This is my first success and second attempt at making a non-wheat version of an Indian unleavened flatbread or
chapati.
I have always wanted to make
chapati but never had the courage to do so until now because I always thought it was a difficult bread to make.
Since I no longer eat wheat and had the craving for
chapati the other day, I had to psych myself to overcome the fear of failure and start making my own. The worst case scenario: I would be the one finishing the bread.
As usual, before embarking on any food adventure, I would turn to google first and then explore all kinds of possibilities that are available from the cyberspace. After I have found the answers I needed, I began experimenting with the things I had in my pantry.
My first attempt at making
chapati with spelt flour was two days before I made this successful bread. It turned out chewy and dry because I did not know that it would make a difference if I omitted brushing the cooked
chapati with ghee/butter. I thought it was sufficient if I only added olive oil into the dough mixture.
Arh well, failure is a very good lesson for beginners, no?
Although I was not satisfied with the outcome of my first attempt, I enjoyed the rolling and flipping of
chapatis. It turned out to be so much easier than making yeast bread dough.
The similarity about making
chapati with any other types of bread, is that, it all depends on the touch of your fingers. If the dough is a bit wet, just add a little more flour and if it is a bit dry, just add a little more water.
And the difference from making yeast bread, is that, there is no proofing time required because the dough only needs to rest for as long as 15 minutes. But the longer the bread rests, the softer it becomes (with all gluten flour). So, I decided to let the dough rest for a little over 30 minutes.
My next challenge would be to try making a non-gluten flour version to see if it makes any difference at all to the dough with a longer resting time.
For my second attempt, since I had some sweet potatoes idling in my pantry, I decided to try making another non-wheat version instead ~ sweet potato and spelt flour
chapati.
When I saw the first
chapati puffed up on the stove, I knew that I had done something right this time. It got me really excited that I had to snap photos for a write-up on this blog. Unfortunately, it was already too late when I realised that I had forgotten to snap the layers of
chapatis before storing them. Well, next time, perhaps?
After I had fulfilled my cravings for that day, there were still some leftover
chapatis. So, I froze them; each one in between plastic sheets (so that I can remove them easily when I needed to reheat one at a time), re-wrapped them back in the tea towel, placed them snugly in a plastic bag before placing them in an airtight plastic container. (I just wanted to prevent the
chapatis from frosting)
The next day, I felt like having
chapati for breakfast. So, I reheated one directly in the microwave oven, covered, for 20 seconds, after I removed it from the freezer. It still tasted as good as the day before and remained as soft.
I think I would prefer to make
chapatis from now on because this particular "animal" (I got so used to labeling all living things as an equal to an "animal") is so versatile that I could eat it with almost anything or on its own. So, bye-bye yeast bread! (for now, at least)
Sweet Potato and Spelt Flour Chapati (makes 9)
What you need to have:
Ingredients
1 1/4 cup sweet potatoes (about 2 medium-sized, cooked and mashed)
2 cups spelt flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp
garam masala
1/4 tsp red chilli powder
1 Tbsp olive oil
extra flour for shaping and rolling
ghee/butter for brushing cooked
chapati
Apparatus
a fork
a butter knife
measuring cups and spoons
a medium-sized mixing bowl
a wooden spoon
2 tea towels
a rolling pin
a round rolling board or a clean surface for rolling
a griddle or frying pan
a medium-sized plate or bread basket
plastic sheets and an airtight plastic container or a zipper bag for freezing leftovers
What you need to do:
1. Cook the sweet potatoes with skin on, until soft. Drain the sweet potatoes and carefully peel off the skin with the fork and butter knife while they are still hot.
2. Place the sweet potatoes in the mixing bowl and mash immediately. Measure the yield with a cup. Add salt,
garam masala, chilli powder and olive oil. Mix well.
3. Add enough flour to the sweet potato mixture and knead gently until it forms a soft and pliable but not sticky dough. (Depending on how well you drained the sweet potatoes, you will need about 1 1/2 times or double the amount of flour.)
4. Cover with a tea towel and let the dough rest for 30 mins.
5. Divide the dough into equal portions. Shape them into balls and dab the balls with flour to prevent them from sticking to each other. Cover with the tea towel to keep them from drying. (I made 9 balls of about 70g each)
6. Place the griddle or frying pan over medium flame. While the pan is heating, dust the rolling pin and board with flour. Quickly roll out each dough ball into 2 mm thick circle. Add more flour, if necessary, to prevent the dough from sticking to the pin or board.
7. Place the dough on the hot pan. When bubbles start to form, flip the
chapati over. After 1-2 minutes, the
chapati will start to puff up. When brown spots are formed, remove from flame. (I used a frying pan to heat the
chapati for a few seconds on each side and then transferred to a trivet metal stand to puff up the
chapati until brown spots are formed.)
8. Place the
chapati on the plate or bread basket lined with the second tea towel. Brush with ghee/butter and cover with the tea towel to keep the
chapati soft and warm.
9. Repeat the process until all the dough balls are finished.
10. Let cool completely before freezing leftovers in between sheets of plastic in an airtight plastic container or a zipper bag. Some people say "food stores better in an aluminium foil" but I'd say "plastic is much better" because some researchers say "aluminium is bad for health".
Best served warm with your favourite curry or condiments. You can even eat it on its own.
Enjoy!
 |
my not so round chapati in the pan
heating the other side for a few more seconds
before the final flip on the trivet |
 |
| so excited when my chapati puffed up on the trivet |
 |
| my leftover chapatis |
 |
my 1-day old sweet potato and spelt chapati with
my homemade aloo and paneer masala |
