The Art of Making Soft and Fluffy Phulkas

I find that most South Indian women, even those who are normally good cooks, throw up their hands when it comes to making chapattis. “I just can’t make good chapattis,” they say apologetically.

Admittedly, rice is mostly eaten in the south and chapattis or rotis are more a staple food north of the Vindhyas. But making good chapattis is not really a big deal and there is no one correct secret formula to making a decent, soft stack of the ubiquitous Indian bread.

I have watched quite a few people in the process of making chapattis, rotis, parathas and phulkas and there seem to be almost as many methods as people making them. Right from Step 1 people go their different ways, but most do manage to produce rotis that are fairly soft and edible.

In days gone by, women would bake the rotis while the menfolk and children sat down to their meal, and provide fresh, hot rotis straight from the fire while they ate. Today’s women like to eat with the family, so the rotis necessarily have to be made in advance. So how do you ensure that by the time one gets to eat the chapattis, they have not mysteriously turned to leather?

The process starts right from selecting the wheat; - the grains should be fat and preferably a light brown in colour – to having it ground to the right texture. Some sieve it to remove the bran and some add maida to make it softer and lighter. Some people add salt for extra taste, while others add ghee or oil for softness and flavour.

Then comes the actual kneading process. Some mix the dough quickly, leave it for a while and then make the chapattis. Others knead patiently until the dough is the right texture and consistency. How soft do you make the dough? My mother used to make it stiff – you needed strong arms to knead it. My grandmother’s dough was so soft, it wouldn’t remain in a ball, but flow out flat.

Then there are questions on the size of the balls and the thickness of the rotis. How do you roll them so they are evenly round and all the same size? And what about the actual baking process, the puffing up on the fire and whether to smear it with ghee or not? These are all areas where people entertain many doubts.

I have been making rotis since before I was fifteen. I had three teachers – my mother, my paternal grandmother and my maternal aunt. Each one had a different method and every time I helped out, I had to follow a different set of rules. Eventually, I developed my own. Over the years I have relaxed some of the rules, as my standards became less stringent. In the long list of dos and don’ts, I discovered, there is a lot of scope for variation and improvisation. I used to select my wheat and grind it just right, but now I buy readymade atta (Pilsbury is my favourite). I don’t add oil or salt, but knead it with plain water at room temperature. I used to make small balls and roll the chapattis so thin they were almost translucent. But then you have to make many more, and I find now that I have more important things to do than make perfect chapattis.

I have come to the conclusion that there is only one cardinal rule for making soft chapattis, rotis or phulkas – DO NOT LET THE DOUGH OR THE CHAPATTI DRY OUT AT ANY STAGE! Apart from that rule, everything else is pretty flexible. A dehydrated roti is stiff, dry, leathery and unappetizing. So to prevent dehydration is the most important thing.

So, now that you know that there is nothing formidable about making rotis, let’s get down to making some phulkas, my favourite everyday bread.

Let’s start with the kneading process, assuming you have flour of a reasonably good quality. I find that phulkas have a better chance of puffing up, if the dough is well kneaded.

Use a roomy shallow bowl and measure out the flour. Pour water a little at a time, mixing roughly. Then knead with your knuckles, sprinkling more water as you go along, until you get the right consistency, i.e., what you can comfortably roll. If your touch is light, you can handle a soft dough, but if you tend to press heavily on the rolling pin and need to keep picking up the roti to turn it round, you had better make it fairly stiff. Keep kneading it until the dough is fairly smooth. If it sticks too much, it may help to smear your hands with a little oil.

Now remember the rule – DON’T LET IT DRY OUT! Roll the dough into a ball, wet your hand and pat it all over. Now cover it with another upturned vessel not too much bigger than the ball. Leave it for fifteen minutes to half an hour while you do something else, like setting the table or heating the rest of the food. Remember that if you leave it too long, the dough will get soft. When you actually begin to roll, it may be softer than you can handle. If you have been too generous with the water earlier, you may have to add dry flour to stiffen it up a bit.

Put the tava (griddle) on a medium to low flame, position your ‘chakla’ in front of you and keep a plate or large bowl filled with dry flour to your right. Have your chapatti box lined with a cloth or kitchen paper and a pot of ghee with a spoon within easy reach. I use a metal spatula to turn my rotis as I find it easier to handle than tongs – the choice is yours.

Now you have to be as quick as possible to avoid drying out the dough. Keep the dough covered, lifting the lid only enough to pinch off a bit to make a ball. Now dunk the ball in the dry flour and flatten it on the rolling surface – a ‘chakla’, an upturned thali on a piece of cloth (so it won’t keep moving) or even a clean counter top. Roll gently and firmly, until it just begins to stick. Then pick up the roti, place it on the flour, turn it so both surfaces are coated and then back on the rolling surface to finish rolling to the desired size. Don’t worry too much about shape at this juncture – concentrate more on speed. As you get used to the process, slowly the shape will begin to improve. I have learned to roll with a light hand so the roti turns itself and I hardly have to lift it at all.

Now put your roti on a hot tawa, which should be on a low flame. The right way to do this is to place it on top of your right palm (if you are right handed), move your hand directly over the tawa and quickly flip your wrist so that it falls on the tawa flat, without wrinkling or folding. It may be difficult at first, so be ready with the spatula to straighten out the wrinkles or folds. It may be easier for beginners to pick up the roti with both hands and place it gently on the tawa. But this too is not foolproof. However, you get better with practice.

When your first roti is on the tawa, start on the next one, keeping a watchful eye on the first. As soon as the colour changes and bubbles begin to appear, quickly turn it over and increase the flame to medium or high. Ideally it should be undercooked with no dark specks. Now roll the next roti as quickly as you can. Do not keep lifting the first roti off the tawa or turn it round and round! Keep handling it to a minimum. If you must, lift up one edge and take a peek to see if it is ready. 

When enough brown specks appear, flip it over with the spatula and, in one smooth move, lift the tawa away and slide the roti on to the flame. In three to five seconds it should puff up. If it doesn’t, never mind – better luck next time. flip it back on to the tawa, lift it off and put it on a flat surface. Smear it lightly with a teaspoon dipped in melted ghee (otherwise you may have too much ghee on your roti), place it in the chapatti box and cover. You need to apply ghee to the surface that was in contact with the flame.

Meanwhile, you should have replaced the tawa on the fire, wiped it free of flour and lowered the flame in readiness for the next roti. It will take a bit of practice and juggling to get the timing and sequences right, but it is well worth the trouble. Before long, you will be receiving compliments for your soft and fluffy phulkas!

Here are some common practices that lead to drying and therefore to be avoided:

·      DON’T make all the balls in advance and keep them exposed. Instead, you can roll the ball of dough into a long roll, cut into suitable sized pieces and keep the whole thing under cover, picking out one at a time and rolling into a ball.

·      DON’T roll out all the rotis in advance and then bake them one by one. The top dries out and the underside gets too moist. The phulkas, if they do puff up, will not be soft.

·      DON’T bake the phulka entirely on a low flame. It will be stiff because it will dry out. DON’T use a high flame throughout either, as the first side will cook too fast or burn – unless you have become expert enough to roll at the speed of lightening!

·      DON’T turn the roti more than once and DON’T keep picking it up to shift it around. If you must shift it, slide it, rather than lift it and expose the underside to air.

·      DON’T keep the chapatti box open while you make the rotis. Keep a loose cover on, lift it to add the next chapatti and immediately cover it again. Even while serving, replace the lid as soon as you have removed a chapatti to keep the others soft.

·      Lastly, Don’t entertain phone calls or participate in family arguments while making chapattis. Otherwise, you may find yourself shouting, “Help! My chapatti is on fire!”

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