Chapatis

To make clarified butter, slowly melt some butter then pour it into a container and allow to set in the fridge. Once the butter has set, remove from the fridge and pour off the milky residue. Scrape any of the residue off that may be clinging to the butter and then you have clarified butter. If you wanted to go one step further and make ghee, you very slowly cook the clarified butter for 20 minutes and you get ghee! Do not do as I did once which was to leave a pan of slowly melting butter on the hob, completely forget about it and drive to Beverley to go shopping. On my return about 3 hours later I had a horrible recollection that I had left the pan on, I imagined my dogs being burnt alive or dying of smoke inhalation- fortunately all I found was a very black pan and two confused dogs!

You can make these in advance, and when you want to use them, wrap in foil and heat in a warm oven (120C) for 15 minutes. If you want to make more you simply double the recipe.

Method

1. Put the flour and salt in a bowl, add the water and mix thoroughly to form a soft dough.
2. Knead for 5 minutes and set aside covered with a damp tea towel for 15 minutes
3. Divide the dough into 6 equal sized balls
4. Dust the surface with some flour and roll the balls into 12cm circles
5. Heat ½ tsp of ghee in a heavy frying pan or griddle pan over a medium to high heat cook the chapatti for 2 minutes, press it down and cook a further 30 seconds until bubbles appear and it starts to puff up, turn and repeat the process on the other side adding ½ tsp of ghee if necessary
6. They should be browned and slightly puffy. Keep warm, and cook the rest of the chapati