Makes 16 (enough for 4 people)
Ingredients
- 3¼ cups chapati flour, or 1¾ cups whole-wheat and 1¾ cups all-purpose white flour (plus extra to dust)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- canola oil
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons hot water
Instructions
-
Put the flour into a bowl, add the salt, and mix together. Make a well in the middle, add 3 tablespoons of oil, and mix, using your fingers, until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Pour in 1 cup of the water, then add the rest little by little—you may not need it all—until you can knead the mixture into a soft and pliable dough, which will take 6 to 8 minutes.
-
Lightly rub the dough with oil (so it won’t dry out) and put to one side while you get your rolling station ready. You will need a floured board or clean surface, ideally on one side of the stove top. You’ll also need a rolling pin, a bowl of flour in which to dip the balls of dough, a spatula (or chapati press), a frying pan, and a plate for your cooked chapatis.
-
Once all is ready, divide your dough into 16 balls. Put the frying pan on medium to high heat. Take one piece of dough, coat it generously with flour, then roll it out to around 6 inches in diameter, coating it with a little flour as you need it to stop it from sticking. Put it face side down on the hot pan.
-
Wait for the edges to color white and for the chapati to start to bubble (30 to 40 seconds), then turn it over and cook the other side for the same amount of time. Turn it over again—it should start to puff up at this point, so press down with the flat side of the spatula—and cook for around 10 seconds, then turn it over again and do the same. Check that all the dough is cooked (any uncooked spots will look dark and doughy) and put onto a plate. Cover with a towel or wrap in foil to keep warm, then repeat.