Chapatti-Making
I am really glad that the Indian government doesn’t give PIO cards (Person of Indian Origin) based on one’s ability in roti-making.
To start with, I never understood the difference between roti and chapatti. They both look the same and taste the same. I can only recognize a difference between roti/chapatti and the delicious Naan, which is made in the tandoor oven.
Roti/chapatti being a healthier option than white rice, since it’s prepared with whole wheat flour, I decided to give it a try.
I asked two different friends about the art of roti-making; one is a foreigner and the other is a half-Indian and comes from a culture that doesn’t eat roti but instead eat rice and has never prepared a chapatti before. They explained the theory and today I put their theory into practice.
I put some atta (whole wheat flour) in a bowl and added water, it was dried, so I added more water, and more and more until finally became far too mushy and it all stuck in my hand. In desperation I added more atta and more and more till the dough became manageable. I kneaded the dough as much as my tendonitis allowed me and then made small size balls as instructed by my non-chapatti-making-friends.
I placed one of the balls in a round wooden board and with a small wooden roller I tried to flatten the ball into a circle. The ball got flattened all right but no one told me it would stick to both the board as well as the roller itself! After I cleaned the mess, I solved the problem by adding some flour to the board and managed to make flat discs.
I placed one by one in a non-stick frying pan and lightly cooked them. Then I put them in the fire expecting they would puff up as I have seem in a atta advertisement on TV but most of them did not puff up at all. Only a few of them puffed in one half but the other half remained flat. To make matters worse, two of them caught on fire! I didn’t know what to do and extinguished the fire by blowing on them.
I must say I’m glad that “size doesn’t matter” as goes the old saying, since each one of them came out with a different size.
They smell good but as far as taste goes I have no idea, I didn’t dare to taste them. This task belongs to my husband; after all I made these chapattis for him.
Below photos of the rotis/chapattis I made.
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