Kenyan recipe
How to make Chapati
Brought from the Indian subcontinent; now eaten all over Kenya
A soft, layered flatbread made from wheat flour and fried in a little oil on a flat pan. In Kenya it is richer and flakier than the Indian original, and it is a favourite for breakfast, with tea, or at celebrations.
Ingredients
- 500 g plain flour, plus extra for rolling
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar (optional)
- About 300 ml warm water
- 4 tablespoons vegetable oil, plus a little for cooking
Method
- Mix the flour, salt and sugar in a bowl. Add 2 tablespoons of the oil and enough warm water to make a soft dough, and knead for about 10 minutes until smooth. Cover and rest for 20 minutes.
- Divide the dough into 10 balls. Roll each one into a thin circle, brush with oil, roll it up like a rope and coil it into a snail shape. Leave for 10 minutes.
- Roll each coil out again into a circle about 20 cm across.
- Cook on a hot, dry frying pan for about a minute, turn it over, brush with a little oil, turn again and press gently until both sides have golden brown spots.
- Keep the cooked chapatis wrapped in a clean cloth so they stay soft, and serve warm.
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Chapati came to East Africa through trade and with Indian workers who came to build the railway in the 1890s.
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