Chapatis are a thick, soft, chewy, Indian flatbread — so delicious!
Use them for wraps, as a side bread to dip in a soup or stew, or simply eat alongside a salad. They’re so similar to pocket bread (yet easier to make) that we enjoy them for our Thanksgiving and Christmas Middle Eastern feasts!
I learned how to make these from my friend Christina (creator of the No-Knead Sourdough Bread in the Sourdough eCourse). She’s such a great baker — she just eyeballs and mixes flour, fat, water and salt and creates perfect chapatis!
I adapted her recipe to use sourdough and ancient grains like einkorn. Here it is!
Einkorn Sourdough Chapatis {Indian Flatbread}
Chapatis are traditional Indian flatbread -- perfect for dipping in soups and stews or eating alongside salad! Here's how to make a super nourishing and easy version with ancient einkorn and sourdough starter!
Ingredients
- 2-1/2 cups einkorn flour or spelt or emmer — this is my favorite source and I make fresh-ground flour in my Mockmill, the first affordable home stone grain mill
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil extra virgin
- 1/4 cup sourdough starter
- 3/4 cup pure water warm
- grass-fed butter or coconut oil for dairy-free or omit for Trim Healthy Mama and Low Vitamin A
Instructions
At least 7 hours before...
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Combine flour, sea salt, olive oil, sourdough starter, and water in a medium mixing bowl.
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Mix to get all the flour wet, and at the end when it gets harder to handle, you can switch to your hands. You should have a shaggy dough; don’t worry about it being smooth or anything.
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Put it back in the bowl and let it sit for 5 to 15 minutes while the flour absorbs the water. Cover with a tea towel.
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Then sprinkle a little flour on a clean counter top and start kneading the dough. It should be a little sticky, but if it’s too sticky to work, you can sprinkle a little flour on the counter top.
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Knead for 5 minutes, until you have a smooth dough.
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Drizzle a bit of olive oil in the mixing bowl.
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Put your dough ball inside and turn over to coat with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit out in a room temperature location for 7 to 8 hours or overnight.
To cook...
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When you’re ready to begin cooking them, heat up one or two cast-iron skillets over medium heat. You’ll be adjusting the heat as you go; you always want them hot but not quite smoking.
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Uncover the dough and pull apart into 6 pieces. A good way to do this is to break it in half and then pull each half into 3 equal size balls. Put them back in the bowl and keep lightly covered so they don’t dry out.
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Sprinkle flour on a clean countertop.
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Grab a ball of dough and roll into smooth ball. Then press it flat in the flour, turn it over, and coat the other side with a bit of flour. Then start rolling it into a circle that’s about 6 inches wide and 3/8-inch to 1/4-inch thick.
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When that one is done, set it aside and begin rolling out another. You’re going to continue rolling them out as you can while they’re cooking.
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When the skillet is hot and almost smoking, it is ready. Put a chapati on the dry skillet. Let it cook a minute or two, until it begins to bubble up. Flip it over.
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While it’s still in the skillet, spread a pat of butter on the cooked side (you can take off any extra).
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When the bottom side has cooked, another minute or so, flip it onto a waiting baking tray and spread butter on that second side.
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Repeat with all chapatis until they’re all done.
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If you’re not quite ready to serve, put them in a warm oven (or you can use a clay tortilla keeper). They are best served fresh. Stack them up on a platter and let everyone dig in.
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Store leftovers in an airtight container; reheat by warming up each side on a dry skillet over medium-low heat. Or freeze for later! This recipe easily doubles or triples.
Recipe Notes
Home Grain Milling
Want more info on the Mockmill, my favorite home stone grain mill? Here’s more info — plus if you hurry I’ll throw in my Sourdough A to Z and Einkorn Baking eBook & Video Packages worth $128! Claim your bonuses here after purchase.
If you want more info on the ins and outs of home grain milling (the how to, types of mills, even gluten-free milling, etc.) at home, check out my FREE Home Grain Milling 101 eBook.
Want to know where to buy einkorn, the 5,000-year-old variety of wheat that’s got gentler gluten and starch? Here’s my favorite source: Ancient Grains LLC.
Have you ever made chapatis? What is your favorite einkorn sourdough recipe?
Looking for More Sourdough Recipes? Try These!
- The Best Sourdough English Muffins (Traditional Recipe)
- Whole Grain Sourdough Bread
- Sourdough Sandwich Bread
- Einkorn Sourdough Bagels
- Soft & Chewy Sourdough Pretzels
- Sourdough Pizza
- Sourdough Apple Cinnamon Rolls w/Cream Cheese Frosting
- Pumpkin Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls w/Cream Cheese Frosting
- Sourdough Chocolate Cake With Chocolate Frosting
...without giving up the foods you love or spending all day in the kitchen!
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Will this recipe work with whole grain wheat flour? That is all I have right now, and I would love to try this recipe. Thanks!
Hi Tia,
Yes! This will work with any gluten flour. 🙂 Enjoy!
~ Millie, TCS Customer Success Team
Thanks, Millie! I made them with whole wheat flour with a little unbleached flour. They were really good! These were easier to make than tortillas.
Is Einkorn a grain? And gluten free?
Hi Leah,
Einkorn is a grain. It does contain gluten. Let us know if you have any additional questions. 🙂
~ Millie, TCS Customer Success Team
Rotis or chapatis are just wheat flour, water, salt and maybe oil. They don’t need sourdough starter. They are unleavened bread. The trick is to knead well, get a soft yet slightly moist dough. Set aside for an hr and roll out your rotis.
Actually roti or chapati is mostly wheat and water (salt is personal preference). But then there is also khameeri roti, Khameer means yeast. I grew up in typical north Indian home, Delhi to be precise, and my mother used to make khameeri roti every now and then, it was commonly eaten in many homes i know of. So its really not fair to say roti is just this or that. Its made differently by every other person.
Hi Manvi,
I am also in Delhi, India. Yes There is always a popular way to make any item of food anywhere in the world, and your making it differently doesn’t change that in any way. 98% people do not like or make fermented (khameeri) chappati here among the majority population (Hindus). However among the Muslims khameeri chappati is less rare. And this author and her fans are not being inaccurate in any way. She has described a very practical method that works, so her premise/advice others need to try makes perfect sense.
If you prefer Khameeri chappati, make your own web page. But don’t try & pull hers down. She has done an excellent job. Chappatis are a good idea for all and a valuable addition to the ways of today’s global village’s kitchen.
So interesting. How is phytic acid is neutralised then and yet this recipe is a traditional culture staple.
Hi, Irina.
Phytic acid is neutralized due to the 7+ hour soaking processes with the flour and sourdough starter.
~Danielle, TCS CUstomer Success Team
Hi,
By “dry skillet,” does that just mean don’t add any butter or fat to the pan at first? If I do, would it ruin the chapatis? (I don’t have a cast-iron pan, just stainless steel, so I wonder if they would stick badly without some fat?)
Thanks
Hi Pepper, only use a dry pan if it’s ceramic coated or cast iron. It will stick to stainless steel so that should be greased.
Hope this helps. ~ Vicki, TCS Customer Success Team
Hi,
Can I use chapatti flour to make these, and also use it in my sourdough starter?
Thank you
Hi, Rehana.
Yes, you can use chapati flour. 🙂
Start with slightly more than called for and add additional as needed.
~Danielle, TCS Customer Success Team
I’ve been making this recipe with several alternative flour flours maybe 10 x and they all turned out great and I’m now actually using einkorn and the dough is like rubber cement! I’ve been kneading for 10 minutes now … struggling ..1/3 of the dough is stuck to my hands like I’ve never experienced …I’ve been repeatedly dusting it with all purpose flour but I’m not confident it will ever stop being to sticky to touch . Is this normal with einkorn ?
Hi Amanda,
We would suggest less kneading. This Einkorn recipe only calls for 5 minutes of kneading.
Stickiness is normal with einkorn. On this recipe Wardee usually oil her hands so she’s not adding a ton of extra flour.
~ Vicki, TCS Customer Success Team
Should I feed the sourdough starter before making this recipe, or use unwed starter?
Hi, Katie,
You would use your unfed starter. 🙂
~Peggy, TCS Customer Success Team
Hello! Been making chapatis without soaking practically every day, now struggling with anemia and thought I need to pay attention to phytic acid neutralisation.
Can I do the same but without a sourdough starter? Will lime juice work OK instead if left for 8 hours? Thank you!
Also, how come traditional cultures like India have unleavened bread as their staple? Doesn’t add up following Weston A Price research. I do know that deficiencies are incredibly high in India right now. Iron and zinc. So maybe that is why.
We have not tried it with lime juice.
That is an acid so it would be the same concept as soaking flour (vs sourdough) but it should work.
~Danielle, TCS Customer Success Team