Roti Chapati Phulka Recipe

Whole-grain wheat, un-leavened bread baked on a hot iron plate (Tawa).

This is the most common bread made in Indian homes everyday. This is called Roti, Chapati or Phulka. Roti and Chapati are one and same, about 6" diameter, thickness of a Nickel (5¢ coin). Phulka is just a smaller version, about 5" diameter, thickness of a Dime (10¢ coin).

How to make Roti Chapati Phulka?

Ingredients

1. Atta (Whole-grain wheat flour): 2 Cups
2. Salt: 1/8 teaspoon
3. Warm water (near 100ºF): ¾ Cup

4. Melted Ghee for basting: Optional

Flour for dusting and rolling

Method

Dough

1. Mix salt and flour. Make a mound with a well in the center. Add warm water and start mixing dough and knead. If the dough is too sticky, add about 1 Table spoon of flour. If the dough is too hard, add up to one Tablespoon of water (one teaspoon at a time) to get the right consistency.

2. Gather dough in to a ball. Cover with damp kitchen towel or a plastic film. Let it rest 20 to 30 minutes at room temperature.

Rolling dough

We need to roll dough out to form a 6" diameter disc about the thickness of a Nickel (5¢ coin) for Roti or Chapati. For Phulka, need to roll dough out to form a 5" diameter disc about the thickness of a Dime (10¢ coin). How you roll the dough will also determine whether the bread will puff up evenly or not.

1. Pinch dough to make one bread and form it into a ball. Now flatten it to form a patty about 2" to 3" round. This will guide you in maintaining the round shape when using the rolling pin. Always apply rolling pin from the middle of the patty to outwards. It takes practice to roll out a round disc. If you are a novice, use a lid of coffee can and a sharp knife to form the round disc.

2. Always use rolling pin on one side of the dough. Do NOT turn the dough over and roll again, it is called re-rolling. Avoid re-rolling. If you look at the cross-section of a finished puffed flat bread, you will notice one side is thicker than the other side. The thinner side corresponds to the side which was in contact with the rolling pin. We will call it the skin surface.

Cooking

Heat the griddle (Tawa). Put a test bread about the thickness of a Dime (10¢ coin) on the Tawa. If the bread sticks to griddle, you need to increase heat. If the bread gets brown spots too quick, it is too hot. It should develop brown spots on the underside in 30 seconds. The bread is cooked in three steps.

1. Put the rolled bread on the griddle with skin surface down. The time to cook will depend on the thickness of the bread, 1 minute for Roti, 45 seconds for Phulka. Use a turner to lift a corner to see that the underside has a few brown spots.

2. Turn it over and let it cook. The time to cook will depend on the thickness of the bread, 90 seconds for Roti, 1 minute for Phulka. You will notice a steam bubble trapped in dough. Again use a turner to lift a corner to see that the underside has a brown spots.
3. Turn it over. Press with a clean dry rag as the steam bubble will get larger and larger to encircle the whole area. The time will depend on the thickness of the bread, 1 minute for Roti and 45 seconds for Phulka.

Basting

Brush the the skin surface with melted Ghee.