"Turn your chapati and keep working with the cloth," those were the words of Nana (my grandma) when I tried to roll out and bake chapatis for the first time. The two of us sat cross-legged on the floor, armed with a belan (the classic Indian rolling pin), as Nana tried to teach me this traditional Indian skill.

Of course, my Nana was a bread pro like my mom and like millions of other Indian women. Looking back, I have to laugh at myself. My first chapati looked more like the map of India, the second like Europe, and the third resembled Africa. On the twelfth try, I managed something that looked like a chapati. Until then, my grandma kept repeating, "Patience, Sophia... you'll get it."

Traditionally, chapatis are baked in a tawa, a flat rimless pan, without ghee or oil. These quickly prepared flatbreads are the ideal companions for curries and serve as a base for wraps to use up leftovers.

Ingredients for 16 Chapatis (4 people)

• 450 g Atta (chapati whole wheat flour, from the Asian store) or 225 g whole wheat flour and 225 g flour type 405
• 1 tbsp Ghee / for vegan version use vegetable oil
• ½ tsp salt
• 300 ml lukewarm water
• some flour for the work surface
• 2-3 tsp Ghee, melted for brushing (optional)

Instructions

Put the flour in a bowl and mix with the salt. Make a well in the center, and mix in 250 ml lukewarm water and knead. Gradually knead in another 50 ml lukewarm water and form into a ball. Add 1 tbsp ghee / oil and continue kneading until a soft and smooth dough forms. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let rest for 5 minutes.

In the meantime, have a rolling pin, a bowl of flour for rolling the dough balls, a spatula, a tawa and a plate ready.

Put some flour on the work surface and divide the dough into 16 portions and heat the pan over medium heat. Roll a piece of dough into a ball between your palms, roll it in flour, flatten it into a disc and then roll it out into round flatbreads with a diameter of 10 cm. Lightly flour both sides, roll out to a diameter of 16 cm and place on the hot pan.

Bake over medium to high heat for 35-40 seconds until the edge turns white and the chapati forms bubbles, then turn and bake for another 35-40 seconds.

Turn again (now the bread should puff up and must be pressed flat with the spatula), bake for 10 seconds, then turn again and bake for another 10 seconds.

When the dough is cooked through, when there are no raw spots (dark and doughy) to be seen, place the chapati on the plate.

Cover with a clean kitchen towel or aluminum foil, otherwise they will become hard quickly. Then bake the remaining dough portions in the same way. Finally, brush the chapatis with ghee.

Tips

• If the dough becomes too firm, poke holes in it with your finger and add 1-2 tbsp hot water. Then let the dough soak for a few minutes and knead it again.
• Always regulate the heat between medium and high so that the pan is not too hot, but also not too cold.
• Keep pressing and turning lightly. Press gently and evenly with the spatula. Not too hard and not too much.