soft &perfect Chapatis at home

 

soft rotis - how to make them at home

Cook with samee 

I've grown up eating soft rotis and here's my guide to making them at home. Also called chapatis / phulkas / rotli, these two ingredients Indian flatbreads are magical because they are fast, easy and so satisfying.

Yes, I said it. I think rotis are magical. Because they are made with one ingredient - wholemeal wheat flour (atta) and water if that counts as an ingredient. You don't need any leavening agents like yeast or baking soda or even yogurt. All you need is some practice and patience.

dough for rotis

The dough for rotis or chapatis is made with two simple ingredients - wholemeal wheat flour or atta, and water. Some people add a pinch of salt (I do that sometimes), some add a little oil, but mostly, I prefer them without any of these. The rough estimates for flour to water is given in the recipe below.

kneading the dough

It's important that the dough is smooth, soft and pliable. This means that when you press down on the dough, you don't face too much resistance, and when you press it with your fingers, it should leave an indentation. The dough should not be sticky or too dry. It should feel smooth to touch. Once you mix the flour and water, knead using your knuckles and palm. Stretch the dough with your palms, bring it back with your fingers, knead with your knuckles and repeat till it feels soft.

water in the dough

Water in this dough plays a really important role. It created steam when the rolled out rotis are placed on heat and that's what makes them puff up. How cool is that. So I like to add a few extra drops of water as I knead and keep kneading for a while. The atta (flour) keeps absorbing the water. So the more water you can integrate into the dough without it becoming sticky, the better it is.

resting the dough

Over time I've realised that while resting the dough is not critical to making good rotis, it's definitely helpful. Resting the dough does just that - it helps the dough come together, smoothen out even further and helps the dough become more pliable, easier to roll, and produces softer rotis.

rolling out rotis

This might be the tricky part and honestly this comes with practice and patience. In the beginning, don't get hung up on the shape of the rotis. As long as they are somewhat circular, you are good to go. A small lime sized ball is enough, make sure its smooth and round as you start (watch the video for this), and then roll them out gently with a rolling pin. Too much pressure and your roti might tear and too little pressure and your roti might not flatten out evenly.                          

cooking soft rotis

Start on a hot tawa or skillet when you cook them. If your skillet is not hot enough, the rotis will take too long to cook and this will dry them out. You start rotis on a tawa, and finish them on an open flame to puff them up. If you don't have an open flame, you can press down gently with a cloth along the sides and they will start to puff up on the skillet.

I like to finish off hot rotis by smearing them with ghee. I can't have rotis without it. If you don't have ghee, you can make some at home with my homemade ghee recipe. And if that's not possible, just smear them with some butter.