The Best Darned Chapatis in East Africa

For those of you unfamiliar with Chapatis, they are flat breads about the size of pita bread.  They are not quite as thick as nan bread but thicker than a tortilla.  We eat them a lot.  Delicious with home-made marmalade for breakfast they also go down nicely with everything from a stew to a fruit salad.  They can be used as a wrap.

Thanks to Auntie Irene's, Recipe Book for Tanzania, and to Fredrik's revised VSO cookbook, Debbie has perfected these little wonders.

I challenge you to make a batch and to tell me how it went.

Ingredients:

1 ¼ cups of flour

2 ounces of cooking oil

4 ounces of water

Pinch of salt

Method:

Mix the flour and salt in a bowl

Add water and mix into a fairly thick dough

Knead until smooth

Roll into a circle on a floured bowl

Brush the surface lightly with oil

Cut once from the center of the dough to the edge

Starting from one side, roll the pastry into a cone shape

Press both ends in and knead lightly

Repeat this process at least once more

Divide the dough into six balls

Roll each thinly into an even circle

Heat a frying pan and add a few drops of oil

Cook the chapatis on both sides

Chapatis served with fruit salad, local honey and Tanzanian red wine