Indian Breads: Master Roti, Softness, and Perfect Circles at Home
When you think of Indian breads, flatbreads made daily across households in India, from village kitchens to city apartments. Also known as roti, it is the backbone of countless meals, eaten with curries, dals, and chutneys. But if your roti doesn’t puff like it should, or ends up tough and uneven, you’re not alone. Thousands of home cooks face the same issue—not because they’re doing anything wrong, but because they’re missing a few simple, practical steps.
The secret to great roti, a simple unleavened flatbread made from whole wheat flour, water, and salt. Also known as chapati, it’s the most common Indian bread found in every home isn’t fancy equipment or expensive ingredients. It’s control—over dough texture, rolling pressure, heat, and timing. Many think roti puffing is luck, but it’s physics: steam trapped inside the dough expands when it hits a hot surface. If your dough is too dry, too wet, or not rested, that steam never builds. And if your tawa isn’t hot enough, the roti just sits there, flat and lifeless. Baking soda, a common kitchen leavening agent that can help tenderize dough and boost softness in roti is sometimes added for a lighter texture, but it’s not a magic fix—it works only when the rest of the process is right.
Rolling out a perfect circle? That’s not about having a fancy rolling pin. It’s about how you hold your hands, how you rotate the dough, and whether you’ve let it rest long enough. A dough that’s too cold or too sticky will tear. Too dry, and it cracks. The right balance makes the difference between a roti that’s chewy and one that’s soft enough to wrap around your favorite sabzi. Even the flour you use matters—atta isn’t just any wheat flour. It’s specifically ground for roti, with the right protein level to hold steam and stretch without snapping.
You don’t need years of experience to make restaurant-quality roti. You just need to know what’s actually going wrong—and how to fix it. Below, you’ll find real solutions from people who’ve been there: why your roti won’t puff, how to roll it evenly without it sticking, why baking soda sometimes helps (and when it doesn’t), and how to turn every roti into a soft, fluffy, perfectly round bite. No theory. No fluff. Just what works in your kitchen, today.
