Chapati/fulka on Hot Plate stove/cooktops


If you're used to making fulka or chapati on a gas stove, switching to a hot plate stove can be a challenge. But fear not! With a few tips and tricks, you can achieve the same soft and puffy chapatis on a hot plate stove/induction or ceramic cooktops that you're used to on a gas flame. Back home we used to call it tawa roti.

Ingredients:

1-2 cup warm water
a pinch of salt
extra flour for dusting
ghee to apply

Method:

  1. In a bowl, mix flour and salt. Gradually add warm water and knead to make a soft dough.
  2. Cover the dough with a damp cloth and let it sit on the counter for 10 minutes.
  3. Preheat an iron pan or non-stick pan/griddle on high heat for few 1 minute then lower the heat to medium.
  4. Divide the dough into equal pieces the size of a lemon and roll each piece out into a round shape with a rolling pin.
  5. Place the chapati on the tawa and increase the heat to higher side and let it cook for a few seconds. When you see the color changing a bit, flip it with tongs.
  6. Cook for another minute until the other side gets light brown spots on it.
  7. Flip it again and press it very gently with the help of a clean cotton cloth in a circular motion, allowing it to puff and blocking all the holes that don't let the chapati puff up.
  8. Flip it again and press gently with the cloth. Cook for a few seconds. Adjust the heat to higher if it is becoming hard and to lower if it is burning while pressing. Also be careful while pressing it with cloth, don't get your fingers or palm burn.
  9. Initially you may find chapatis hard at the center but gradually with practice you will get the correct way.
  10. Repeat the same process with the remaining dough.
  11. Apply ghee or clarified butter on the chapatis and serve hot with daal, curry, and pickle.

A not-so-formal video in two parts:





Notes:
-The dough should be soft and silky enough to roll out.
-Take care of your hands while pressing it on hot tawa.
-The same process applies to all kind of stoves including coiled, induction etc.

Here are few tips to start with-

-While kneading dough add 1 tablespoon curd/yoghurt to the flour. Apply ghee when it is hot and keep it covered in a hot case or a box. You will have softer chapatis.

-Initially for practice, roll chapatis a little bit thicker as compared to the normal one so that it can get puffed up.

- Finding the right heat can varies for different stoves and pans. I prefer heavy bottomed 
pan(mine is from Ikea 360 series) for chapatis and use higher heat to make chapatis but on the other hand if you are using light weighted pan then adjust the heat to medium high to avoid burnt, half cooked chapati. 
Finding right heat is important factor for puffing the chapati, if tawa is not hot enough then chapatis will turn hard and will not puff, if too high then it will burn but not evenly cooked.
 Sometimes you might need to remove the pan from heat for few seconds to get the right heat.

And lastly this will improve with practice. But once you get it right you can never fail in it what ever kind of pan or stove it is.


Comments

  1. Anu:
    Cool!! but at what Temperature.. At 600 to 800 watts it does not cook well.. At 1200-1400 watts it is little burnt :(

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. theres your answer! try it at 800-1200 watts..

      Delete
  2. I have hot plate stove with six settings of heat ,power is not mentioned on it.But I use the medium sized plate and high heat though I have to sometime take off the tawa/ griddle from the plate for few seconds when I feel it will burn the chapati. Cooking it on high heat is important as on low heat chapati will take time to cook and till the time it is ready it will be hard.I'll try to put video for this post soon.Hope this helps..:)
    Tanu

    ReplyDelete
  3. I have an induction plate and whenever I try to make fulka on it , it gets hard and i cannot find a way to make them puff up like they do on a normal gas stove. Please help.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Here are few tips to start with-
    -while kneading dough add 1 tablespoon curd/yoghurt to the flour.This will make softer chapatis.

    -Initially for practice, roll chapatis a little bit thicker as compared to the normal one so that it can get puffed up.

    -when you cook chapati on tawa do remember to press it lightly with cloth only for fractions of seconds and if you find any hole from where steam is escaping then try to block it with cloth. This whole process need to be done on high heat because if tawa is not hot as required then chapatis will turn hard.
    -You can adjust heat according to your cooking tawa- if it is Indian-made like prestige dosa tawa (light version) then high heat will be bad idea as chapati will get burnt on it.I use heavy non stick pan which is usually used for omlettes.

    And lastly this will come with practice only. but once you get it right you can never fail in it. :) I hope this will help you in someway.

    Tanu

    ReplyDelete
  5. thanks will try it and keep u posted....

    ReplyDelete
  6. can u mention the high heat n low heat temperatures . I'm using induction plate for the first time. Also I have normal
    flat base tawa on which we usually cook chapati on gas stove... what should I select low or high heat??

    ReplyDelete
  7. For induction the tawa must be made of steel.I would recommend you to buy one with heavier bottom as compared to the one we get in India like nirlep etc.. I have switched over to induction recently and use highest heat (9) to start with and then switch it 7-8 level for rest of the process. My stove doesn't show temperature so I cannot tell you the temperature. Just remember that if the tawa will be less hot then chapati will be tight and crisp,so always try to cook on high heat only.

    ReplyDelete
  8. thanks, it turned out great on the first try itself!!

    ReplyDelete
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