Onion and Coriander Chapatis

Onion and coriander chapatis are flaky, buttery wholemeal flatbreads with lightly crushed cumin and coriander seeds through the dough and little charred edges of red onion. They are fried in plenty of butter, there is no kneading at all, and they are the one thing in an Indian feast worth making at the very last minute. Let's cook!

Why These Chapatis Work

There is no kneading. You mix everything with a fork, bring it together with your hands, and that is it. The rest does the work that kneading would normally do.

The seeds are only lightly crushed. Whole seeds are too much in one bite, ground seeds disappear. A tiny crush in the pestle and mortar leaves pieces big enough to give you pops of flavour without making you chew a whole cumin seed.

The butter goes into the dough as well as the pan. 60g worked through the flour is what makes them flaky rather than tough, and the knob that goes in when you turn them is what makes them taste like something you would be given in a restaurant.

The onion chars in the pan. Cooking them slowly rather than hot means the little pieces of red onion catch and blacken slightly at the edges, which is where a lot of the flavour comes from.

They are made last, on purpose. Everything else in the feast is better made ahead. These are better made fresh, so they fill the gap while the curries are reheating.

Recipe Details

• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Resting Time: 2 hours
• Cook Time: 25 minutes
• Total Time: 2 hours 40 minutes
• Makes: 8 chapatis, serves 4 to 6
• Difficulty: Easy
• Special Equipment: Pestle and mortar, rolling pin, cling film

Two things about this dough that look wrong and are not. The first is how wet it is. When you come back to it after resting it will be tacky and it will want to stick to everything, and that is exactly right, because the gluten has formed and there is a little stretch in it. The second is that you never put flour on the bench. Flour a wet dough and you change the recipe. Oil the bench instead, oil a piece of cling film, lay it over the top and roll through it. I have made these on a floured bench and they come out heavier every time. And on the fat: ghee is what you would actually use if you had it, because it is clarified butter with the milk solids taken out, which means a higher smoke point and far less chance of the pan catching while you are waiting for the onion to char. Butter is completely fine, you just have to pay a bit more attention.

Ingredients

• 1/4 red onion, finely diced
• 2 tbsp coriander, chopped, stalks and leaves
• 1/2 tsp coriander seeds
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1/4 tsp table salt
• 200g wholemeal flour, or chapati flour if you can get it
• 150ml water
• 60g butter, softened almost to melting, for the dough
• Oil, for the bench and the cling film
• About 40g butter or ghee, for frying

How to Make Onion and Coriander Chapatis

1. Crush the seeds: Give the coriander and cumin seeds a very light crush in a pestle and mortar. You want them broken up, not ground. Leave some pieces obviously larger than others.
2. Mix the dry ingredients and the butter: In a bowl, combine the diced onion, chopped coriander, crushed seeds, salt, wholemeal flour and the softened butter. Work it all through with a fork until the butter is smooshed evenly through the flour and everything is distributed.
3. Add the water: Pour in about half the water and mix with the fork, then add the rest and get in there with your hands to bring it into a ball. Work the last of the water around the bowl so every bit of flour is picked up.
4. Rest the dough: No kneading. Once it is combined, cover the bowl with a tea towel and leave it for at least 30 minutes, or 2 hours if you have the time. Wholemeal and chapati flour are denser than white flour and the water needs that time to hydrate them properly.
5. Roll them out: Rub a little oil over your bench rather than using flour. Divide the dough into 8 pieces. Lay an oiled piece of cling film over a piece of dough and roll through it into an even, thin circle. Peel it off the bench and it is ready for the pan.
6. Fry them: Heat a pan over a medium heat with a little oil already in it. Lay a chapati in and cook it for about 3 minutes, going slowly enough that the onion catches and chars rather than just browning. Turn it, drop in a knob of butter, and give it another 3 minutes until golden. Two will fit in the pan at once.
7. Serve straight away: Keep the heat moderated between batches and add a fresh knob of butter each time. Get them to the table hot, because that is when they are at their absolute best.

Why You'll Love This Recipe

• No kneading at all: Mix, rest, roll, fry
• Eight breads from 200g of flour: About as cheap as a side dish gets
• Flaky and buttery: The butter in the dough and the butter in the pan do two different jobs
• Make the dough ahead: It will sit happily covered for hours until you want it
• Vegetarian: And they go with far more than just Indian food

Chef's Tips for Onion and Coriander Chapatis

Rest, do not rise: There is no yeast in this dough and nothing is going to get bigger. I have said "rise" out loud about these before and it is wrong. Resting is about letting the water hydrate the flour, which is why 2 hours beats 30 minutes even though nothing appears to happen.

Ghee if you have it, butter if you do not: Ghee has the milk solids removed, so it takes more heat before it burns. If you are using butter, keep the pan on a medium heat and keep moving.

Oil the bench, never flour it: Extra flour at the rolling stage makes them heavy. Oil the bench, oil the cling film, roll through the film.

A tiny crush on the seeds: Enough to break them, not enough to powder them. The pops of coriander and cumin are the whole point.

Trust the wet dough: It should be tacky and a bit awkward to handle. That is what a properly hydrated wholemeal dough feels like.

Butter goes in when you turn: Not at the start, when it would burn before the first side is done. Turn the bread, then add the knob.

Make them last: Everything else can be made the day before. These cannot, and they are worth the ten minutes at the end.

Substitutions & Variations

• Chapati flour: Use it if you can find it, it is what this dough actually wants
• Ghee instead of butter: Higher smoke point and a nuttier flavour, and traditional
• Red onion: Brown onion or spring onion both work, spring onion goes sweeter
• Nigella seeds: Wonderful in place of, or alongside, the cumin
• Coriander: Flat leaf parsley or mint if coriander is not for you
• Half and half flour: Swap 100g of the wholemeal for plain flour for a softer, lighter bread
• Add chilli: A finely chopped green chilli through the dough works beautifully

Storage

Best eaten fresh: Straight from the pan, while the butter is still on them and the edges are crisp. This is not a bread that improves with sitting.

Fridge: The raw dough keeps in the fridge, covered, for up to 2 days, and honestly gets better. Cooked chapatis will keep for up to 2 days wrapped in a clean tea towel inside a container.

Freezer: Freeze the rolled, uncooked chapatis with greaseproof paper between them for up to 3 months, then cook from frozen with an extra minute a side. Cooked ones freeze for up to 1 month.

Avoid: Do not reheat them in a microwave, which turns them soft and leathery. A dry pan over a medium heat for about 30 seconds a side brings them straight back.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to knead chapati dough? No. Mix it until it is properly combined and then leave it alone. The rest does the work, which is why the resting time matters more than any handling.

What is the difference between a chapati and a roti? Very little, and the words are often used for the same thing. Both are unleavened flatbreads cooked in a dry or lightly greased pan. These sit somewhere between a chapati and a paratha, because of the butter worked through the dough.

Can I use plain white flour? You can, and they will be softer and lighter. You will lose the nuttiness that wholemeal gives, and the dough will need a little less water, so hold some back and add it slowly.

Why is my chapati dough so sticky? It is meant to be. Wholemeal flour absorbs a lot of water and this dough is deliberately wet. Do not add flour to fix it. Oil your bench and your cling film and roll through the film instead.

How long should chapati dough rest? Thirty minutes is the minimum and 2 hours is better. The flour needs that time to take up the water, and a fully hydrated dough rolls thinner and cooks softer.

Can I make chapatis ahead? Make the dough ahead by all means, up to 2 days in the fridge. Cook them at the last minute. They are one of the few things in The Ultimate Indian Vegetarian Feast that is genuinely better fresh.

Why are my chapatis tough? Usually too much extra flour at the rolling stage, or too high a heat in the pan. Both dry the bread out. Oil rather than flour, and keep the pan at a medium heat.

What do I serve them with? Any curry with a sauce worth mopping up. Potato and Tomato Curry (Alur Dom) and Coconut Egg Curry with Fennel and Curry Leaves are both part of the same feast and both work perfectly.

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I nearly did not put these on the site, because a bread with no kneading and no yeast felt too simple to write down. Then I made the feast, and these were the thing people kept reaching for. Fried in a lot of butter, yes, and it does not matter one bit, because they are oniony, herby, flaky and absolutely yum. Make the dough in the morning, forget about it, and cook them while everyone is sitting down.

Enjoy!

Del x

Flaky wholemeal flatbreads with crushed cumin and coriander, charred red onion and plenty of butter, and no kneading anywhere.