Buckwheat Chapatti

Buckwheat Chapatti

Buckwheat chapatti, lunch recipe, give it a go !

250g buckwheat flour

½ teaspoon salt

300g peeled potatoes, about 3 medium-sized potatoes, cut into large pieces

3 tablespoons water

a good quantity of extra buckwheat flour for dusting and rolling

melted butter or ghee (optional, for spreading over the chapatis after they've been cooked)

Preparation and Cooking
Combine the buckwheat flour and salt in a large bowl.

Boil the potatoes in sufficient water until they are very soft. Remove, drain and mash them. Measure the quantity of mashed potatoes. You will need 1 cup. Place the measured quantity of mashed potatoes in a large metal sieve over a large kitchen bowl. Push and rub the potato through the sieve and collect it in the bowl.

Pre-heat the large non-stick frying pan, or pans over moderate heat. Combine the warm mashed potato with the buckwheat flour. Add the water a little at a time to form a soft, but not sticky dough. Turn the dough onto a clean, smooth working surface, sprinkled with buckwheat flour. Turn and knead the dough for one or two minutes.

Pinch off 10 even-sized lumps of dough and form them into smooth balls, pressing and kneading them gently into thick patties. Dredge a patty of dough in flour and place it on the flour-strewn surface. Carefully roll it with a dry, flour-sprinkled rolling pin to a fairly thin, even, smooth disc about 15 cm (6 inches) in diameter. If it sticks to the pin, re-roll it and apply more flour. A little care needs to be taken here since the dough contains no gluten and is very delicate.

Very carefully pick up the disc of dough and quickly transfer it to the frying pan. Slip it onto the hot pan, taking care to avoid wrinkling it. Cook it for about 1 minute on the first side. The top of the bread should start to show small bubbles, or it may even fully puff up in the pan - even better!

Turn it over, being careful not to tear it, and cook it on the reverse side. When a few dark spots appear on the underside, lift the chapatti with kitchen tongs to about 5cm over a full flame, if you are using gas. If using an electric stove, you'll need to sit a cake cooling rack above, but not touching, the element. The chapatti should swell into a puffy balloon.

Cook it until it shows a few more darker spots, then place it in a bowl or basket covered with a clean cloth, and continue cooking the rest of the chapattis. When they are cooked and stacked, you may like to butter them. Serve buckwheat chapattis hot, or keep them warm, well covered, in a pre-heated warm oven for up to half an hour. www.foodamentalists.co.uk