i know this is gonna sound foolish, but how do you fold the dough properly so that your chapati balloons up? im just learning how to make rotis so any help abt what i should do/look for would be much appreciated. thanks
Re: making chapatis
yup , you have come to the right place and nothing to feel foolish about 
Here’s how you do the dough:
take two cups of flour … and some water … start adding water little by little into the dough, and start mixing it lightly with your other hand… make sure you add in water little by little or else your ata will become runny.
Once its all wet and lightly mixed … keep it aside for 5 minutes.
finally wet your hands and start kneading the dough. dont add any more water to the dough. just wet your hands every few seconds and keep on kneading the dough. At least for 5 more minutes and you will notice that the clump like texture will turn into a smooth dough… you are done!
**To make the chapatis. **
I am sure you know the process. Their are a few tricks you needs to keep in mind for every roti to balloon up 
First, before your put the roti on the tawa , make sure its medium hot and the flame should be medium low. Let the first side cook75% … and then turn side. now as soon as it cooks 50% , remove half the tawa off the fire and using a tong , rotate the roti on the fire … you will see it will start ballooning up.
Thats the trick. it does come with practice , so dont be disheartened if it doesnt happen the first few times .. but this is the winning trick, stick to it.
Re: making chapatis
hmm... and how is it done if you have electric glass stove.. if thats what it's called lol?
Re: making chapatis
We use to have the electric one and so my mom used one of those round cooling racks. That way the roti is not touching the stove itself.
Re: making chapatis
thats a good idea canadian ... actually with electric stoves its hard to get the roti to balloon up.. but its still possible.
This is how I used to do it:
again, medium hot tawa or pizza pan ... put the roti on it .. when 25% done, change side... again 25% done , change side and using a cloth , press the sides very lightly... it will balloon up.
Re: making chapatis
see the way to do it is instead of a tawa use a pan cake maker ... its flatter than a tawa so its easier to make roti on it ... as i cooks uniformly ... the reason why they use tawa in pakistan is cuz of the flame which is hot in the middle so to keep it even they give it an oval shape so its far from the flame ... anyhow enough science ... so u cook one side 50 percent like CB said and flip it ... u'll see small pockets of air in the roti i.e small baloons ... then u cook the other side just a lil bit and take half hte pan off of the stove so that half hte roti is touchin the surface and now just press it a lil and it'll start baloonin up ... its actually better if u try the method that canadian prescribed with the cooling rack or CB method which works better iwth a flame ... if u don't have iether of those then try my method :)
Re: making chapatis
My roti's turn out awful. I even set one on fire.
Re: making chapatis
this weekend i made parathas for the first time ever. :D im going to try chapatis next so this is going to be useful.
Re: making chapatis
Lala , thats a world record 
… ok , on a serious note, I think the roti’s caught fire coz you were making them on high heat , very hot tawa, and didnt flip sides even when they were 90 percent cooked from one side … remove all these factors and you will have a good roti
Bride2be , good luck mate ..
Re: making chapatis
You know when you've just prepared the dough, I find if I start making the roti straight away the edges start to crack when I ba'il it, and I can never get a round roti like I usually do? Ways to stop this other than letting the ata sit for a while?
Re: making chapatis
Kurri , it means the ata hasnt bonded / mixed well ... you need to goondo it for a bit longer ...
Normally when i am in a hurry and gondo the ata less , this exact thing happens. Then I just goondo it some more and the roti turns out fine.
how do you fold the dough into a ball properly? mine only balloons up in like half the roti so im assuming that im folding it wrong on the other half lol
Re: making chapatis
First when you knead the dough, make it at least an hour before making the rotis. And then keep it in the fridge. That way even if you don't knead the dough properly, the extra time makes the dough receptive to better rotis. Also, when kneading the dough try to wet your hands more rather than adding more and more water to the flour after you have added teh initial water, knead each side 3 times, then turn over, reapeat and so on around 10 times.
If using a gas stove, use medium heat turn the roti over after 30% done turn over and then rotate on a plain stove flame without the tawwausing the tongs (chimta). If electric stove, use teh wire cooling rack on top of the stove during the last bit. I have a galss top electric stove and the roti ballons up completely.
Oh yes, important point, don't make the roti too big, smaller the roti, more chances of it balooning up.
Re: making chapatis
:k:
Thanks guys!!
Re: making chapatis
My rotis start off all fine. I can make the peyra and roll in out fine. Once it starts cooking, sometimes it goes too stiff and sometimes it ends up the like pitta bread:vivo: I give up but I know I will need this amazing skill in the near future, so someone, please help.
Re: making chapatis
^ ok that used to be one of my [many] issues too… i think that happens because you’ve applied too much flour to the peyra. When you’ve rolled out your roti and are satisfied with the shape, you need to smack it around between your hands to get rid of the excess flour… know what i mean? 
Look at this video, at 2:20:
When i first started making rotis and i used to do that, the roti would go all lop-sided…i’m getting better… but man it’s such an art form :hinna:
^what a great video, thanks for sharing!
Re: making chapatis
i can't make a round roti... it never ever gets round :( i have made almost every map of the world
how can you make a round roti and when i do the baylan it sticks too much to the base, if i add ata it becomes like a biscuit after done on tawwa
PLEASE HELP!!!!!!
:(
Re: making chapatis
Korn, round roti is easy ... I think you might be making the paira wrong .. coz if thats not done properly then your roti wont come out round.
when you do the paira, make sure its really round and none of the rough edges show on the paira. it must be really really smooth. Dont put too much ata on it at that stage .. you have to do it quickly and with very little ata , otherwise the ata powder fills the cracks and makes it harder to become smooth.
Once you have made the paira, now press it flat with your fingers ... then hold it in your hands and using both your hands, start pressing the corners between your thumb and index finger..
now when you roll out the roti, it will definitely come out round. let me know how it goes ...
Re: making chapatis
so sweet of u, chicken biryani
sure will try today and will let u know dear
