Chapatis from East Africa

Whether you are in Kenya, Tanzania or Uganda, you'll encounter chapatis served with mild curries.  Chapati is a bit of a staple in East Africa.  Surprisingly easy to make, you can knock them up just before your dinner guests arrive.

4 cups flour
8 tablespoons cooking oil
2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 cups warm water
Cooking oil for dribbling
Put the flour and salt into a mixing bowl.  Add the cooking oil and mix it into the flour.  Add the water a little at a time, kneading and mixing until the dough is soft, elastic and not sticky at all.  Let it rest for about 15 minutes.  Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces.  Sprinkle a little flour on your pastry board and roll each of the 8 pieces into a round flat thin circle the size of a dinner plate.  Now is the fun part.  Put a little cooking oil in a large frying pan.  When it's hot carefully place a chapati in it.  Dribble some cooking oil on the top of the chapati and flip it over.  Dribble some oil on the side facing you.  Flip it over again.  You'll see brown spots on both sides.  The whole process of cooking the chapati takes only a couple of minutes.  Lift it out, put it on a plate and fold it in half and then half again.  You'll quickly get into a rhythm of flipping, folding and rolling the next one.  Serve with curry.
Cindy Vine currently lives in Kyiv Ukraine, and is the author of Hush Baby, Defective, C U @ 8, Not Telling and The Case of Billy B.  All her books are available on Amazon in both Kindle and paperback format.