Flatbread, also known as chapati or chapathi, is a common Indian bread made from wholemeal flour and water. Variations include missi roti and bajira roti. Chapatis are cooked on a skillet and can be used to scoop up food. They are mainly consumed in northern South Asia as an alternative to rice.
Flatbread is a form of Indian flatbread that is common across the continent where it is also referred to as chapathi or chapatti. Variations are also found in Africa and China. A flatbread is a form of roti – or bread – and is often referred to as such. The flatbreads in particular, however, differ from the other flatbreads encompassed by the term roti in that they must be made from wholemeal flour only.
Breads similar to chapatis exist in the form of variations of roti. Some variations include missi roti, in which two or more types of flour are combined to form dough, and bajira roti, which uses pearl millet instead of flour. Baked tandoori roti is identical to a chapati except for the cooking method.
The most common form of wheat consumption in regions where they are a regular part of the cultural diet, chapatis are made from a mixture of wholemeal flour and water to form a firm dough. The dough is rolled into flat circles before being cooked over a hot skillet. During the baking process, the flatbread expands through the air bubbles that form between the two sides of the bread with the hot air cooking the bread from within.
To speed up the swelling process, chapatis are sometimes partially cooked on the pan and finished in an open flame. Flatbreads cooked this way are called phulka. The term can be roughly translated as meaning inflated.
The generally accepted diameter of a chapati is around 6 inches, but this can vary by region. This diameter is determined by the size of standard commercially available tavas – shallow metal pans especially suited to cooking chapatis – designed to fit on domestic stoves. Due to the artisanal nature of the bread, however, the size and shape of a flatbread is inconsistent and can be tailored to suit your needs.
Often an accompaniment to food, a chapati can be used as a tool for food consumption. They can be used to scoop up larger pieces of food and to scoop up more liquidy foods by forming them into cones and using them as scoops. They are mainly a food of the northern areas of South Asia as an alternative to rice eaten in the southern and eastern regions of the southern continent.
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