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Chapati [chuh-pah-tee] noun: Pan-grilled unleavened flatbread eaten in India, East Africa, and most of South Asia.
Chapati is ubiquitous in Kenya; big golden wedges of this flat, chewy bread were served at almost every meal. We loved it; the fried golden taste is so delicious, and it’s handy for sopping up extra meat and sauce. We were already familiar, too, with chapati from Indian cuisine. But we quickly realized that what the Kenyans called chapati was something different; it’s not analogous to the familiar Indian style of chapati at all.
Indian-style chapati (or chapathi) is a very, very flat sort of bread, like a tortilla. The Kenyan style of chapati is slightly thicker, with flaky layers, and in most Indian restaurants this type of flatbread would be called paratha — not chapati.
The difference between these types of flatbread comes in how the dough is handled. Paratha recipes (as well as most of the Kenyan chapati recipes we’ve looked at so far) call for rolling out the dough into a long thin strand. Then the strand is coiled into a round shape and rolled until flat. This coiling process creates those flaky layers. Some do it differently: they create a cone shape of the dough and repeatedly fold it and roll it flat.
But the end result is the same: slightly thickened flatbread with flaky golden layers. Hard to argue with that, whatever you call it! It’s delicious, rather easy, and a staple of homestyle Kenyan cooking. We’re going to try making them soon! (Oh, and apparently they’re one of President Obama’s favorite foods, too.)
The chapati diet can effectively help lose weight as it is low in calories and fibre. By replacing high-calorie, processed foods with chapatis, you can reduce your overall calorie intake and achieve weight loss.
For weight loss, four chapatis per day are recommended. If you follow intermittent fasting and are considering consuming 3 chapatis during lunch you must consider the calorie intake – by calculating how many calories 3 chapatis have along with calories in the vegetables and salad you consume.
“Chapatis are the preferred choice. You can also have missi roti or dal roti at night, as they contain more protein in comparison to normal chapati." She adds that it is good to have two chapatis, with a bowl of dal or a bowl of dry vegetables and a bowl of curd at night.
"The fundamental difference between the roti and the chapati is that you finish both sides of the chapati with fat, and then cook it again on the griddle," Kalyanaraman explains. "So, if you're making a roti, and you apply some oil on one side and cook it again on the griddle, it becomes a chapati."
Eating chapatis earlier in the day can be more beneficial than consuming them at night. Your body's metabolism is more active during the day, making it easier to burn off the calories.
Roti is typically cooked on a hot griddle or tawa, not baked in an oven. It is a flatbread that is commonly eaten in South Asian cuisine. Roti is cooked basically.
Chapati or roti is a very common dish in Indian meals. It is also popularly known as the Indian bread. It is a staple Indian food that you can have for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
The word chapati is derived from the Sanskrit word carpatī, meaning “thin cake,” which is in turn derived from the word carpata or “flat.” This refers to the traditional method of shaping chapatis by slapping them between the palms of the hands.
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