So Inspired by tas's thread on frybread, coupled withe the fact that I've been meaning to post a chapati thread for a while anyway.
I decided to add baking powder to my chapati recipe and also use oil in frying them (chapati's are usually dry fried).
These minor changes turn a chapati into a paratha. Parathas are often deep fried as well as shallow fried. But in both cases they use a lot more oil than I do.
The ONLY differences between making chapatis and making these parathas is the use of oil and baking powder and a couple of things to look for when cooking.
The recipe
Use wholemeal wheat flour. You can buy special chapati flour, but it's usually more expensive and it's EXACTLY the same stuff - wholemeal bread flour.
PER PERSON
1 cup medium chapati flour (wholemeal bread flour)
1 tsp baking powder (parathas only, not used for chapatis)
1 Dsp oil (I use olive, any food grade oil will do)
90ml - 1/3 cup hot water
Seasonings - these can range from a pinch of salt and pepper, to a full on spice mix and sauteed onions and garlic. See below for my last spice mix
So for 3 people (what I actually made)
3 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup oil
1 1/4 cups very hot water
Spice mix
1 tsp peppercorns
1.5 tsp salt
2 tsp turmeric
3 tsp coriander seeds
1/2 tsp asafoetida
3tsp dried onion
1tsp mustard seed
2 tsp garlic powder
This was ground together to a fine powder.
Mix all the dry ingredients together with a fork.
Then add the oil and water and combine with a fork.
Then use your hands to form a sticky ball and transfer to a board and knead. I knead it on a clicngfilm coverd board. This way you don't add any more flour or oil to the dough.
When done it will form a smooth almost sticky dough. The dough should NOT be as elastic as a standard bread dough and still quite soft.
Leave to rest. It's supposedly best left overnight, but I often make and use immediately or at best after an hour or so. If leaving overnight, cover with clingfilm and leave in the fridge. If being used sooner (like mine) cover and leave at room temperature until you're ready to use it.
Cooking The Flat Bread
Indian flatbreads are usually rolled on a small wooden board with a specially shaped rolling pin.
The rolling pins you buy in the asian grocers are cheap, mass produced and not great to look at (they still have the pin holes from the lathe in the ends and are stained softwood). So I made these :-)
The top one is ash and the one I'm holding is made with maple and iroko (or sapele - one of the two anyway. They are similiar and both used as mahogany susbstitutes in cabinet making).
The flat wooden thing is a chapati presser. You use it to push down the big air bubbles in a chapati. I made my first chapati set for my next door neighbours 30th birthday. Apparently it was the first time anybody among their family or friends had seen a matching set made from different hardwoods :-). It was also the first time they'd seen a presser turned from one piece of wood. They are usually a flat slice of wood with a seperate handle screwed on (quick and cheap to make). And should I want to make more - there's a definite market for custom made chapati sets
You'll notice that the central barrel of the rolling pin tapers towards either end. This is deliberate. When you roll out the dough you do so with a slight rocking motion and this automatically turns the dough for you, keeping it round.
I now use the same process for rolling out pasty rounds, tortillas, etc.
I can't claim to be anywhere near as good or fast as next door (mine aren't always very round) - but they've been doing it all their lives.
I always set out a flat bread station/production line before starting.
I use plain/AP flour as the bits in wholemeal flour tend to burn in the frying pan and set off the smoke alarm.
[IMG][/IMG]
Pull a piece of dough a little bigger than a golfball. Form a ball and then press it into the plain flour both sides till you've got a flat circle.
Get a good even coating of flour and I find I don't need to add any to the either the rolling pin or the board.
Roll out the dough to around 2-3 mm
This one was too thick and didn't cook through properly - subsequent ones were rolled out a little thinner.
The most important thing with parathas or chapatis is to make sure you have a hot frying pan. A smallish thin based pan is best. I work on a sort of Three flip system for chapatis (modified slightly for the parathas).
Cooking Parathas
Drop the dough circle in the pan. And flip for the first time when you see bubbles on the surface of the dough. If the frying pon is hot enough this will take about 20 seconds.
The second flip timing takes a little practice and should be done just before the bread starts to blacken. Usually after about 40-50 seconds
At this point I added approx 1 tsp oil to the pan and shook and flipped the bread quickly to evenly distribute the oil both sides of the bread.
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GBiVCbqdn8[/yt]
(yeah that's right, mad frying pan skills right there :-) )
I decided to add baking powder to my chapati recipe and also use oil in frying them (chapati's are usually dry fried).
These minor changes turn a chapati into a paratha. Parathas are often deep fried as well as shallow fried. But in both cases they use a lot more oil than I do.
The ONLY differences between making chapatis and making these parathas is the use of oil and baking powder and a couple of things to look for when cooking.
The recipe
Use wholemeal wheat flour. You can buy special chapati flour, but it's usually more expensive and it's EXACTLY the same stuff - wholemeal bread flour.
PER PERSON
1 cup medium chapati flour (wholemeal bread flour)
1 tsp baking powder (parathas only, not used for chapatis)
1 Dsp oil (I use olive, any food grade oil will do)
90ml - 1/3 cup hot water
Seasonings - these can range from a pinch of salt and pepper, to a full on spice mix and sauteed onions and garlic. See below for my last spice mix
So for 3 people (what I actually made)
3 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup oil
1 1/4 cups very hot water
Spice mix
1 tsp peppercorns
1.5 tsp salt
2 tsp turmeric
3 tsp coriander seeds
1/2 tsp asafoetida
3tsp dried onion
1tsp mustard seed
2 tsp garlic powder
This was ground together to a fine powder.
Mix all the dry ingredients together with a fork.
Then add the oil and water and combine with a fork.
Then use your hands to form a sticky ball and transfer to a board and knead. I knead it on a clicngfilm coverd board. This way you don't add any more flour or oil to the dough.
When done it will form a smooth almost sticky dough. The dough should NOT be as elastic as a standard bread dough and still quite soft.
Leave to rest. It's supposedly best left overnight, but I often make and use immediately or at best after an hour or so. If leaving overnight, cover with clingfilm and leave in the fridge. If being used sooner (like mine) cover and leave at room temperature until you're ready to use it.
Cooking The Flat Bread
Indian flatbreads are usually rolled on a small wooden board with a specially shaped rolling pin.
The rolling pins you buy in the asian grocers are cheap, mass produced and not great to look at (they still have the pin holes from the lathe in the ends and are stained softwood). So I made these :-)
The top one is ash and the one I'm holding is made with maple and iroko (or sapele - one of the two anyway. They are similiar and both used as mahogany susbstitutes in cabinet making).
The flat wooden thing is a chapati presser. You use it to push down the big air bubbles in a chapati. I made my first chapati set for my next door neighbours 30th birthday. Apparently it was the first time anybody among their family or friends had seen a matching set made from different hardwoods :-). It was also the first time they'd seen a presser turned from one piece of wood. They are usually a flat slice of wood with a seperate handle screwed on (quick and cheap to make). And should I want to make more - there's a definite market for custom made chapati sets
You'll notice that the central barrel of the rolling pin tapers towards either end. This is deliberate. When you roll out the dough you do so with a slight rocking motion and this automatically turns the dough for you, keeping it round.
I now use the same process for rolling out pasty rounds, tortillas, etc.
I can't claim to be anywhere near as good or fast as next door (mine aren't always very round) - but they've been doing it all their lives.
I always set out a flat bread station/production line before starting.
I use plain/AP flour as the bits in wholemeal flour tend to burn in the frying pan and set off the smoke alarm.
[IMG][/IMG]
Pull a piece of dough a little bigger than a golfball. Form a ball and then press it into the plain flour both sides till you've got a flat circle.
Get a good even coating of flour and I find I don't need to add any to the either the rolling pin or the board.
Roll out the dough to around 2-3 mm
This one was too thick and didn't cook through properly - subsequent ones were rolled out a little thinner.
The most important thing with parathas or chapatis is to make sure you have a hot frying pan. A smallish thin based pan is best. I work on a sort of Three flip system for chapatis (modified slightly for the parathas).
Cooking Parathas
Drop the dough circle in the pan. And flip for the first time when you see bubbles on the surface of the dough. If the frying pon is hot enough this will take about 20 seconds.
The second flip timing takes a little practice and should be done just before the bread starts to blacken. Usually after about 40-50 seconds
At this point I added approx 1 tsp oil to the pan and shook and flipped the bread quickly to evenly distribute the oil both sides of the bread.
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GBiVCbqdn8[/yt]
(yeah that's right, mad frying pan skills right there :-) )
Comment