Last weekend we enjoyed an incredible spread of Indian delicacies, both meat and vegetarian; it was the type of food you eat way past the point of satiation, way past. So, I got some books and am starting to get into the cuisine a bit. On the way there I needed a starchy foundation to hold all I want to make. Chappathi sounded like a good bread to start. Another friend was kind enough to coax her child to videotape her preparation. This video, some question and answer, a bunch of youtube vids and some reading and voilà. Here's my prep with a few details I thought significant based on failed runs.
The recipe is trivial, whole wheat flour, I used atta from a Mediterranean food market (167 g), salt (2 g) and water (100 g), mix, knead and let sit a few minutes, then divide into 70 g balls and round them, let rest again. I rolled these balls into 8" diameter discs and tossed them on an electric skillet at a surface temperature of 400°F (+/- 20°F, measured with an IR thermometer) for about a minute on each side and finished them off by placing them on a lit burner for about 15 seconds until it puffs or catches on fire. I used an electric skillet because I wanted to know the temperature at least once. In earlier failed attempts, I think the pan on the stove was not hot enough. So, in the future I know to get the surface at least this hot. Also appreciate the thickness of the rolled dough is dictated by the diameter of the rolled dough and it's mass, it's too hard to measure the thickness.
Atta flour vs Stutzman Farms whole wheat, I think it's clear, but the atta is much more finely milled.
Click on image and the difference in fineness is a little easier to visualize.
Click on image and the difference in fineness is a little easier to visualize.
The brand of atta I used.
chappathi - thanks again you two!
I'm not sure how good these look, but I think I could live on them,
and they're ready in a few minutes! I totally see wraps in my future lunches.
I'm not sure how good these look, but I think I could live on them,
and they're ready in a few minutes! I totally see wraps in my future lunches.
Those breads look very nice - I can just picture wrapping them around bites of curry. I'm embarrassed to admit that we are usually lazy and have tortillas when we make Indian food.
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty happy with them, you could do these with no trouble, even better than the pan would be a nice hot grill, indirect.
ReplyDeleteAnd, flour tortillas are actually pretty close, toss a little char on them and paint with butter, they'd be even closer, no shame there.