BY FAITH MUTETE – Nothing brings people together like a well cooked meal,and as Goerge Benard would say there is no sincere love than the love of food . It has a certain majic that turns anger to joy and emptiness to satisfaction ,so join me as we learn how to cook chapati.
An African meal mainly known to be eaten during the festive season ,or on special occasions, with very few people cooking it on a daily basis in heir homes. With it comes a certain misconception that it is one of the hardest meals to cook which is true and false at the same time ,the truth being that if you are a first timer in cooking chapati you obviously wont be the best in bringing out the required taste ,softness and shape but with time of frequent practise one learns to bring out the best chapatis ever.
To make soft, tasteful chapatis ,you need all purpose flour{here one is spoilt for choice, where you can choose whatever wheat flour works for you},water, salt, sugar and oil. So lets head to the kitchen and make these chapos.
INGREDIENTS FOR MAKING CHAPATI
ALL PURPOSE FLOUR
WARM WATER
SALT
SUGAR
VEGETABLE OIL
STEPS TO FOLLOW
- STEP 1. In a bowl ,measure the ammount of flour you need all depending with the ammount of chapatis you want to make
- STEP 2. Add 1 tbps of salt and sugar,the sugar is not compulsary ,it all depends with whether or not you want your chapati to have a sweet taste
- STEP 3. After adding the salt and sugar mix it with the flour so that it can be evenly distributed.
- STEP 4. Put your warm water in a jug of cup and add it to the dough,not all at once but in small quantities untill your dough becomes sticky and soft
- Step 5. Add small ammounts of vegetable oil to the dough
- STEP 6. Knead the dough as you add flour for 10 minutes .Add more flour to make it thick but not hard until you attain your required elasticity.
- STEP 7. Cover your dough for 20-30 minutes
- STEP 8. Transfer the dough on a flat surface dusted with flour {the flour helps the dough not to stick on the surface] ,dividing it into small balls
- STEP 9. Pick one ball of dough at a time and with a rolling pin ,roll the ball to a circular shape brushing the circular chapati with oil on top{the oil prevents the centre of the chapati from being hard}
- STEP 10. From any of the sides ,start folding and rolling the oiled chapati with both hands and once you have you have a shape that looks like a rope,create a coil like shape and press it to make it flat
- STEP 11. With a rolling pin ,make a circular shape and in a hot pan place the rolled out circular chapatis and fry each side until it is golden brown.{do this until you finish the rest dough balls]
- Once your done your chapati is ready to eat and you can serve it with whatever stew and vegetable you like!!!!
