East African Chapati – Easy to make chapati that are flaky, layered and delicious. Made with a few simple ingredients
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.
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.
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.
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
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:
- Â In a large bowl add flour , make a well, then add sugar and salt
Followed by ghee or oil.
2. Knead to form a soft and sticky dough. Lightly oil hand to prevent dough from sticking
to it.
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.
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.
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.
6.Lightly oil chapati dough with ghee. Be gentle with the oil.
7.Then place dough on a heavily floured plate, press the dough down.
8.Turn dough over and press down – lightly shake off excess flour.
9. Shape dough like you would shape a paper fan-Â Starting at one end, all the way to the opposite end.
10.Then coil it up- like  in the picture.
11.When all the dough has been coiled up, cover the dough  with a damp cloth and let them rest for 15 min
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.
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.
14. Heavily oil the other side of the dough making sure you oil the edges too.
15. Cook for about 2-3 minutes rotating as need until  golden brown.
Serve warm
Ellie says
This is probably the best chapati recipe I’ve ever made. Super simple, beautifully flaky… I’m obsessed!
Immaculate Bites says
Thank you, Ellie! 🙂
Maria N says
Best chapo recipe ever
ImmaculateBites says
Thanks Maria
mrs. Domiscilla Wagner says
Thank you, I love this recipe.
erika says
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.
ImmaculateBites says
Glad to hear this. Thanks for taking time out to share your thoughts with us.
charmour says
I loved this recipe so much!thank you
shoba daniels says
Thank you for this recipe making it today 🙂
ImmaculateBites says
Great! Do let me know how it works out for you.
Hank Shaw says
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.
ImmaculateBites says
Thanks for taking time out to share this with us. Really appreciate it.
Duncan says
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 ?
ImmaculateBites says
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!!!
Clear says
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 !
ImmaculateBites says
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.
clear says
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 🙂
Cheryl says
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 🙂
ImmaculateBites says
Yay! Thanks Cheryl
Tia says
Can you use another flour other than white ap? Will it come out just as delicious?
imma africanbites says
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.
Gabby says
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.
Jen says
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.
peggy says
do you have nutritional info on chapati
like fat, sugar, etc
ImmaculateBites says
Sorry we don’t at the moment.
Kenya one says
Love it Chapati …ImmaculateBites You’re a fantastic. From Kenya Thank you!
Kenny says
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!
ImmaculateBites says
Hi Kenny,
I would let them cook through, slowly. I usually my chapatis on medium heat.
Portia says
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.
ImmaculateBites says
High Five!!!