Making Chapatis with Home Ground Wheat
In Mango Soup I mention that I grind my own flour, so I thought I'd show you what I mean in case anyone was wondering.
Here is my lovely grain mill - hand powered, so it's good exercise too!
And here it is in action, grinding some wheat. I did about 150g in 10 minutes, which isn't bad considering I was chatting, photographing and generally taking my time! It's not that difficult, honest!
I made enough flour for around 5 chapatis.
Here's one on the tava. Ok, so it's not perfectly round, nevermind! I like small, thin chapatis.
And a shot of one puffing up over a naked flame, using the coathanger-chapati rack I learnt about from Yamuna Devi's, "Lord Krishna's Cuisine: The Art of Indian Vegetarian Cooking". There would have been a shot of the chapatis on a plate too, but they were all wolfed up too quickly I'm afraid!
My tips for soft chapatis are to use very fine wholewheat flour, either the type bought in an Indian grocery store labelled "Chapati atta", or your own home ground if you feel up to it. Some people seive out the bran, but I like to keep it in for the fibre and extra nutrition. Next you should make up a dough which is slightly soft before it is rested, and knead it well. Rest it for about 15-30 minutes, more if you like. Then roll it out carefully and get cooking!
Honestly, it may seem like a lot of work but the flavour you get with chapatis from home ground wheat is absolutely wonderful. I also grind my own gram flour (chickpea flour) and wheat flour, along with other grains when the fancy strikes me. In fact, I've made delicious mixed grain theplas using wheat, barley, buckwheat, brown rice and channa dal. This machine is even tough enough to grind corn.
What are your top tips for soft, puffed up chapatis? I've seen some people add yoghurt, milk or oil to the dough as one way of getting them soft, and it also adds great flavour.
If you like the look of this recipe, please buy my book, Mango Soup, which contains the full version of this recipe and many more: http://www.authorhouse.co.uk/Bookstore/ItemDetail.aspx?bookid=49169
7 comments:
hey jenni, am chapatis made from sure home ground flour would taste a hundred times better. damn the laziness ;)
Hi Jenni,
Thanks for dropping by my blog. I loved the name of your blog..so unique. Congrats on your book being ready! Let me know when it hits the stands :-) You might consider starting a fanclub network on Facebook and Twitter...a lot of authors are doing it these days.
Cheers..
Pallavi
Thanks for your comments guys, be sure to check back to see when the book is out!
Its quite interesting and commendable that you grind your own flour. I'm quite eager to see your book. :-)
Kudos to you! These must taste fantastic! My sister's family used to own a flour mill as big as a washing machine and needless to say, the rotis from their kitchen were the best I have ever eaten!
wow Jenni. I really appreciate your efforts. I finally found somebody of my age group who cooks :) I'm thrilled to a young cook like you :) I've just stepped into cooking world. :) Thanks for sharing:)
Thanks for dropping my blog, it's great to hear you're just getting into cooking. This blog is mostly for promoting my book, but if you want a blog with my everyday cookingn on it you can go to riceandspicy.blogspotl.com
Once again, thanks for stopping by!
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