From the moment I arrived at Yoga in Daily Life in Dungog, I was obsessed with the kitchen. It featured a tin roof, rustic wood decor, heaps of spices and fun equipment. One of my favorite things in the kitchen is this old stove hooked up to a propane tank. It’s just a normal stove, but has these neat iron dishes on it.

Lise, who visited India before, told me the dishes were used to make chapatis. Similar to naan, this flat, soft-baked dough item is sold on the street all around the country. While its common in India, it’s quite hard to find and hard to make everywhere else.

First, people need a chapati plate to make chapatis. The plates are not easy to find outside India and not easy to carry around for those who want to take them home from the country. Further, the recipe also calls for Atta, a specific kind of flour, which can be found with a bit of searching. Finally, chapati-making is an art. People who try the recipe may not get it the first time, or the second, or even the third. It takes practice to figure out the proper measurements, consistency and timing.

Luckily, Suphduvmuni, a yogi that lived near to retreat, was somewhat of an expert. Living in India for nine years, he picked up the craft steadily. He let me and the other WWOOFers try making chapatis, but it was more fun to watch him.

Veronica cooking chapatis the Yoga in Daily Life retreat in Dungog, NSW. Photo by Bobbi Lee Hitchon

These are directions I picked up from watching him. Everything is give or take, so those that have a chapati plate floating around, try it out and have fun, but don’t get too discouraged. This is ancient baking usually performed by professionals.

Ingredients

Atta wheat flour (as much as you need according how many people)

salt (add according to taste, but don’t overdue it)

water at room temperature (add slowly according to dough consistency)

Directions

Mix dry ingredients. Add a little water. Knead dough while slowly adding water as needed until dough is moist without sticking to your fingers.

Suphduvmuni pours water slowly while making dough for chapatis. Photo by Bobbi Lee Hitchon

Once dough is of proper consistency, let it sit for 20 minutes. Pour flour onto a plate, a rolling board or table and rolling pin. Roll a piece of dough into a palm-sized ball.

Roll dough ball in the plate of flour then use the rolling pin to roll the into a circle.

Suphduvmuni rolls out a but of dough before cooking it on chapati plates. Photo by Bobbi Lee Hitchon

Place the rolled dough onto the chapati plate and leave cook until is starts to bubble. Flip it and leave cook until it turns brown. Remove chapati plate and place chapati directly on fire (traditionally done on wood fire, but can be done on gas). The chapati will start to blow up like a ballon (look at video). Lightly tap, then flip it until it releases steam.

Place under a towel to keep warm and continue.