Recreate light and soft Indian restaurant style plain chapati with this easy four ingredient recipe.
When it comes to Indian takeaway food, I’m more than happy if I have bread and curry sauce. I’m a huge fan of chicken and lamb tikka, tandoori chicken, seekh kebabs, and pilau rice. But, give me a bowl of curry sauce and some puri bread or plain chapati, and I will be quite content.
Plain chapati are so simple and so utterly perfect, it’s hard not to fall in love with them. Delicious with a touch of ghee, and perfect to mop up every last bit of your favourite curry sauce.
Ingredients For Four Ingredient Plain Chapati
These easy plain chapatis are made with a traditional dough using simple ingredients. Chapati flour (a wholemeal flour known as ‘atta‘), a touch of sea salt, a dash of oil and water are all that’s needed to make perfect chapatis.
- Chapati Flour
- Other Ingredients: Sea Salt, Sunflower Oil, Water
How To Make Four Ingredient Plain Chapati
Making these chapatis requires combining the four dough ingredients and kneading to form a soft dough. The chapati dough is set aside to rest, before being divided into balls, rolled out and cooked on a hot tawa or frying pan.
Step 1: Make Chapati Dough
Add the chapati flour to a bowl. Add the sea salt and mix briefly. Slowly add the water until a dough forms. Add a touch of oil and mix once more. Lightly oil a work surface and knead the chapati dough for around 5 minutes until soft.
Lightly oil a bowl, add the chapati dough, cover with a clean damp cloth and set aside for 30 minutes.
Step 2: Make Chapati
Heat a dry flat frying pan or tava pan over a medium heat. Divide the dough into equal pieces and keep them covered while you work (this recipe makes enough dough for 3 large or 6 small chapatis). Lightly flour your work surface and rolling pin. Flatten a dough ball slightly, then roll it out evenly into a thin circle. Add only as much extra chapati flour as is needed when rolling out the chapati.
Put the chapati on the hot, dry pan and cook for 30-40 seconds until the colour changes slightly. Flip the chapati and cook on the other side for another 30-40 seconds. Flip the chapati once more and press down gently with a tea towel or spatula to tease the chapati to puff up as it cooks. If you have a kitchen blow torch, or a gas flame hob, you can finish the chapati with a flame. This gives delicious charred spots to the chapati and encourages the bread to puff up instantly. Transfer the cooked chapati to a plate, brush with a touch of ghee or oil if desired and keep covered with foil while you cook the remaining chapatis.
Step 3: Serve Plain Chapati
Serve plain chapati warm with your favourite curry sauces.
I hope you’ll try this easy four ingredient plain chapati recipe. If you do, let me know in the comments how it went!
Plain Chapati
Ingredients
- 150 grams chapati flour
- pinch sea salt
- 80-100 ml water
- 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon ghee or butter
Instructions
- Add the chapati flour to a bowl. Add the sea salt and mix briefly. Slowly add the water until a dough forms. Add a touch of oil and mix once more. Lightly oil a work surface and knead the chapati dough for around 5 minutes until soft.Lightly oil a bowl, add the chapati dough, cover with a clean damp cloth and set aside for 30 minutes.
- Heat a dry flat frying pan or tava pan over a medium heat. Divide the dough into equal pieces and keep them covered while you work (this recipe makes enough dough for 3 large or 6 small chapatis). Lightly flour your work surface and rolling pin. Flatten a dough ball slightly, then roll it out evenly into a thin circle. Add only as much extra chapati flour as is needed when rolling out the chapati.Put the chapati on the hot, dry pan and cook for 30-40 seconds until the colour changes slightly. Flip the chapati and cook on the other side for another 30-40 seconds. Flip the chapati once more and press down gently with a tea towel or spatula to tease the chapati to puff up as it cooks. If you have a kitchen blow torch, or a gas flame hob, you can finish the chapati with a flame. This gives delicious charred spots to the chapati and encourages the bread to puff up instantly. Transfer the cooked chapati to a plate, brush with a touch of ghee or oil if desired and keep covered with foil while you cook the remaining chapatis.
- Serve plain chapati warm with your favourite curry sauces.
Video
Do you like this four ingredient Indian restaurant style plain chapati recipe? If so, buying a copy of my book might appeal to you! In The Indian Takeaway Secret you can find a host of restaurant style recipes that you can make at home. You’ll learn how to make chicken pakora, seekh kebabs, south indian garlic chilli curry and more! You can buy The Indian Takeaway Secret in paperback or kindle form here.
- McGovern, Kenny (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 256 Pages – 05/06/2021 (Publication Date) – Robinson (Publisher)
