phulka

Roti or Phulka or Chapati is an everyday staple Indian flatbread that is made in nearly every part of India. This roti or chapati recipe of an unleavened flatbread is made with basic ingredients – whole wheat flour, ghee, salt and water.

Roti Recipe | Chapati Recipe | Phulka Recipe

whole wheat flour

water (or add more if needed)

salt (- optional)

Take whole wheat flour (atta) in a bowl. Sift the flour with salt if you have flour which has a lot of bran. Add a bit of water, oil or ghee and start mixing.

Adding water to the dough in parts, begin to knead the dough.

Continue to knead the dough. Keep on adding water as required.

Knead the dough till it becomes pliable, smooth and soft. The final dough consistency should not be very sticky or loose or hard.

Now make small to medium balls of the dough. Roll the balls in the palms of your hands to smoothen it.

Flatten the ball. Sprinkle some whole wheat flour to the dough ball. Alternatively, you can also dust the rolling board with flour.

Kneading Roti Dough

Turn on the gas stove and put the tawa to make it hot.

While tawa is getting hot, start rolling the dough ball into a flat round circle.

Once the tawa is sufficiently hot then put the roti on a hot tawa/griddle.

First cook one side. It should be less than half cooked or about one-fourth cooked.

Turn and cook the other side. This should be a little bit more cooked than the first side. Brown spots should be visible.

Now hold the roti with a tong and keep the first side which was cooked, directly on fire. The roti will start to puff.

Turn and keep the other side on fire. The roti will puff more. Avoid burning the rotis and also don’t overdo it as roti will not be soft and will become crisp and hard like papadums.

Remove and apply ghee or oil on the phulka. Applying ghee or oil keep them soft for a long time. Phulka made with this method is ideally served hot.

If you cannot serve them hot, then you can keep them in a container that keeps food warm like a casserole or in a roti basket. You can also wrap them up in a kitchen towel or napkin.

Making Phulka

Place the rolled roti dough on a hot tawa or skillet. Keep the heat to medium-high or high. Within some seconds you will see air pockets forming on the raw chapati dough

Roast for about 30 seconds or so and you will see the air-pockets increase on the surface.

Keep in mind that the timing will change or vary with the kind of skillet you are using, the chapati thickness and the intensity of the flame.

Flip with spatula or tongs and roast the second side for about a minute.

Flip again and you will see the second side cooked more than the first side with visible brown spots.

With a clean folded cotton kitchen napkin or a spatula, begin to press the partially cooked roti on all sides and center. Pressing it evenly all over helps to puff up the roti.

Keep on pressing all over, especially the flat portions, so that the entire roti gets puffed up well.

If you prefer you can flip again and cook the second side too for some seconds if its looks under cooked.

Transfer the soft and puffed roti in a roti-basket and spread some oil or ghee on top.

Making Roti on Tawa

Keep the rolled roti dough on a hot tawa or skillet. Cook on medium-high to high heat for about 30 seconds or so until you see some air pockets all over.

Flip the chapati and spread some oil all over while the second side is getting roasted. Cook the second side for about 45 seconds to 1 minute.

Flip again with a spatula. You will see that the second side is well roasted with some blisters and brown spots.

Spread some oil on this cooked side. Roast the first side again for about 20 to 30 seconds.

Remove and transfer to a chapati container or box. Keep covered. Make chapati with the rest of the dough in this manner.

Making Chapati

Serve roti or phulka or chapati with any Indian meal. Accompany it with vegetable or paneer curries, stir-fried or sautéed vegetables (sabji) or lentils (dals).

Store any leftover dough in an air-tight container for just about 1 to 2 days. If the dough has darkened or has a weird smell, then throw it away.

Store the flatbreads in a roti box or in a covered container for a few hours. Always cover with a tight lid, so that the flatbreads remain soft. Brushing or spreading with some oil or ghee on the roti, keeps them softer.

Serving and Storing Suggestions

How to puff roti and make soft phulka, chapati that stays soft for long time. Stepwise photos, video.

Soft phulka recipe | Roti recipe

Wheat flour (Atta)

Salt

Water (You wont need fully)

Firstly, take flour, salt and mix well in a bowl.

Add water gradually and mix using fingers.

Make a soft single mass of dough. Keep covered for 10 to 15 mins.

Again knead the dough to make it smooth. The dough should be soft and pliable, not hard or sticky.

If it is too tight, wet your hands with water and knead until it is soft. Repeat if needed.

If it is sticky, sprinkle some flour and knead until it non sticky.

Make 6 equal sized balls out of the dough.

Roll into thin circles, not too thick. The size should be smaller, this makes the roti to fit into the flame and puff easily.

Heat the tawa, keep in medium high flame and put the roti.

Wait till small bubbles form and turn within few seconds, dont let it brown.

Let the other side gets cooked and gets golden brown spots.

Now turn again and using a tong, put over the flame directly (High flame). The side which we didn&#39;t browned too much should be under the flame.

Wait till it puffs and take it out and brush it with ghee if desired.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOHrCocRyCA

How to make soft phulka/ chapati/ puff a roti on direct flame
There is no secret ingredient to puff a roti over direct flame. Just flour, water and salt. Yes! 
No hot water 
No Oil
No Banana
No cooking soda

⏱⏱Time codes⏱⏱

0:00 - Start
0:14 - Bubbles appear
0:21 - Flip
0:36 - Other side bubble appears
0:38 - Turn again
0:43 - Place over flame
0:45 - puffed
0:51 - the end

My north Indian friend taught me this and I am grateful for ever. She says they do not even add salt to their chapati dough.

Ingredients for soft phulka
1 cup = 240 ml
1 cup atta (I use pillsburry or ashirwad)
Water as needed (Take 1/2 cup approx)
Salt as needed

Method

Make dough by mixing water gradually to the flour(with salt), gather it with your fingers and make it a single mass, no need to knead hard.

Let it rest for 10-15 min(Keep closed) , then again knead the dough to make it smooth. 

The dough should be soft and pliable, not hard. And not sticky also

If you do it right, then the dough wont stick to your hand now.

Make 8 equal sized balls out of the dough.

Roll into thin circles, not too thick. The size should be smaller, this makes the roti to fit into the flame and puff easily.

Heat the tawa, keep in medium high flame and put the roti. Wait till small bubbles form and turn within few seconds, dont let it brown.

You can spin it with your fingers so that it is evenly cooked.

put on tawa turn immediately without browning

Let the other side gets cooked and gets golden brown spots.

Now turn again and using a tong, take the roti and put over the flame directly(High flame).

The side which we didn’t browned too much should be under the flame.

Wait till it puffs and take it out and brush it with ghee if desired

Keep in a basket with a clean kitchen towel covered to keep it soft. You can also keep in hot pack.

For packing, use aluminium foil to keep it fresh longer.

How to puff phulka direct flame, soft phulka chapati | Zero Oil roti

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