Indian cooking
Indian cooking / Dishes / Chapattis
Chapattis ()

Chapattis

VegetarianMakes AROUND 10

Chapattis are thin, soft Indian flatbreads cooked on a dry griddle and brushed with melted butter. They are plain and wheaty, with a lightly crisp surface and a tender, flexible centre.

Ingredients

01
Whole wheat flour · Attaplus extra for dusting
250 g
flour
02
Vegetable oil · Tel
40 g3 tablespoons
oil/fat
03
Salt · Namak
~0.3 gpinch
salt
04
Butter · Makhanmelted
to taste
dairy

Method

  1. Put 250 g chapatti flour, 40.5 g vegetable oil and 0.3 g salt in a mixing bowl. Add 160–170 ml water a little at a time, stirring with a spoon or your fingers, until the flour mixture forms a rough dough.
  2. Knead the dough until smooth. Cover the bowl and leave it to rest for 10 minutes.
  3. Divide the dough into 10 equal pieces and roll each into a ball. Flatten a ball, dust it with extra chapatti flour and roll it out as thinly as possible into a disc about 15 cm across. Repeat with the rest.
  4. Heat a griddle or dry frying pan over a medium heat. Put one dough disc in the hot pan and cook for 30 seconds. Turn it over and cook for 1 minute.
  5. When the chapatti starts to puff, turn it again and cook for 30 seconds more, pressing lightly with the back of a spatula.
  6. Take the chapatti from the pan, brush it with melted butter to taste and keep it warm. Cook the remaining chapattis the same way.

Don't have something?

Whole wheat flour
  • Wholemeal flour

    Use the same weight; it is very close, but add water slowly as it can be coarser and absorb more.

  • Plain flour

    Use the same weight but reduce water by about 10%; the dough is softer and the flavour less nutty.

  • Flour

    Use the same weight as a plain-flour swap; reduce water slightly and expect a lighter, less wheaty result.

Vegetable oil
  • Peanut oil

    Use 1:1 by weight. Handles high-heat frying identically and introduces a very subtle, pleasant nuttiness.

  • Ghee

    Use 1:1 by weight. Yields a much richer, authentic aroma and a glossy, heavier mouthfeel.

  • Mustard oil

    Use 1:1 by weight. Heat until smoking, then cool slightly before cooking to temper its intensely pungent, sharp mustard kick.

Butter
  • Unsalted butter

    Use 100% of the weight. If the original recipe relies on salted table butter, add a pinch of salt to balance.

  • Ghee

    Use 80% to 85% of the weight. Ghee is pure butterfat with moisture removed; it yields a deeper, nuttier flavour and handles high heat better.

  • Vegetable oil

    Use 80% of the weight for frying or tempering. The dish loses sweet dairy richness but remains glossy and light.

Similar dishes

Plain Buttery Parathas
Plain Buttery Parathas tastes richer and flakier with crisp speckled spots, while this dish is thinner, softer and only slightly rich.
  • Same: Plain Buttery Parathas shares the same 250 g chapatti flour, 40.5 g vegetable oil and 0.3 g salt with this dish.
  • Different: It adds 70 g butter layered into the dough and is pan-fried, while this dish is cooked on a dry griddle and brushed with melted butter.
Phulkas
Wholemeal Flatbreads
Phulkas tastes wheaty and mild with ghee richness, while this dish tastes wheaty, tender, and slightly rich from oil and butter.
  • Same: Phulkas shares chapatti flour, salt, and a thin soft flatbread style cooked on a dry griddle with this dish.
  • Different: Phulkas uses ghee and water, while this dish uses vegetable oil and finishes with melted butter instead of ghee.
Puris (Indian Kitchen)
Puris tastes savoury and rich from frying oil, with a crisp golden outside and soft centre, while this dish tastes wheaty, tender and slightly rich from oil and butter.
  • Same: Puris shares chapatti flour, vegetable oil and salt with this dish, and both are wheat flatbreads.
  • Different: Puris uses less flour and more vegetable oil plus extra oil for deep-frying, has no butter, and is deep-fried rather than cooked on a dry griddle and brushed with melted butter.
Puris
Deep-Fried Bread with Wholemeal Flour
Puris is crisp and puffed rather than soft and tender, and tastes more of deep-fried oil than this dish's wheaty, buttery richness.
  • Same: Puris shares flour, salt and vegetable oil with this dish and uses no spices or souring agent.
  • Different: Puris adds water and is deep-fried, while this dish is cooked on a dry griddle and brushed with melted butter.