Whole Wheat Tortillas/Chapatis

When it comes to making tortillas I far prefer white flour over whole wheat. Whole wheat many times turns out too thick, too wheaty, and entirely lacking in the traditional soft, white flour tortilla texture and taste.

This recipe, though, is a little bit of an exception. I found that if done right this yields a pretty good whole wheat tortilla or chapati.

Since this recipe calls for a small amount of oil it is technically a chapati; tortillas usually have quite a bit more lard/shortening added to them. I use this recipe all the time for tortillas and it is about everything I could want despite being unauthentic.

(Also, I use this recipe all the time with regular white flour too and it gives consistently good results.)



Ingredients:

• 3 cups of whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1-2 Tbsp. oil
• 1 1/2 cups boiling water

1. In a large bowl mix the flour and salt.
2. Add the oil and rub in the oil with your hands as you would for a pie crust. 
3. Add boiling water and stir together with a wooden spoon. 
4. When the dough begins to form together into a ball transfer to a work surface and begin kneading (if it is too hot to handle then let it sit a couple minutes to cool). 
5. Knead dough for about 3-5 minutes. 
6. Let dough rest for about 10-15 minutes.
7. Pull off a piece of dough about the size of a golf ball and roll it into a ball.
8. Dust your work surface with flour and begin rolling out your tortilla being sure to keep pressure light and even. (To make an even circle roll a little and turn to "1:00" then "2:00" then "3:00" etc until you have a cirlce about 6-7" in diameter.-hope that makes sense)
9. Place tortilla onto a hot pan (about medium high heat).
10. Cook for about 20-30 seconds and flip over.
11. Cook on second side for about 1-1.5 minutes and flip over.
12. Cook for about 15 seconds on the third and final side- your tortilla should puff up and begin to bubble.
13. Remove from pan and keep warm in a towel.