Nothing beats a good chapati, good flakey soft chapati with a stew of your choice. This East African chapati is a soft, flakey unleavened bread that is quite different from the Indian flatbread because this chapati uses a substantial amount of oil in its preparation.
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour plus a little more flour for kneading
- 1 Teaspoon Salt
- 3 Tablespoons oil
- 11/4 Cups Water
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, and oil in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Add the water a little at a time to form a soft and sticky dough.
- Turn to a floured surface; knead for about 10 to 15 minutes until it becomes smooth and elastic. Place in a bowl. Cover and let it rest in a warm place for about 20 to 30 minutes.
- Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide the dough into 8 equal parts and roll each piece into a circle. You can roll out the dough into a circle cook the Chapatis at this point. However, if you want a flaky and well-layered chapati, move on with the rest of the steps below.
- Lightly brush the rolled out chapati with some Oil and roll it as you would roll up a mat.
- At this point, it should be like a rope then roll the ”rope-like” to form a coil then pull the tip towards the center of the coil and tuck in using your index finger then cover it up with a damp towel and leave it to rest for about 10 to 15 minutes.
- Flour your work surface again and start rolling out each of the coiled dough to about 1/8th thickness (the dough will eventually shrink up to about 1-2/4 inch thickness).
- Preheat a non-stick pan or a heavy bottom skillet. Place the chapati on inside the pan and leave it to cook for a few seconds before disturbing it.
- Brush the surface of the chapati with a very thin layer of oil. Once you begin to see bubbles rise on top of the chapati, flip it over to the other side and brush it also with a thin layer of Oil.
- Continue to flip over about one or two more times until you achieve your desired brownness. Serve hot or warm and enjoy with your favorite dish.
