CHAPATI OR PHULKA RECIPE WITH STEP BY STEP PHOTOS AND TIPS.
indian bread or roti is an unleavened flatbread which is made in almost every part of india. my home is also not an exception. roti, sabzi (a dry vegetable dish) and dal are regular staple dishes at home. rotis are also served with a vegetable or paneer (cottage cheese) curry.
these rotis or flat breads are made from whole wheat flour and water. ghee and salt may or may not be added. i add some salt and oil to the dough. the whole wheat flour which is used in making these indian breads are hard to semi hard wheat durum wheat. the wheat is finely ground. this wheat flour is called as “atta”.
the same flat bread is called roti or phulka in different regions of india. these breads can be made thin or of medium thickness. all over india people make it for every day . i usually make medium chapapti
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PHULKA AND CHAPATI
phulka is a hindi word, which means to puff. the roti gets puffed up when exposed to dry heat like that of the a direct flame and puffs up. this puffing up can be achieved on a direct flame and also on the tava itself. a tava is concave flat pan to make the rotis.a chapati is a slightly different kind of flat bread. the word “chapati” is derived from a marathi word “chapat” which means “flat”. instead of rolling the chapatis were flattened by hand. of course its time consuming to flatten the chapati by the palms in today’s times. so nowadays a rolling pin is used. a chapati can be also thin or medium rolled.
chapati is also made on a tava and can puff or partly puff . oil is used while roasting the chapatis on the tava. there is a version of chapati made in maharashtra called as ‘poli’. where the rolled dough is layered with oil/ghee and folded thrice. then rolled again finally – much like the way we make parathas in north india.
roti puffed up on tava
the phulka can be smeared with or without ghee or oil. in indian homes , we do apply ghee on the roti while serving it with a veggie dish like aloo gobi, aloo matar, bhindi masala, lauki kofta or with dals like dal fry, dal tadka, . as the rotis are made from whole wheat flour so they are healthy and easy to digest. here in this post, i will explain the basic method of making a chapati or phulka.
INGREDIENTS FOR ROTI RECIPE
- (1 CUP = 250 ML)
- 3 cups whole wheat flour or atta
- 1 to 1.25 cups water or more if needed
- ½ to ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 to 2 teaspoon oil or ghee
HOW TO MAKE CHAPATI RECIPE
- kneading dough for chapati or phulka:
- take whole wheat flour/atta in a bowl. seive the whole wheat flour with salt. add a bit of water and oil and start mixing.
- adding some water to the dough in parts, begin to knead the dough.
- continue to knead the dough. keep on adding water as required.
- knead the dough till it becomes pliable and soft. the final dough consistency should not be very soft or hard.
- keep aside for 10 mints by applying some oil on dough
- now make small to medium balls of the dough. roll the ball with the help of rolling pin roll in small size roti den apply oil on it and sprinkle some flour on it and then make tat chapati into on trigle shape.( making chappati in triangle and then round ,it makes chapati soft and puffy)
- after making dough on triangle shape apply some flours and again make tat dough into flat round roti roll the pin from sides and make it flat roti.
MAKING ROTI ON TAWA:
- turn on the gas stove and put the tawa to make it hot.
- while tawa is getting hot, start rolling the dough ball into a flat round circle.
- once the tawa is sufficiently hot then put the roti on a hot tawa/griddle.
- first cook one side. it should be less than half cooked or about one-fourth cooked.
- turn and cook the other side. this should be a little bit more cooked than the first side. brown spots should be visible.
- now you can apply some oil on the both sides and with help of tong u can remove when black spots appears
- then you can keep them in a container that keeps food warm like a casserole or in a roti basket. you can also wrap them up in a kitchen towel or napkin.
- serve the soft rotis with dal or a veggie dish.
FOR PHULKA
- first cook one side. it should be less than half cooked or about one-fourth cooked.
- now hold the roti with a tong and keep the first side which was cooked, directly on fire. the roti will start to puff.
- turn and keep the other side on fire. the roti will puff more. avoid burning the rotis and also don’t overdo it as roti will not be soft and will become crisp and hard like papads.
- remove and apply ghee on the rotis. applying ghee or oil keep them soft for a long time. rotis made with this method is ideally served hot.
- if you cannot serve them hot, then you can keep them in a container that keeps food warm like a casserole or in a roti basket. you can also wrap them up in a kitchen towel or napkin.
- serve the soft rotis with dal or a veggie dish.







