Easy Flatbreads

We have been eating these flatbreads with our curries and spicy stews a lot recently. I think I prefer them to rice now. The dough is quick, easy and cheap to make. They cook really quickly although you have to do one at a time. All you need is flour, oil and water, and a little salt. You also need a non-stick frying pan. If you don't have one I suggest frying the breads in a little oil or butter.

To make about 14 breads each bout 15cm in diameter you need;

400g plain flour 

You can use wholemeal if you like or do as I did and substitute some of the white flour for wholemeal. I used 100 g wholemeal and 300g white.

4 tablespoons of oil

½ -1 teaspoon of salt -to taste

200 ml water

Mix it all together to make a dough and give it a quick knead on a work top so that it is smooth and pliable.

Now is a good time to heat up your frying pan. Set it to a medium heat and get on with the rolling. Pull off table-tennis sized lumps of dough, roll into a ball, flour the surface and roll out into thin discs about 15 cm in diameter. You can of course make them any size you like. It matters not one jot if they are not perfect circles.

Put a circle of dough on your frying pan and leave for a minute while you roll the next bread. You can roll out more than one bread but you will need to keep them on a floured cloth while they wait to be cooked or they will stick to the work top. I found it easiest never to have more than one bread waiting.

As you can see from the picture the bread will puff and bubble up in the pan. It does this very quickly -probably 30 secs to a 1 minute, if it doesn't then your heat is too low. Flip the bread over and you should see scorched patches, this is what you want. Cook the other side for another 30 secs or so.

I like to press it down and watch it inflate. I really enjoy cooking them, as I do pancakes and other griddle cakes. I love to watch the raw batters and doughs transform into something cooked and delicious.

In order to keep them soft and pliable you must wrap them in a cloth as soon as they are cooked.

Fantastic with curries, dals and hummus. If you keep them wrapped leftovers can be rolled around a favourite sandwich filling and popped in the lunchbox, or they could be used as a quick pizza base, or to make a toasted cheese sandwich quesadilla-style. They're also nice spread with jam and butter.