Kamut Flour Makes the Best Chapatis

Um, what's kamut flour?

And what's a chapati?

(here's a hint ... )


Kamut is one of those 'ancient grains' that's related to the wheat we use everyday, but never got to be as widely marketable. It's lovely and soft and excellent for baking. And it has a different nutritional profile from wheat - which means that if you can integrate kamut flour into your cooking rotation, you're getting a wider variety of goodness into your body. Which is great, as far as I'm concerned!

And chapati - well, that's just an Indian flatbread. Pretty much made the same way as a tortilla, but with wholemeal flour. In this case, kamut!


And what can you do with these soft and lovely kamut chapatis? Well, I was having a lazy Sunday sort of feeling ... so made them to have with dips: Guacamole. Pumpkin and cream and sage. And tomato and garlic.

But I use these all the time as general packed-lunch wraps ... for burritos or enchiladas or quesadillas ... for falafel and hummus and tabbouleh ... for scooping up curry ...

(oh dear, I am making myself sooooo hungry just now. Please excuse me for a moment ... )


That's better.

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Kamut Chapatis
Makes about 12
The time
10 - 15 min prep + cook

The ingredients
2 1/3 c wholemeal kamut flour
1 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
~ 1 1/3 c warm water

+ extra flour, for dusting the benchtop
+1 tsp oil for cooking
+ some highly functional thrifted serving bowls

* Use organic ingredients when you can. And it's ok to sub regular wholemeal flour if you don't have kamut. Just adjust the water if you need to.

The process
1. Put the flour into a large bowl.

2. Make a well in the centre and add the oil and water. Stir to mix - and when the dough starts to form a ball, take it out and knead it gently on a floured benchtop. If you need to, add tiny extra bits of water until the dough becomes soft and pliable, but doughy.

TIP: If you have a breadmaker or a food processor, you can let it do the mixing/kneading for you.

3. Let the dough rest for a couple of minutes. Divide it into 12 balls, and get out your rolling pin. Meanwhile, heat 1 tsp oil in a large heavy frying pan over med-high heat.

4. Roll out each ball into a flat, thin round. Mine are probably around 1/2 cm thick ... basically get them as thin as you can without breaking them. They should come out somewhere around 25cm (10").

5. Cook one-by-one in the hot frying pan ... you'll only need 20-30 sec on each side. They should come out with lovely brown spots and should puff up just the tiniest bit. Stack them on a plate in a warm oven, or cover with a clean tea towel.

TIP: I get into a handy pattern where I roll out the next one while I'm cooking the previous one ... assembly line fashion. Oh, and keep it well ventilated. You're likely to burn some flour in the process.

6. Serve with butter and salt, or curry, or dips, or ... well ... use your imagination!

These are so inexpensive, even using organic kamut flour! My batch of 12 cost me around $2. For beautiful, soft chapatis ... with nothing extra added ... this is one recipe you've really got to try!


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Dish of the Day

And my bowls? I got a set of 5 - 3 different sizes, and perfect for just about every purpose known to man - for $4. I love thrifting!!

Have a lovely week!
Amanda xx

Comments

  1. Thanks for the tip! I traveled to India a few years ago and the one food I miss the most is chapati. No Indian restaurant or homemade chapatis (which I've made using chapati flour) have yielded quite the same product as the real thing. I can't wait to get my hands on some kamut flour... and to try some chapati and guac - it sounds like a delicious combination!

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  2. Hi Laura! Ooooh, I'm so jealous of your India trip - that's one place we haven't gotten yet. And the possibility of toddler gastro is holding us back ... so far. But soon, we'll do it.

    You'll definitely have to tell me how these chapatis compare to the ones you had there!!

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  3. I've never even heard of "Chapatis", so I'll refer to these as tortillas :) I've always wanted to try making a homemade version, but just never get around to it. Perhaps I'll try them soon!

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  4. Pretty sure I won't be able to get the flour, so can I use whole wheat?

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  5. Erika - give them a go! They might take a little time the first time around ... but then you'll become so quick, it hardly seems trouble! And they are so yum ..

    MC - definitely you can use wholewheat ... just adjust the water if you need to.

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  6. found your site on del.icio.us today and really liked it.. i bookmarked it and will be back to check it out some more later

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  7. Thanks for the recipe! :) I accidentally bought some kamut flour and didn't know what to do with it.. haha. Turned out great :)

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  8. This looks so yummy. I can't wait to make this!

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  9. I just made this.. They're delicious!!!

    Thanks for the recipe :)

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Thanks for commenting! Amandaxx