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Kenyan chapati

Local name : Chapati

A wheat flatbread rolled into a spiral then flattened, which pulls apart into thin layers once cooked.

Vegan#bread#wheat#layered#pan-fried#kenya
Kenyan chapati

Photo : Lebu Ayiga · CC BY-SA 4.0

Prep
40 min
Cook
20 min
Total
60 min
Serves
6
Difficulty
Medium

Method

  1. Mix the flour, salt and sugar. Add the warm water little by little and knead for 10 minutes to a soft dough.
  2. Oil the ball, cover it and rest for 30 minutes.
  3. Divide into six. Roll each piece out very thin, brush with oil, then roll the sheet up into a rope.
  4. Coil the rope into a snail, press it flat with your palm and rest for 10 minutes.
  5. Roll out again to a 20 cm disc without pressing hard, so the layers survive.
  6. Cook in a hot pan, 2 minutes a side, with a light film of oil. Press with a cloth to make it puff.
  7. Stack the chapatis in a tea towel to keep them soft.

The spiral roll is what makes the layers. Kenyans learned it from the Indian railway workers who built the Mombasa to Kisumu line in the late nineteenth century.

Nutrition · per serving

Calories
393 kcal
Protein
8.6 g
Fat
10.4 g
Carbohydrate
65 g
Fibre
2.3 g

An estimate computed from the recipe quantities and the USDA food composition database. Real values vary with the products used.

Frequently asked questions

My chapatis come out tough. What went wrong?

Almost always a dough that was too dry or under-kneaded. It should stay soft and slightly tacky, and the full ten minutes of kneading is what builds the gluten that makes it stretchy. The thirty-minute rest relaxes it, and stacking the cooked breads in a cloth traps the steam that keeps them soft.

Why roll the final disc out gently?

Rolling the oiled rope into a coil creates spirals of dough separated by a film of oil. Pressing hard welds them back together, and the bread then cooks as one dense round instead of pulling apart into thin layers.

Can I make the dough or the breads ahead?

The oiled dough keeps overnight in the fridge and is actually easier to roll; let it come back to room temperature first. Cooked chapatis reheat in a dry pan for a few seconds a side, which restores their suppleness.

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