Directions

1. 1. To prepare the dough, you need a thali or a large platter with a raised rim. Sieve the atta with the salt into this.
2. 2. Start adding the water, say 1/4 cup at a time, mixing it in with your fingers till it is absorbed and the atta starts to cohere into a stiffish dough.
3. 3. As the dough starts to form and only a little of the atta remains dry, add the water with circumspection.
4. 4. The idea is to use only as much as is needed to form the dough, which should not be wet and sticky, but also not so stiff as to make it difficult to work with.
5. 5. Once you have a nice firm ball of dough, the trick of making soft chapattis is to knead it well.
6. 6. It's quite hard work, but satisfying, once you get the knack.
7. 7. Punch the ball of dough with the heel of your hand, and as it flattens out go all over it with your knuckles.
8. 8. When it gets thin, pull the far edge of the dough towards you with your fingers, and fold it over. Punch, knuckle and pull; punch, knuckle and pull, turning the platter with your other hand as you do so.
9. 9. And that's it. Keep at it for about 5 minutes, till the dough loses its stickiness, and you have the makings of lovely soft supple chapattis.
10. 10. This process is best done 1-2 hours in advance, both because you don't want the hassle of kneading dough as you're getting the meal on the table, and because the kneaded dough improves further If it's allowed to 'rest' for a bit. If you're really sold on the whole chapatti bit, you can even make double quantities, and keep half in the ridge for the next day. But remember that the surface of resting dough has to be protected from drying out, so you must either cover it with a clean damp cloth, or keep it in a food-grade plastic bag or other airtight container.
11. 11. When the time comes to make the chapattis, put the tava on medium heat. Put a couple of tablespoons dry atta on a small plate beside your work surface. Give the rested dough a couple of kneadings, then divide it into 10-12 portions, each about the size of a large lime. Take each portion and roll it into a ball between your palms, then squeeze it between the heels of your hands to flatten it a bit. In summer, cover the flattened balls with a clean barely damp cloth so that the surfaces don't dry out.
12. 12. Sprinkle some dry atta on your chapatti board or clean smooth working surface. Take one flattened ball and dip it in dry atta to coat it on both sides. Put it on the atta-sprinkled surface, and press it down again with the heel of your hand to flatten it further.
13. 13. Now you have to roll it out, turning it as you do so, with the aim of achieving as near as you can to a perfect circle. Never mind if your first efforts look like the map of Australia; you'll learn by doing (and in any case there's no reason why a map-of Australia-shaped chapatti shouldn't taste perfectly fine).
14. 14. As you roll the rolling pin down towards yourself, give it a little extra pressure with the right hand. This makes the chapatti turn automatically. Till you develop the knack, you'll need to turn it manually. If it offers to stick to the surface, or to the rolling pin, dip it into the dry atta.
15. 15. When the dough is rolled out as thin as you can reasonably get it, to a diameter of 12 14 cm, test the heat of the tava. A drop of water flicked onto it should jump and evaporate instantly. Now pick up the chapatti carefully, peeling it off the working surface, and toss it gently from palm to palm to get rid of any dry atta that may still be sticking to it. Lay it flat on the tava, and start rolling out the next chapatti, all the time keeping an eye on the tava.
16. 16. When you see the upper surface beginning to look dry and slightly blistered, about 30 seconds, turn it over with flat-bladed tongs. The underside should also have a blistered appearance, and some golden patches. Give it another 30 seconds, then take the tava off the heat, and using the tongs, put the chapatti, first side down, directly on the flame. It should puff up immediately. Turn it over (leaving it for a few seconds on the flame if you like a slightly burnt taste to your chapattis); then take it off the fire.
17. 17. Another technique for the final cooking—instead of toasting it directly on the flame, turn it over once more on the tava, and with a clean kitchen cloth folded into a pad, press down the sides with a gentle rotating movement. This should make it puff.
18. 18. Either way, put the chapatti straight into a dish, or better, a basket, lined with a clean napkin. Fold the napkin over it. Repeat the process, till all the chapattis are made.
19. 19. Theoretically, the rolling out of each chapatti takes almost the same time as the previous chapatti is on the tava. It's not that easy in the beginning to get it all perfectly co-ordinated, but as you get practice, you may find that you get into a rhythm and have an assembly line going.
20. 20. To reheat chapattis: There is really no satisfactory method of reheating chapattis: Some writers recommend wrapping them in foil and reheating in the oven, but then they lose their crispness. In the toaster they get hard. The least unsatisfactory method, we find, is to toast them a second time briefly on the flame. It won't be as good IS freshly made chapattis, but one option is to make them in advance Omitting the toasting process, which you can then do at the time if serving the meal.