I have two books of Indian cooking, one by Doshi and one by Pandya.  For chapati, they simply specify whole meal flour.  There is no mention of hard or soft, and there is no mention of atta.  One mentions kneading, which implies a hard wheat.  Durum doesn't sound right.  Since there is no yeast, perhaps it's just personal preference.  Wish I could help more.

cb

There's been a few discussions, maybe this thread will help..

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/4065/semolina-vs-durham#comment-20471

Hi (and thanks for responding)

However, I am the poster in the link you cited.

I am hoping for feedback a little less circular, though I appreciate that you took the time to search. 

...recommend sifting whole wheat flour for a close equivalent to atta flour.

Flour used for chappati is usually stone ground whole wheat flour (called Atta in India). Medium hard to hard varieties of wheat is usually used for chapati. Using flour from a hard wheat variety helps in rolling out the chapati very thin, which is considered desireable in most parts of India. Softer varieties of wheat are also used but this results in a slightly thicker (but softer and less 'rubbery') chapati. At home we use a medium hard variety of wheat to make our flour which results in a soft and acceptably thin chapati.

No yeast is used for making the chapati dough and the dough is kneaded by hand generally till it is soft and supple. It is considered good to use warm water for kneading though I'm not sure why and milk can be partly substituted for water to make the chapati soft.

Hope this helps...

See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atta_flour
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chapati

I used to make chapatis from home-ground hard wheat berries mixed with storebought, unbleached A-P flour. The chapatis were just okay. Then I tried Pillsbury atta. What a difference! Now my chapatis look and taste like they should. So the flour does make a big difference.

I know you want to use your own flour, so I'd suggest you use something fairly soft. Otherwise, rolling them out will drive you crazy. I agree about sifting out some of the bran. Atta is lighter in color than whole-grain whole-wheat, and is very fine and smooth.

When it comes to making the chapatis, don't make the dough too soft. Don't knead it too much -- gluten is not your friend here. And be sure to let it rest 30 to 60 mins before rolling.

I make chapatis with a half and half mixture of whole wheat flour and allpurpose unbleached flour. (This is what Jaffery recommends in one of her cookbooks) I could get atta from Indiatown but I'm too lazy. For paratha, I use 100% wholewheat flour. (around 14% protein content)

However, I have used atta to make chapatis and there is virtually no difference (to my mind).

I do not sift the whole wheat flour.

One thing I do swear by is using HOT water to mix the dough. I add enough to hold the flour together and then knead for about 5 minutes til the dough is smooth and silky. Then I allow the dough to rest for 30 minutes to an hour before rolling it out - this is the method that I was taught by our Indian friend who makes chapatis every day and learned how to make chapati from HER mother in India. (Our friend uses atta because she lives in India.)

From what I understand, atta is made from durum wheat.

-Elizabeth, in Canada

edit:

I remember having a discussion about atta some time ago in the newsgroup alt.bread.recipes. On 8 Jan, 2004, I wrote the following:

I know that durum flour is hard flour but it is also my understanding that atta is low gluten. Because there are so many Indians here in Toronto, my thinking was that they would insist on atta that was like atta from "home", therefore low gluten.

... excerpt from [the page that WAS at] www.foodindia.org/cereals_pro.asp
:
: In India wheat is ground generally into atta (whole meal), suji or rava
: (semolina) and maida (flour). These are further divided like high gluten
: and low gluten atta and low gluten, medium gluten and high gluten maida.
:................................................

... excerpt from [the page that WAS at]  www.microwavecookingforone.com/Namaste/NamasteFlours.html
:
: Durum Atta Flour — Fine whole wheat flour used to make rotis,
: puris and parathas. Also known as chapati flour. Low in gluten,
: atta flour is easier to knead and roll. It may also be used
: for making certain sweets and snacks like ladoos or mathris.
:..................................................

hi Elizabeth

I believe you mill your own flour (?)

If you were milling whole wheat flour for chapati and you did *not* have durum wheat, would you chose *soft* wheat or *hard* wheat to mill for the whole wheat flour? (Or, perhaps, you dont think it matters either way ???)

thanks - SF

Hi subfuscpersona,

I think you've got me confused, maybe with ejm? I do mill my own flour, but I've never made chapatis (actually, only ever eaten them once, a million years ago!), so I'm afraid I don't have any advice :-( Sorry!

edh

I emailed my niece, who makes chapatis on a daily basis. She suggested mixing hard and soft wheat flours together to make a medium gluten flour. That way you’d get the best of both worlds: easy rolling, high puffing, soft consistency, and good keeping. She makes her dough in a food processor, and it takes less than a minute to mix and knead.

...as usual, excellent advice.

Based on the answers, I think I'll try whole wheat flour milled from soft wheat mixed with some commercial unbleached white bread flour for a slight gluten boost (probably 70% WW, 30% white). I will definitely use warm to hot water and a good resting period before rolling them out.

In the past I've made chapati just with commercial white flour and we preferred the ones made with all-purpose flour to those made with bread flour. (The flour that performed best was Hecker's All-purpose Unbleached, which has a slightly higher protein content than some other brands of all-purpose, but not as high as bread flour at 12% protein. Hecker's is primarily available in the northeast US but the same flour is marketed as Ceresota brand in the midwest.).

Testing with durum flour will have to wait. I've never worked with durum flour and am reluctant to purchase yet another type of grain, given my ample supply of other grains, especially wheat (red / white; soft / hard winter / hard spring).

I'm planning on making the chapati when the summer comes when I want a bread that can be baked on the stove top. When the temperature soars into the 90s, I try to avoid using my oven a lot.

So again, THANK YOU ALL - and if anyone has further tips, please *do* post them.

hi Elizabeth-

Thanks for the links. I put a link to your site in google notebooks in my bread notebook. (I like google notebook because I can put links to all my favority TFL posts there so I can find them easily. You can also include comments and tags for each entry, which makes searching very easy).

Alas, no barbecue for me, living as I do in a small city apartment with no balcony. However, I'll try the stovetop approach for pita and naan this summer.

QUESTION - where did you buy the rack that you use to puff up the pita or chapati? I'm due for a trip to my favorite Indian spice store to stock up but if they don't carry them, is there a mail order source you'd recommend?

TIA - SF

PS very nice photos of the process of stove-top baking on your site 

I am a 'good Indian girl' taught how to make chapatis by her grandmother and you can make them from pretty much any flour.

The key to making good chapatis is resting your dough (no less than 30 minutes < wags finger > )

Good luck and make sure you post pics :) 

This lady has wonderful videos on how to cook just about any Indian food. http://www.manjulaskitchen.com/2007/03/21/roti-chapati-flat-indian-bread/ is the link