Curry Recipes Online
British Indian Restaurant Recipes - Starters & Side Dishes => Starters & Side Dishes => Breads (Naan, Puri, Chapatti, Paratha, etc) => Topic started by: glazburgher on September 13, 2010, 01:16 PM
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Can't see any chapatti recipes (my bread of choice), so i'll post the one i use.
makes 1 chapatti
ingredients:
2 heaped atta (chapatti flour).
if no chapatti flour use: 1 heaped tablespoon plain flour + 1 heaped tablespoon wholemeal flour
salt
water
instructions:
-sieve flour into bowl (usually don't bother with the sieving)
-add pinch of salt
-add enough water & mix so not sticky but will from solid ball
- kneed for a few mins
- leave for at least 30 min
-if making more than 1 chap separate into ping pong size balls
-roll out to desired size (dinner plate?)
-get (preferably non-stick) frying pan as hot as possible.
-dry cook chapatti both sides
should take less than 2min.
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don't use gram flour - getting mixed up with pakora here. i meant chapatti flour or plain + wholemeal
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glazburger,
i'm sold on naan's for curry night's.
i did buy chapatti flour (Pillsbury, Chakki Atta) a while ago and whilst i've switched back to naan for curry i'm sold on using them as tortillas.
i could not believe how important the kneading is considering it's effectively just flour ie no yeast or bi carb.
i was also taken aback by how much more difficult "dense" the dough is when the water's added - they give the impression they are going to be like old boots but of course they are the complete opposite when cooked.
have u tried naans and if so what makes u prefer the chapatti - just out of interest as a friend prefers chapatti saying the naan fills too quickly. i just could not get enough of the curry to sit in the scoop - ended up using a fork.
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just out of interest as a friend prefers chapatti saying the naan fills too quickly. i just could not get enough of the curry to sit in the scoop - ended up using a fork.
That's an interesting observation Jerry. Chappatis are made for scooping, of course, but I'm not sure about Naans?
I don't see Naans as a scooping device but that depends on the type of Naan. In India, I'm led to believe, the Naans are preferred crispy and thin, which would make them suitable for scooping.
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Secret Santa,
thick naans for sure are no good. the midlands tends more to the thin and crispy.
i guess i was searching for any improvement i could make on the chapatti front - i make my naans quite thin yet they seem to be able to hold the food better - maybe i need the chapatti thicker - mine are about 2mm c/w 4 mm for naan (both starting out at the same dough ball size).
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Interesting how some comments make you ponder. I've never really regarded a naan as a scooping instrument though with chapattis I certainly do. I use 8 ounces of flour to make 4 chapattis and would say that 2mm sounds about what I do. With naans I suppose I go a bit thicker than 4mm but maybe not by much. I think of naans either for dipping or laying a whole curry on.
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Thinking about it, there are probably a few reasons i prefer chapattis:
like your friend. i usually find naans to be more filling leaving less room for the main dish.
chapattis are usually thinner so i find the ratio of bread to meat to be just right in each bite.
flavour doesn't detract from the curry
more malleable and good for scooping *as mentioned).
however i suspect the real reason is that chapattis were what i was introduced to first, as a lad, in restaurants during the early 80s.
Don't get me wrong, i've had plenty of nice naans but given the choice i just prefer the simplicity of flavour and texture of a freshly made chapatti.
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I too prefer chapattis over nans but haven't gotten around to trying to make them yet.
I'm too obsessed with cooking a good sauce to move onto breads at the moment.
Thanks for the recipe.
Paul
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glazburgher,
appreciate the extra insight.
i've been using 500g to make 10 off which i think is comparable to Stephen's 8 oz for 4 off. i've had a look a the packet which says 100g to make 4 off so perhaps mine are actually too thk (more than 2 mm). it say's to start with a "lemon" size ball - i'll have to try your suggestion of the smaller "ping pong ball" size.
i'll give them another go this week once i've made base. i'd love to crack it as i like the taste and the health benefits c/w to white flour
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mmm, i would have said don't quote me on the ball size but you already have ;). from memory they were between ping pong and golf. anyway if you divide the dough into
equal parts you should be fine
i have just joined this site so have just started on my culnary journey, but even before, the times that i could actually be bothered to make chapps it would make a big difference to my enjoyment of home made curry.
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Another tip when cooking Chapatti, is to hold down the chapatti with a t-towel. This will cause it to blister and the blisters become brown when turned over. Do this on both sides and the chapatti will have an authentic look about it.
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Another tip when cooking Chapatti, is to hold down the chapatti with a t-towel. This will cause it to blister and the blisters become brown when turned over. Do this on both sides and the chapatti will have an authentic look about it.
I've seen them get the blistering in BIR kitchens by holding the chapatti over the gas flame, but for those (like me) with electric hobs, simply use the rack from your grill and cook your chapatti directly over the hob for blisters galore:
(http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/imagehost/pics/fcb385afef3a2e616b904a44b2e187e9.jpg) (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/imagehost/#fcb385afef3a2e616b904a44b2e187e9.jpg)
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I'm glad someone's posted about chappatis. I was going to start a thread - I must've missed this one.
When I started making them, before I knew where or how to get chappati flour locally, I used to use a mix of strong bread flours. My best results came with using 2 parts white to 1 part wholemeal, though I went through all sorts of ratios until I settled on that.
I remember seeing the episode of Michael Palin's 'Around the World in 80 Days' where he travels on the dhow, and it showed the ship's cook making chappatis on a tava over a gas burner. I was intrigued at the way the bread puffed up like a pillow on the tava, without being waved over an open flame.
It's a bit of a dark art getting that to happen in my kitchen, and I always feel disappointed when it doesn't, despite the chappatis being perfectly edible. I can remember a time when I could get that to happen on a regular basis, when I was using the bread flour mix. Funnily enough, it's been harder since I started using chappati flour.
I hadn't made them for a while, until I started posting here again. I bought some East End flour and just couldn't get it to puff up, although the flavour of the chappatis was lovely. Recently I bought a bag of Rajah Gold chappati flour, and had a bit of a breakthrough with it.
What I do is to place the raw chappati on the frying pan and just leave it for a few seconds - maybe 10 - before flipping it over, just to seal it. There are no brown spots at this point. Then I leave it for the standard 30 - 45 seconds or so, until the bubbles start to form in the bread. I lift it up to check that some brown blisters are appearing on the underside. and when they do, I flip again.
Then the thing starts to puff in places, and I've found the best way to encourage it is to press very gently with the back of a fish slice in circular motions, pushing the bubbles out until the whole thing puffs up. This can go wrong very easily; if I burst a blister or crack the surface it's game over, in terms of puffage. But when it goes right it looks like this, as it did last night:
(http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/imagehost/pics/952bb37460e306671101855d95a44de2.JPG) (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/imagehost/#952bb37460e306671101855d95a44de2.JPG)
... in which case I dance around the kitchen with joy. :) When the chappati's cooked it has the brown blisters on one side, but the other side just looks toasted and caramelised, which is how they generally look when I order them from takeaways around here. It doesn't always work that way, but I can usually get them to puff a bit. I have a gas hob, and can ride the heat as it goes along, but I haven't found an 'ideal' setting. It seems to depend upon the mix and, possibly, how much beer I've drunk when I come to cook them.
I generally cook a bunch of them and fold them in quarters, putting them into plastic food bags 2 at a time. I find they keep in the fridge for 2-3 days easily, with a 30-second blast in the microwave restoring them to their soft doughy glory. I've never tried freezing them.
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Oohhh, if I could achieve those, I would be a happy man indeed ...
** Phil.
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That is a pretty chapatti Ian. I don't have the luxury of a gas hob but i get good results on my electic stove with my tawa. Haven't tried the egg slice method. Like others i tend to press them down with a tea towel. I make a dozen, wrap them in foil, let them cool, place them in a freezer bag and in they go. Very easily separated when frozen. Onto a plate, 30 seconds full power, taste like they've just been cooked - simples ;D
Here is an excellent video which shows exactly what you're experiencing and looking for Paul.
Roti, Chapati (Flat Indian Bread) Recipe by Manjula (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jD4o_Lmy6bU#)
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I love chapattis
That looks great
I had them instead of rice last night
I love naans on their own, but chapattis and curry mmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Lovely
I use a chapatti no2 flour
They sell big bags in Asian shops, round here, it's what the takeaways use
I just add water, leave twenty minutes and cook on my tava
Now that is a simple recipe
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I've tried these a couple of times and the second time around ( yesterday ) was far better .. there's no chance of getting chapatti flour here in Slovakia so I tried 'oo' white and wholemeal at 2:1 with luke warm water and the result was much better ... really tasty light and elastic chapattis which when used as a scoop holding a tiny amount of rice and a generous piece of chicken phall and sauce was pure pleasure ... oh by the way I did brush them with melted butter too :)
What I'm still struggling to understand is how only flour and water can taste so good ... at school we called it glue !! :)
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In Scotland we call a deep fried Mars Bar and chips one of our five a day.
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Chapatti flours I have had great success with are:
Pilsbury Atta (Asda I think)
Elephant Atta (medium Brown)
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Probably a silly question,
I made a batch for the first time last night and they have all pretty well ended too stiff and crispy (they snap) and not soft like you get in a restaurant.
Possible reasons
Rolled out too thin
Not enough water
Over cooked
Recipe on the packet says rest the initial mixture for 10 mins
Flour = NATO medium chapati flour
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Hi Petrolhead,
I've never liked a very short resting time. It doesn't work for me.
I find they are better if rested for at Least 30 mins or longer.
Here's my recipe for a large batch of dough.
This makes about 20-30 soft chapati's depending on size.
600g atta
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp veg oil
4-6 tbsp milk
14-16 tbsp hot water
stir salt into the flour
add oil and stir
add milk and stir
add water and mix until it all comes together
add water or oil over the top to stop drying out
store in an airtight container for min 30 mins before rolling out.
The dough will be fine for a couple of days in the fridge.
Dont use it straight from the fridge, leave out at room temp for an hour or so before using.
Store each one in a pile wrapped in a tea towel immediately after cooking. (the steam also helps to keep them soft)
*The milk and the oil helps to make a really soft chapati.
I usually just guess the liquid but recently worked this recipe out for a friend.
Cheers, Frank. :)
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Thanks Frank.
I'll try your recipe and post the results.
Regards, James.
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going to try making chapatis. love naan but had some lovely chapatis earlier on in the week so maybe a change of direction beckons for a wee while.
aint got no chapati flour so i'm going to use 2x plain flour with 1x wholemeal flour, salt, water and oil.
quick question if i may....
once the chapatis are made, how long would I be able to keep them without freezing??
i was going to make 10 and keep 4 for the next day...possible???
thanks :)
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If flour and water won't keep for at least a few days, then I think most bakeries would go out of business :)