Professional Chapatti
While doing research on how to cook cassava leaves, I started down a rabbit hole of YouTube videos which eventually led me to a video in Swahili for how to make flaky chapatti. I figured I might as well practice listening to and understanding Swahili and in the process got really excited about making good chapatti at home. I've tried making chapatti before but it's never that good and definitely never a perfect circle. After watching this video, my first try was an amazing success!
It's not an exact recipe, but it is something like 2 cups of flour, 1 teaspoon of salt, a tablespoon of ghee, and approximately 1 cup of water. You add the water while mixing with your hand until the dough comes together well but isn't sticky. Then, let the dough rest for about 30 minutes. After that, divide it into 4 or 5 balls, roll each one out thinly and spread a thin layer of ghee over the circle. Roll it up into a snake, then coil it like a snail shell. Set them aside until you've rolled out all of them. Then, heat a frying pan and start rolling out your chapatti. I think the step of rolling and coiling is what helps them to form a nice circle when rolled out the second time.
Mix together about 2 Tbs. ghee and 2 Tbs. oil in a bowl.
Put a chapatti on the hot frying pan and let it start cooking. Once it starts bubbling, flip it over and put about 1 Tbs. of the ghee/oil mixture under the chapatti. Spin it around on the frying pan until it's bubbly and browned on that side too. You can flip it over once more if you want, but then continue with the other chapattis.
For New Year's Eve, I found a special treat in Kampala - brie cheese! My family would always have baked brie at New Year's so I decided to make some myself, using the above chapatti dough to wrap the brie (no puff pastry available here). It was great!
It's not an exact recipe, but it is something like 2 cups of flour, 1 teaspoon of salt, a tablespoon of ghee, and approximately 1 cup of water. You add the water while mixing with your hand until the dough comes together well but isn't sticky. Then, let the dough rest for about 30 minutes. After that, divide it into 4 or 5 balls, roll each one out thinly and spread a thin layer of ghee over the circle. Roll it up into a snake, then coil it like a snail shell. Set them aside until you've rolled out all of them. Then, heat a frying pan and start rolling out your chapatti. I think the step of rolling and coiling is what helps them to form a nice circle when rolled out the second time.
Mix together about 2 Tbs. ghee and 2 Tbs. oil in a bowl.
Put a chapatti on the hot frying pan and let it start cooking. Once it starts bubbling, flip it over and put about 1 Tbs. of the ghee/oil mixture under the chapatti. Spin it around on the frying pan until it's bubbly and browned on that side too. You can flip it over once more if you want, but then continue with the other chapattis.
For New Year's Eve, I found a special treat in Kampala - brie cheese! My family would always have baked brie at New Year's so I decided to make some myself, using the above chapatti dough to wrap the brie (no puff pastry available here). It was great!
Wow! Very professional looking!
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