Kenyan Chapati (Flatbread)
Kenya is home to a significant Indian minority as Indians migrated to Kenya following the creation of the British East Africa Protectorate in 1895. Indians brought with them their beautiful and delicious Indian foods and over the years this originally Indian flatbread has become a staple food in Kenya.
Chapati is now a popular side dish, which Kenyans enjoy with beef and chicken stew or githeri.
With merely wheat flour, water, and a little oil molded into a dough and cooked in hot oil, Kenyan chapati is easy to make. To give the multilayered chapati its thickness, the dough is rolled into a thin log then coiled into a spiral.
Enjoy this easy-to-make Kenyan chapati recipe.
Kenyan Chapati
This Kenyan version of chapati is similar to those from India or Pakistan and is now a staple in many Kenyan homes.
Ingredients
- 375 g all-purpose or wheat flour
- 1 tsp alt
- 1 tsp sugar
- 3 quarts water
- 1 quart vegetable oil
Instructions
- Place the flour into a bowl.
- Put the salt, sugar, 2 tbsps of oil, and 1 ½ cups of water in a separate bowl and stir until the salt and sugar have dissolved.
- Add the liquid mixture in step 2 to the flour (step 1) and mix well.
- Keep kneading for 10 minutes, adding more flour if needed, until the dough becomes non-sticky. Add 2-3 tbsps of oil and continue kneading until the oil has mixed in well and the dough is soft. Cover the dough and leave for 40 minutes.
- Once rested, divide the dough into 10-15 equal parts, forming them into ball-like shapes. Arrange them on a flat surface dusted with flour. Cover them with a damp tablecloth to avoid drying out.
- Dust a flat surface with flour, take one ball of dough and roll it out into a circular shape. Brush oil on top and then roll it up into a rope-like shape. Next, coil the rope up into a spiral and flatten with the ball of your hand. Repeat this process with all the balls of dough.
- Now, roll each of the spirals out into a circular shape again.
- Place the rolled-out chapati in a warm pan with a little oil and fry on each side on medium heat until golden brown. Place your cooked chapati on a flat plate and cover with aluminum foil.
- Repeat the last 2 steps with the rest of the spirals of dough.
Notes
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