Welcome to my on going journey in the chapati arena. I consider myself to be fearless in the kitchen, always open to new ways of doing stuff. I decided to keep a diary of my ups and downs as I try out different ways of making the chapatis. I hope this inspires you to shed off any apprehension you might be having about stepping out and giving it a shot. Guess what I am trying to say is this; even the best of us do have off days as we venture out of our comfort zones.
I started My Journey to Pumpkin Chapati Success with a lot of doubt in my mind. It was not such a huge success as I had initially envisioned it to be. (Well, it was not a huge flop either) Although I strongly suspect that the love my family has for me had a lot to do with it. They seemed to genuinely like the chapatis as they were eating them. Maybe it was the chef in me that would not allow me to accept the results, even though home cooking does not have to be restaurant perfect. The more rustic it is the better. The beauty of home cooking!
Here is the video of how I did this.
Ingredients
- 1 cup of all purpose flour
- 1 cup of whole wheat flour (atta)
- 100g softened butter or margarine
- 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
- 150g Pumpkin Puree (store bought or freshly made will do)
- Salt to taste
- Warm water as will be requiredPlace your list items here
Directions
- In a bowl, mix all the dry ingredients together and then add the butter, vegetable oil and pumpkin puree. Rub all of it in until it resembles fine bread crumbs.
- Add the water, a little at a time, until all the components in the bowl come together. Be careful not to add too much water in the beginning because you run the risk of having a very sticky dough. Another word of caution; pumpkin has a very high moisture content and this will contribute to the overall “wetness” of the dough.
- Once the dough has come together, knead it for about 10 minutes until it becomes smooth and elastic. You can apply some oil on your hands to stop it from sticking excessively on your hands as you work.
- Set the dough aside in an oiled bowl and cover with a clean, damp kitchen towel or plastic wrap and leave to rest for about an hour.
- After an hour, knead it again and divide into two balls for easier handling.
- Roll the dough out to a very wide circle , about 10 inches, and apply vegetable oil on it. This will help in the formation of layers and ensuring that they stay separate.
- Roll the dough into a rod-like shape and then divide it into lemon sized balls. Set them aside to rest for about 15 minutes.
- Take each ball and dust it lightly with some flour. Proceed to roll it into a six-inch diameter circle. This should fit into the average sizes of tawas that are used in homesteads. Tawas are the pans used for cooking chapatis.
- Pre-heat the tawa on medium heat and proceed to cook your chapati as per this chapati tutorial.
- Serve with your favorite curry or stew.
Very interesting site. One of the first things I had to find out is what Jikoni meant. Nice description on the About page. This is really interesting information and, although I don’t cook, the recipes look appealing. Great site.
Looks tasty! Which country are they from?
Thanks for stopping by. This is a very popular dish in Kenya. There are more chapati recipes and African cuisine available so be sure to check them out.