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Home / Types / African Recipes / African Appetizers

East African Chapati

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Published:8/30/2020Updated:8/30/2020

East African Chapati – Easy to make chapati that are flaky, layered and delicious. Made with a few simple ingredients

East African Chapati

If you live in East Africa, especially in countries like Tanzania, Uganda, Mozambique, Kenya, Burundi, you are very familiar with the popular unleavened pan-grill bread – Chapati. Different from Indian Chapati, these are made with white or all-purpose flour and are coiled up. The latter also has e an element of fat (either ghee or oil)

The purpose of the coil is to make a light and flaky chapati. The outer layers are lightly brushed with oil giving it a crispy edge, which sets it apart from the Indian Chapati. Though  it originated as an import from the Indian Settlers but now it has become part of East African Culinary heritage.

East African Chapati

This chapati is super simple to throw together, just 5 ingredients and a little bit of patience and elbow grease required. The major challenge is rolling and coiling the dough so they are flaky.

East African Chapati

That, being said, the feel and taste of a homemade fresh Chapati are a delight from the store-bought. So, if you have extra time, and you like playing with dough, give it a try. This would be a fun with kids too, have them help out with the kneading.

East African Chapati

The trick when working with dough is not only in the right amount of ingredients, but also in kneading (relaxing the gluten helps make the dough pliable and produces a better product) and cooking process: don’t over cook them or they will be tough.

Chapatis are most often served with stews, vegetables, meats or sometimes eaten on it’s own.

Enjoy!

Watch How to Make It

 

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East African Chapati

East African Chapati- Easy to make chapati that are Flaky , layered and Delicious. Made with a few simple ingredients
4.92 from 25 votes
Prep: 1 hr
Cook: 20 mins
Total: 1 hr 20 mins
African
Servings 4 -6

Ingredients

  • 3 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3 tablespoon ghee (Clarified butter) or oil
  • 1 1/4 cup warm water

Instructions

  • In a large bowl add flour and make a well then add sugar , salt
  • , followed by water , ghee or oil
  • Knead to form a soft and sticky dough.
  • Place dough on a heavily floured board and knead for about 8-14 minutes. Continue to flour dough as needed to facilitate kneading . Be careful not to over do it. Dough should be soft , elastic and smooth.
  • Divide dough into 6 or 8 pieces according to preference and let it rest .The resting of the dough helps to relax the gluten and make it not only easier to work with but also produces tender chapati.
  • Using a rolling pin roll out dough into a circle. They do not have to be perfect circles.
  • At this stage you may proceed to cooking . However, if you want chapatis with layers you have to do the next steps.
  • Lightly oil chapati dough with ghee. Be gentle with the oil.
  • Then place dough on a heavily floured plate , press the dough down.
  • Turn dough over and press down – lightly shake off excess flour.
  • Shape dough like you would shape a paper fan- Starting at one end, all the way to the opposite end.
  • Then coil l it up- like in the picture.
  • When all the dough has been coiled up , cover the dough with a damp cloth and let them rest for 20 minutes.
  • Glently flatten out coiled dough and roll out . Begin rolling out the dough from the center working outwards.
  • Rotate the dough out each time you roll it . This helps to make a perfect circle. Make sure they are not roll out to thin . Chapatis are not meant to be thin- 1/4 inch dough thickness is good.
  • Oil pan. Then place dough on the pan. I used crepe pan to make this chapati- a skillet will work as well.
  • Heavily oil the other side of the dough making sure you oil the edges too.
  • Cook for about 2-3 minutes rotating as need until golden brown.
  • Serve warm.

Nutrition Information:

Calories: 443kcal (22%)| Carbohydrates: 72g (24%)| Protein: 9g (18%)| Fat: 12g (18%)| Saturated Fat: 7g (44%)| Cholesterol: 28mg (9%)| Sodium: 878mg (38%)| Potassium: 100mg (3%)| Fiber: 2g (8%)| Sugar: 1g (1%)| Calcium: 14mg (1%)| Iron: 4.4mg (24%)
Author: Immaculate Bites
Course: Appetiser
Cuisine: African
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Nutrition Facts
East African Chapati
Amount Per Serving
Calories 443 Calories from Fat 108
% Daily Value*
Fat 12g18%
Saturated Fat 7g44%
Cholesterol 28mg9%
Sodium 878mg38%
Potassium 100mg3%
Carbohydrates 72g24%
Fiber 2g8%
Sugar 1g1%
Protein 9g18%
Calcium 14mg1%
Iron 4.4mg24%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

 

East African Chapati

  1.  In a large bowl add flour , make a well, then add sugar and salt

East African Chapati

Followed by ghee or oil.

East African Chapati

2. Knead to form a soft and sticky dough. Lightly oil hand to prevent dough from sticking

to it.

East African Chapati

3. Place dough on a heavily floured board and knead for about 8-14 minutes. Continue to flour

dough as needed to facilitate kneading. Be careful not to over do it. Dough should be soft, elastic and

smooth.

East African Chapati

4. Divide dough into 6 or 8 pieces according to preference  and let it rest for about 20-30 minutes. The resting of the dough helps

to relax the gluten and make it not only easier to work with but also produces  tender chapati.

East African Chapati

5. Using a rolling pin roll out dough into a circle. They do not have to be perfect circles. At this

stage you may proceed to cooking . However, if you want chapatis with layers you have to do the

next steps.

East African Chapati

6.Lightly oil chapati dough with ghee. Be gentle with the oil.

East African Chapati

7.Then place dough on a heavily floured plate, press the dough down.

East African Chapati

8.Turn dough over and press down – lightly shake off excess flour.

East African Chapati

East African Chapati

9. Shape dough like you would shape a paper fan- Starting at one end, all the way to the opposite end.

East African Chapati

10.Then coil it up- like  in the picture.

East African Chapati

11.When all the dough has been coiled up, cover the dough  with a damp cloth and let them rest for 15 min

East African Chapati

12. Glently flatten out coiled dough and roll  it out. Begin rolling out the  dough from the center working outwards

Rotate the dough out each time you roll it. This helps to make a perfect circle. Make sure they are

not roll out too thin. Chapatis are not meant to be thin- 1/4 inch dough thickness is good.

East African Chapati

13. Oil pan. Then place dough on the pan. I used a crepe pan to make this chapati – a skillet

will work just as well.

East African Chapati

14. Heavily oil the other side of the dough making sure you oil the edges too.

East African Chapati

15. Cook for about 2-3 minutes rotating as need until  golden brown.

East African Chapati

Serve warm

 

 

East African Chapati
Chapati

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    Comments & Reviews
    1. erika says

      Posted on 12/24 at 8:07AM

      my husband is igbo and grew up eating chapati. i am always looking for ways to make his favorite African foods so i made this recipe and he loved it! so easy to follow and the chapati is light and tender.

      Reply
      • ImmaculateBites says

        Posted on 12/25 at 3:29PM

        Glad to hear this. Thanks for taking time out to share your thoughts with us.

        Reply
    2. charmour says

      Posted on 11/3 at 2:48AM

      I loved this recipe so much!thank you

      Reply
    3. shoba daniels says

      Posted on 8/22 at 8:42PM

      Thank you for this recipe making it today 🙂

      Reply
      • ImmaculateBites says

        Posted on 8/23 at 11:38AM

        Great! Do let me know how it works out for you.

        Reply
    4. Hank Shaw says

      Posted on 7/20 at 4:35PM

      Very much like a flour tortilla. Along those lines, I found that the result was very similar both with your method as well as the standard flour tortilla method, which is to work the fat in before adding the hot water. Doing this means you no longer need the coil technique to get flaky chapatis. I also used a tortilla press both times with both methods and it worked well — if you rest the individual balls of dough for 1 hour beforehand. Just a cool little hack that might save some time.

      Reply
      • ImmaculateBites says

        Posted on 7/22 at 7:42PM

        Thanks for taking time out to share this with us. Really appreciate it.

        Reply
    5. Duncan says

      Posted on 6/14 at 4:20AM

      Is the rolled chapati supposed to be 1/4 inch or 1/4 cm. Inch seems a bit thick. Also are the “cups” mentioned “measuring cups” (approx 250ml) or typical cups we use for tea ?

      Reply
      • ImmaculateBites says

        Posted on 6/14 at 7:03AM

        They are measuring cups- not teacups. It’s 1/4 inch thick, if it’s too thick roll it out to desired thickness. And proceed with the next steps. Happy Cooking!!!

        Reply
    6. Clear says

      Posted on 5/19 at 6:06AM

      I just want to thank you so much. I love your recipes so when I saw you had one for chapatis I Was sure I had found the solution, and sure enough! I was getting so frustrated cause mine were always coming out hard before .

      I tried it today and they came out perfectly. I also was finally able to roll them all in circles lol!

      I did it the layered way as recommended , but if I skip that step and just fry them up after kneading and letting to rest for 30 mins will they still come out as soft ? Thanks !

      Reply
      • ImmaculateBites says

        Posted on 5/19 at 6:42AM

        Hi, Clear! I am so glad this worked out for you. High-five on getting to roll them in circles lol :). And don’t worry, if you skip the layering step it will still come out soft.

        Reply
        • clear says

          Posted on 5/19 at 3:20PM

          lol you have no idea how happy i was! lol thanks so much. we tried your pilau rice and second time making the african chicken stew, love love love your recipes 🙂

          Reply
    7. Cheryl says

      Posted on 3/13 at 3:23PM

      Turned out perfectly soft, thank you so much for the recipe and clear instructions. I used a combination of plain, strong white and atta flour in equal combinations and they came out soft and layered. A real treat and a happy husband who had been missing them. Thank you and I will be back 🙂

      Reply
      • ImmaculateBites says

        Posted on 3/17 at 2:55PM

        Yay! Thanks Cheryl

        Reply
    8. Tia says

      Posted on 12/28 at 8:40AM

      Can you use another flour other than white ap? Will it come out just as delicious?

      Reply
      • imma africanbites says

        Posted on 12/31 at 4:19AM

        Hi, Tia. I haven’t personally tried it with other flour, but one of our readers here commented using atta flour and it turned out fine. I can’t wait to know how it turned out for you.

        Reply
    9. Gabby says

      Posted on 11/24 at 8:26PM

      Cool! Really great, though not like the chapati I eat in Uganda and I’m wondering if I did anything wrong. I think they’re probably better, but I am used to the floppy thin/soft ones. I did the last steps to make it “layered” but maybe I will try the other way next time. Also I left the dough in the refrigerator for a while as it was sitting because I had to go do something, and then it was really hard to roll out, do you think that did something? Anyways still really cool, going to make rolex with them tomorrow. Cheers.

      Reply
    10. Jen says

      Posted on 10/2 at 1:18AM

      I made these chapatis tonight exactly according to the recipe and they were perfect. My family thoroughly enjoyed them with chili.Thanks for a great recipe.

      Reply
    11. peggy says

      Posted on 9/29 at 2:04PM

      do you have nutritional info on chapati
      like fat, sugar, etc

      Reply
      • ImmaculateBites says

        Posted on 9/30 at 6:14AM

        Sorry we don’t at the moment.

        Reply
    12. Kenya one says

      Posted on 8/8 at 4:56PM

      Love it Chapati …ImmaculateBites You’re a fantastic. From Kenya Thank you!

      Reply
    13. Kenny says

      Posted on 7/27 at 6:02AM

      Heat setting? I’m sure I can start with medium on my gas cooker, and adjust quickly enough… just curious if it matters to go faster/hotter or let them cook through more slowly, given their thickness? Thanks!

      Reply
      • ImmaculateBites says

        Posted on 7/27 at 9:04PM

        Hi Kenny,
        I would let them cook through, slowly. I usually my chapatis on medium heat.

        Reply
        • Portia says

          Posted on 4/4 at 3:09AM

          Thank you for the recipe. Its quite easy to follow. Now my whole family is enjoying chapati, whenever we want, because now mommy is so good in making it.

          Reply
          • ImmaculateBites says

            Posted on 4/5 at 8:21PM

            High Five!!!

            Reply
    Older Comments

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