Chapati is an unleavened flatbread (also known as roti) from the Indian subcontinent. It is a common staple of cuisine in South Asia as well as amongst South Asian expatriates throughout the world. The word “Chappathi” is derived from Kannada origin “Chappate thatti” meaning “flattened round”.

Chapatis are one of the most common forms in which wheat is consumed. Chapati is a form of roti or rotta (bread). The words are often used interchangeably. While roti or rotta refers to any flat unleavened bread, chapati is a roti made of whole wheat flour and cooked on a flat skillet.

Chapatis are made from a firm dough made from whole grain common wheat flour and water. Some people also add salt and oil to the dough. Small portions of the dough are rolled out into discs using a rolling pin. The rolled-out dough is thrown on the preheated dry skillet and cooked on both sides.

In some regions it is only partly cooked on the skillet, and then put directly on a high flame which makes it blow up like a balloon. The hot air cooks the chapati rapidly from the inside to produce inflated phulka.

The top of a chapati is slathered with butter or ghee . A piece of chapati is torn off and used to pick up the more liquid dishes like pappu, paneer, or sena-galu.

Chapati sizes (diameter and thickness) vary from region to region and kitchen to kitchen. In Gujarat, for example, the chapati is called a ‘rotli’ and can be as thin as tissue paper.

Chapatis made in domestic kitchens are usually not larger than 6-7 inches in diameter since the ‘tava’ from which they are made comes in sizes that fit comfortably on a domestic stove top.

The shape of the rolling pin also varies from region to region. Some households simply use a kitchen work top as a sort of pastry board, but homes have round flat-topped ‘boards’ specifically for rolling out chapatis that may be made of wood or stone.

Flat unleavened breads in South Asia come in many forms; the chapati is only one of them. A rotta, made of a dough similar to that used to make chapatis and cooked in an oven, is a ‘tandoori roti’.

The combination of wheat flour with one or more flours (e.g. chickpea, maize, or millet) will produce a “missi roti”. Rottas made with pearl millet (bajra) or maize (makka) or jowar flour usually carry the name of the flour, as in “bajra roti” or “makke ki roti”.

Flat breads like chapati and roti are traditionally a food of northern South Asia. The peninsular south, the east and northeast and the Kashmir valley are primarily rice-eating cultures.

In southern India, there is a distinction made between a ‘chapati’ and its layered fried version the ‘paratha’. ‘Parathas’ usually have a filling inside, such as spinach, cooked radish, or potato.

Also now the ‘tandoori roti’ is to be found in the small towns. Chapatis are made of whole wheat flour, while rotis are made of all-purpose flour