Chapattis are Indian flat breads, made with dough and water.  They are a type of unleavened bread, usually made without oils, too.  In this recipe flax is added to increase the nutritional value of the bread.  Sesame oil and sesame seeds give this bread a welcome flavour and aroma.

In Indian cooking chapattis are served with curries, and used as a scoop to eat the delicious, spicy sauces.  I like to use them interchangeably with flour tortillas, and for wraps.  They are fairly quick to make and well-liked by all, except those who must avoid gluten and grains.

Chapattis, when properly cooked have some similarities to pita bread, but with a lighter texture because they are made without yeast.

This recipe came to me from Ruth, a WWOOFer from Israel that visited Joybilee Farm just before the Joybilee Farm Linen Festival 4 years ago.   We added flax seeds to Ruth’s recipe, to celebrate linen and flax, the plant that linen comes from.

Multi-grain chapattis (makes 14)

3 cups whole wheat flour, freshly ground (hard winter wheat works best)

½ cup ground flax,

1 cup rye flour, freshly ground

1 tsp. Celtic sea salt

2 tbsp. sesame seed oil, toasted

1 tbsp. hulled sesame seed

2 cups water

Method:

Grind wheat berries and rye berries on the bread setting on your Wondermill grain mill.  Put the flours in a 3 quart/litre bowl or in your stand mixer bowl.  If using whole flax seed use a blender or food processor to grind it. Do not use the Wondermill grain mill to grind flax.  Flax seed is too oily to process freely in the Wondermill.  Add ground flax seeds, whole sesame seeds and toasted sesame oil to the flour.  Mix well.  Make a well in the centre of the flour and pour in the water.  Using a dough hook on your stand mixer, mix well until the dough comes together.  It will be moist but not sticky.  If dough is very sticky add more flour, 2 tbsp. at a time.

Remove from mixer and knead by hand for a few minutes until dough is smooth and elastic.  Cover with a towel and allow to rest for 30 minutes.

Rolling the dough

Divide dough into 14 pieces – each about the size of a walnut.  Roll each piece into a smooth, round pancake, about 1/8^th inch thick or thinner.  If you have a tortilla press, you can use a tortilla press to make round, flat flour tortillas about 1/8^th inch thick – the thinner the better.  Follow the directions that came with your press.

If using a rolling pin, work on a lightly floured surface and roll each ball to an even round about 8 inches in diameter.  Roundness can be achieved by turning the round of dough 1/8^th of turn with each pass of the rolling pin over the dough.  If you practice, you can become very proficient at rolling a very round, flat tortilla-type bread.  Roll out and cook immediately.  Don’t try to roll them all out and then cook them.  They will stick together if you do.  But rather, roll one and then cook it immediately before rolling another.  It helps if you have two people working together for this job, as it goes faster with a helper.

Cooking the chapattis

I cook them directly on the surface of my wood cook stove.  You can use a frying pan, if you don’t have a wood cook stove.  You need to preheat the surface so that it is quite hot – water will splatter if sprinkled from your fingers on to the surface. If using a frying pan on a conventional stove use the medium heat setting.

Place the chapattis one at a time in a preheated frying pan, or other hot surface.  Do not use oil.  If the pan is hot enough the tortilla will sear and will not stick to the pan.  Cook on the first side until the exposed surface begins to bubble.  Flip and cook on the other side until the chapattis is bubbled and flecked a light brown.

Now turn it back to the first side for a second cooking.  If your frying pan or cooking surface is hot enough and your chapattis dough was allowed to rest before being rolled out, the chapattis will puff like pita bread.  This is the tricky part because you need to leave the dough on the hot surface long enough to puff completely but not so long that the dough burns.  It’s magical when everything works perfectly – you will get a chapattis that puffs fully and you will flip it to the other side and it will continue to puff.  However, because this is unleavened dough it will not be as sturdy as pita bread.

A puffed chapattis is perfection.  Your chapattis may not puff.  So many variables come into play including the temperature of the stove, and the amount of humidity in the air.  So if yours doesn’t puff fully, you haven’t failed.  It will still taste amazing.  But if you do get a perfectly puffed chapattis you may want to take a picture!  Celebrate it!

With the addition of the flax seed and sesame seeds the dough can tear when you roll it. This will let the air out and prevent your chapattis from puffing, too.  However, the end result is sublime whether it puffs fully or not.  Chapattis are a really good addition to your bread making repertoire and will take the place of wraps, tortillas, and flat bread in your family menus.  Freshly made chapattis are worth the extra time.

Variation:  Multi-grain chips (serves 4)

Once the chapattis are cooked you can take it one step further and make homemade “tortilla” chips.  Simply put ½ inch of coconut oil into a frying pan and heat over medium heat until the oil sizzles when a drop of water is dripped into it.  Don’t allow the oil to smoke.  I recommend coconut oil rather than liquid oil, because coconut oil is stable at high temperatures and resists rancidity even with long storage.  It is the healthiest oil to use for deep frying.

Take 4 of the multigrain chapattis and cut them longwise into strips about ½ inch wide.  Cut the strips in half.  Frying the strips of one chapattis at a time, deep fry them in the oil.  Turn after 1 minute and fry the other side.  When they are done they will float in the oil.  Watch them and don’t allow them to burn.

Remove from the oil with a slotted spoon and drain on a shallow dish or plate that you have lined with a folded paper towel, to absorb the excess oil.  Sprinkle sea salt over the top of the finished chips.  They will crisp up as they cool.

Continue with the remaining chapattis.  Serve slightly warmed with guacamole dip and sour cream.

For a dessert multi-grain chip, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar instead of salt and serve warm.