Soft wholemeal chapati

Plan a week with South Asian dishes

Let's cook

1. Put the flour and salt in a large bowl and mix. Add the oil. You also need about 160ml warm water from the tap.
2. Pour in most of the water and mix with one hand until it comes together into a soft dough. Add the rest of the water a little at a time if there are dry bits. It should be soft and slightly sticky.
3. Knead the dough in the bowl for 5 minutes: push it away with the heel of your hand, fold it back and turn it. It is ready when it is smooth and springs back when you press it. Cover the bowl with a damp tea towel and leave it to rest for 15 minutes. Resting makes it easier to roll and softer to eat.
4. Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces and roll each into a smooth ball. Dust your worktop with flour. Roll a ball out into a thin round about 18cm wide, turning it a little after each roll so it stays round. Dust with more flour if it sticks.
5. Heat a dry frying pan or flat griddle (a tawa) on a medium high heat for 2 minutes. Lay a chapati in the pan. Cook for about 30 seconds until small bubbles appear, then turn it over.
6. Cook the second side for 30 to 40 seconds until it has brown spots. Turn it again and press gently around the edges with a folded clean tea towel. It should puff up with steam. Cook for 15 seconds more.
7. Wrap each cooked chapati in a clean tea towel to keep it warm and soft while you cook the rest.

Tips

• If the chapatis come out stiff, the dough was too dry or they cooked too long. Next time add a splash more water and cook them hotter and faster.
• Stacked and wrapped in a tea towel, they stay soft for 30 minutes. Leftovers keep in a bag for 1 day; warm them in a dry pan.

Swaps

• No chapati flour: use half plain flour and half wholemeal bread flour.
• Richer: brush each hot chapati with a little melted ghee (this adds milk).

More in the South Asian meal plan

Our own recipe. The photograph is AI-generated.