4 Secrets To Make Super Soft Chapatis At Home

Want to know how to make soft chapati?

In this post, I’ll be sharing all the secrets I’ve discovered while learning to make perfectly round and super soft chapatis.

So, are you ready?

Let’s begin!

Soft Chapatis Secret

As promised above, here are some of the hidden secrets that can help you make perfectly soft chapatis at home.

In the following guide, I have sequentially explained these tips.

1. Quality Of Wheat Flour
2. Kneading Process
3. Rolling The Chapatis
4. Roasting The Chapatis

So, I hope it makes your job easy to understand the step-by-step process of making super soft chapati.

Let’s quickly take a look at the ingredients and tools required before we proceed further.

Firstly, you will need all the following ingredients to prepare the dough.

Ingredients:

1. Wheat Flour (preferably Chakki ka Atta)
2. Oil or Ghee
3. Salt
4. Water

And then, you will need the following tools to knead the dough

Tools Required:

• Large Plate to spread the flour and knead the dough Or Food Processor if it’s available.
• Dry muslin cloth to cover the dough

Well, that’s all you need to prepare the dough. 

Everything else is pure technique! 

1. Quality Of Wheat Flour

This is the first step to making soft chapatis.

If you are using packaged wheat flour, your chapatis might turn hard and chewy.

I’ve experienced this issue several times with such flours. 

So now, I only use Chakki ka Atta, i.e., fresh mill flour, and it never lets me down.

For the Wheat grains, I prefer MP Sehore and MP Sharbati varieties.

Both these varieties give excellent results.

Tip – If you can’t avoid packaged wheat flour, make sure you sieve it properly.

It should help make your Chapatis a bit softer in texture.

2. Kneading Process

It’s the most important thing in making a super soft chapati.

If you go wrong here, it’d be very difficult to get the desired results for your chapati.

Therefore, I’d suggest you follow the exact steps given below.

For this process, you may either use a food processor or your hands.

I like to use a food processor, as it gives consistent results and saves a lot of time.

If you’re looking for some recommendations, check out this full-fledged food processor from Philips.

Note – If you prefer the manual method, you may need to rest the dough a little longer.

Kneading The Dough In Food Processor:

1. Set up the dough maker in your food processor.
2. Add the flour, salt, oil, and water.
3. Turn on the switch and start adding more water as per the recommended limit for your dough maker.
4. Take out the dough on a plate.
5. Apply some oil to it and cover it with a muslin cloth or lid.
6. Let the dough rest for at least 10 minutes.

And that’s about it! 

When you make the dough in a food processor, you don’t need to put a lot of effort into it. 

The machine will do all the hard work for you. 

You just need to be a little careful while pouring water into the flour mix.

Kneading The Dough With Hands:

1. Get a large plate and add flour, salt, water, and oil to it.
2. Mix gently with your hand and try to form small nugget-shaped dough balls. Add water whenever required.
3. Once you’re able to form the dough, knead it thoroughly. 
4. Finally, add some oil to it and knead again.
5. As the dough forms, cover it with a muslin cloth or lid and allow it to rest for 15 minutes.

So, as you can see, the manual method requires a few more steps and efforts to make the soft and silky dough.

Note – Even though I’ve suggested resting the dough for 10-15 minutes, you can increase the resting period by up to 20 minutes.

However, you may still need to knead the dough again, as the dough becomes softer after rising.

When you knead the dough again, don’t forget to apply a bit of oil to it.

It will bring a smooth and silky texture to the dough.

Now, I hope you get the idea of making perfect dough for the chapatis.

3. Rolling The Chapatis

Moving on, let’s take a look at the second most important part of this process.

And that is rolling the chapati (in a round shape).

First, let’s check out the Dos and Don’ts of the chapati rolling technique.

Dos – 

1. Make all the pedas (round-shaped dough balls) before rolling the chapatis.
2. Heat the Tawa on a high flame. 
3. Keep all the ingredients and equipment available.
4. Clean the board’s surface with a dry cloth and make sure there is no water on it.
5. Roll the chapati with soft hands.
6. Roll the edges first and then flatten the rest of the dough.

Don’ts –

1. Don’t use a lot of dusting flour while rolling the chapatis.
2. Don’t place the rolled chapati on a very hot Tawa, as it might stick to the surface. 
3. Don’t wait too long to cook the chapati. Flip the chapati as soon as you see the bubbles on the upper surface.
4. Don’t use your hand to flip the chapati if you’re new to cooking. Use a tong or spatula to flip it easily.
5. Don’t forget to adjust the flame if the chapatis cook quickly.

Now that you have learned the above instructions, let’s see the exact step-by-step method.

How To Roll Chapatis In A Round Shape

Well, it takes time to learn the art of making perfectly round chapatis, but the following guide will make it easier for you.

These tips should help you understand the right technique for making round-shaped chapatis at home.

Steps to roll the chapatis:

Step 1: Get a dough ball and flatten it out with your palms.

Step 2: Dust it properly on both sides with some flour.

Step 3: Place it on the board and start rolling it gently into a Puri-shaped chapati.

Here, you can use the up-down method to flatten the dough.

Step 4: Once you form this shape, dust it again on the edges with some flour. 

Note – If you’re a beginner, you can apply a bit more extra flour to the bottom surface. It will help in rolling the dough smoothly into a flat chapati.

Step 5: Finally, flatten the Puri-shaped dough into a round chapati.

While performing this step, you will have to shape the edges initially.

Once the edges become thin, flatten the rest of the chapati in a circular motion.

Step 6: As you roll the chapati completely, remove the excess wheat flour from it.

And now, your flattened chapati is ready to go on the Tawa!

4. Roasting Chapatis

Yes, this is the final step where you can see the results of all the above hard work.

So, make sure you follow each step, as mentioned below.

How To Roast Chapati On Tawa

In this section, you will learn the steps that go into cooking the chapatis.

First and foremost, make sure the Tawa is hot enough.

If it’s too hot, get a towel or dry cloth and move it across the hot surface. You may also lower the flame if needed.

Steps to follow:

Step 1: Get the flattened chapati in the palm of your hand and place it on the Tawa.

Note – Place the flattened side (top) of the chapati on the Tawa.

Step 2: Let it cook for a few seconds. Once you see a few bubbles on the surface, flip it.

Step 3: Roast this side completely till you see the light brown-colored bubbles on it.

It should take around 20 seconds or so.

Step 4: Now, flip the chapati again.

Step 5: Get a dry cloth and start pressing the chapati edges. It helps in filling the hot air inside the chapati layers.

Step 6: Follow this process for 10-15 seconds until you see a puffed-up chapati on the Tawa.

Alternatively, you can also puff up the chapati directly on the flame, which is displayed in the following pictures.

When you flip the chapati in Step 4, you can place it on the flame quickly and rotate it using a tong.

With this method, you can puff up the chapati within a few seconds.

Tip – If your chapati or roti puffs up with little or no effort, it will become super soft automatically. 

You don’t have to do anything else to make it extra soft.

Step 7: Finally, take out the chapati and apply some oil/ghee/butter to it. 

Store the chapatis in an airtight casserole so that it remains fresh and soft for a long time. 

Chapati Making Video

You can also watch this video by Priya who has explained the entire process really well.

Note – If you don’t understand Hindi, you can still watch the above video. Simply observe and follow the techniques explained in it.

How To Make Soft Chapatis Like Gujaratis

Gujaratis probably make the softest chapatis in the world.

Yes, that’s right! And I’m not exaggerating at all.

I’ve been fortunate enough to have a few Gujju friends, and I can tell you they know their game when it comes to making chapatis, phulkas, and theplas.

So, how do they make super soft chapatis?

Here are some of the soft chapatis secrets –

1. Size – They often make small chapatis or phulkas, which makes it easier to puff them up. It also helps in cooking the roti evenly.
2. Ghee – Ghee or Clarified Butter is a must for any Gujarati phulkas. You can use it while preparing the dough as well as while applying it to the rotis in the end.
3. Heat/Flame – Chapatis turn softer when you cook them on high flame. And in the case of small chapatis or phulkas, it becomes even more useful as the heat gets distributed equally to all parts of the chapati.

These are the only things that make the difference in the end. 

Of course, the quality of flour and dough consistency does play an important role in making soft chapatis.

So, do keep these things in mind when you think of making chapatis like Gujaratis.

How To Keep Chapatis Soft For Long

If you don’t want to consume chapatis immediately, you can store them for a long.

You may store them in an airtight container or casserole, as mentioned above.

It should help in keeping them soft for the whole day.

However, if you reheat it multiple times a day, it’ll lose all the softness. 

And sometimes, the chapatis may get the texture of papad.

Alternatively, you can also wrap them in an aluminum foil.

The foil keeps the chapatis soft and warm for a long time.

You can check the detailed chapati packing guide here.

For Paratha fans, I have also shared a comprehensive guide on how to make Paratha soft at home.

So, do check the above guide as well.

Conclusion

On the whole, chapati making is not as difficult as it sounds.

If you get the technique right and put in all the hard work, you can master the art pretty quickly.

I followed the same techniques and learned to make soft chapatis in just 21 days!

Yes, it only took me 21 days, as I practiced it each day.

So, don’t think too much about it. 

Just keep practicing, and you will get there eventually.

If you have any queries regarding this topic, please leave a comment below.

And if you liked this guide, do share it with your friends and family.