“How to make soft chapati??” was my biggest worry when I was a beginner in cooking. I was not aware of the secrets, tips and tricks for making hotel style soft chapati when I was new to cooking. Not just me, making a super soft chapathi that stays soft for long time would be the dream for many. When I was a beginner I used to make hard, chewy chapati and sometimes like roasted papad too. As we were newly married, Sendhil couldn’t scold me instead he used to make fun of my chapathi. Once my MIL told this method, ingredients and suggested me to give a try. When I tried it for the first time, I couldn’t believe the results. It came out super soft. I felt very happy and excited to see my chapathi soft like a kerchief. More than me, Sendhil was feeling much more relieved 😃. Thanks a ton to my MIL for teaching me this wonderful recipe.
After making this chapathi successfully, I attempted phulka/roti without oil and now I can confidently make phulka/roti and chapathi anytime. Soon I will share my phulka recipe too. Before going to this recipe let me tell you, this is not chapathi without oil. It is not North Indian phulka or roti. I hope you know the difference between roti and chapati.You would have come across different types of soft chapati recipes using milk, hot water, ghee etc. This is one such kind.
Many of you must have tasted this kind of chapati in Tamil nadu hotels. Here I have used oil & curd to bring the softness. So fat is used in this recipe. Please do not attempt this recipe if you are calorie conscious or if you are in diet. This recipe is purely for beginners & bachelors who craves for making soft chapathi. You can dare to try this recipe for your lunch box and to your guests as well. It stays soft for long time.
If you follow this recipe, you do not have to worry about the wheat flour brand. It works for all the brand like Aashirvaad, Pillsburry, Any multi grain atta, Swad etc. You can even try with homemade wheat flour ground using ration wheat grains/ ration godhumai. I have also given some general tips to make soft chapathi dough. Hope this will help. Lets see how to make soft chapati with step by step pictures.
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Soft Chapati recipe
How to make soft chapathi at home with tips and step by step pictures !
Cuisine: Indian
Category: Dinner
Serves: 5 nos for 1 cup
Prep time: 35 Minutes
Cook time: 1 Minutes
Total time: 36 Minutes
1 cup = 250 ml
- Wheat flour/atta – 1 cup
- Refined oil OR Gingely oil (Nalla ennai) – 1 tbsp
- Curd – 1 tbsp ( Not too sour & thick, I use semi solid curd)
- Water – 1/3 cup (+/- 1/2 tbsp)
- Salt – 1/4 tsp
Oil or ghee – for brushing(optional)
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HOW TO MAKE SOFT CHAPATI
- Mix wheat flour/ atta, curd, oil and salt.
- Add water, knead for 5 minutes.
- Cover and rest the dough for 30 minutes.
- Make small balls, dust in flour, roll chapathi.
- Cook both sides brushing oil or ghee !
SOFT CHAPATHI – METHOD
- In a wide bowl or plate, measure the flour/atta & take it. Add curd, oil & salt to it. Mix it well so that curd & oil spreads well with atta/ wheat flour. Now sprinkle water in small quantity & try to make a soft,non-sticky dough. No problem if the dough sticks lightly to your hand. Knead the dough well at least for 5 minutes. If possible beat in a hard surface. Keep it covered for minimum 30 minutes.
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- After 30 minutes, dough would become very soft. Now make golf sized balls out of the dough & keep in the bowl. Take one ball, roll it without any cracks, pat it slightly & dust in the flour. Keep the remaining balls closed till use. Roll the ball into a uniform, thin circle. Dust it once in the middle only if necessary.
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- Put the chapathi in a news paper or sheet & cover it well. Do not keep it one over the other. Roll the other chapathis & spread it. Heat a good conditioned non-stick pan & put the chapathi. Reduce the flame to medium. Keep rotating it. U will see some bubbles appear on the top of chapathi. Immediately flip the chapathi.
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- Cook the other side in low flame by pressing it using a ladle so that corners will cook well. Remove and brush with ghee or oil if needed. Serve hot with vegetable kurma.
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- If you want to store the chapathi, spread a towel inside a hot pack. Brush the cooked chapati with oil or ghee. Then stack the chapathis one above the other. Wrap it with a cloth napkin & store it. It will stay soft for hours. If you want to pack the chapathis for lunch box, brush it with oil /ghee. Just fold the chapathi like a triangle and stack it. It will remain soft for long hours.
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TIPS TO MAKE SOFT CHAPATI
These are some of the general tips and secrets to be followed to make a soft chapathi or phulka.
- The quantity of water may vary based on the atta/wheat flour brand you use. Aashirvaad takes little more water than Pillsbury. The water quantity I have given here is an approximate measure. It may vary for multi grain atta.
- Do not add all the water while kneading the dough. Sprinkle water only in small quantities. If you feel you have added excess water, you can add little flour to it but you should add few more drops of oil & knead it really well else chapathi will come out hard.
- Rolling the chapathi of uniform thickness is necessary for uniform puffing else chapathi won’t puff up in some places. Also never roll the chapathi very thin like a transparent sheet. They will roast like a papad.
- Do not over dust the chapathi in flour. Do it once or twice. If you dust more, chapathi may come out soft but it will look dry.
- Do not leave the chapathi dough or rolled chapathi in air for long time. It will become dry & gives you hard chapati. So keep it closed till use.
- Heat of the flame is very important while cooking chapathi. It should be low to medium. Never cook in high flame. It will become a papad. Flame should be high only for making phulkas and that too while showing in direct flame.
- Always brush the chapathi with oil or ghee if you keep for long time. No need to brush if you consume immediately.
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Try this recipe at home & enjoy soft chapathi for dinner or lunch with your favourite side dish. I served it with paneer kurma ! It was yummly !!
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