The girls left for their vacation yesterday early morning. Once they boarded the flight, I came to work directly. It was a normal day, till I reached back home in the evening. Every day there is a tussle between me and HD as to who will go and pick up the girls. I feel really tired after work and the laziness creeps in, so I always keep jostling HD to go bring them back home. Yesterday, we stared at each other. We weren’t coaxing each other any more. The house looked all neat without them, but didn’t feel like a home. Something just felt amiss. I couldn’t talk much to them since they seemed so excited about landing there and I didn’t want to spoil the excitement for them by sounding very sad. While lying down, I felt like my hands were cut off, not having them around to scream and push to sleep. I was wondering about mothers who have lost their children, who live under the fear of losing one any moment… Children are definitely our test in every way… At least, my children are at a safe place with their grandparents and the silver lining is I hardly have another five weeks to travel, so let me be a bit calm and take things as it comes… 🙂
Just like I mentioned yesterday about what all wide variety of food is prepared in Malabar, this is one of them. My first experience with Madakku Chapathi – “Madakku” means “folded” – was at my cousin’s in-law’s place. His MIL had made these when they had invited us all over for Iftar. Umma would make chapathi saying that it is healthy, since we don’t use oil at all for ours. But when she saw this, she gave a big stare. She did ask aunty, “Why are you giving it an unhealthy twist?” 😀 The extra dousing of oil and flour and the repeated layers gives you super soft chapathis, that can be had all by itself. This is not something I would make all the time – I am already super lazy to make chapathis itself and wouldn’t really love this extra work. 😉 But when you have guests, this is one delicious side bread you could definitely make for them. It is amazing with a good spicy curry and will definitely disappear off your tables! Off to the recipe…
Madakku Chapathi ~ Layered Flat Bread
Ingredients
- 2 cups wholewheat flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Lukewarm water as needed
- Oil and flour for layering as needed
Instructions
- Mix the flour and salt together. Add water little by little and knead into a smooth dough.
- Divide into 8 balls.
- On a dusted surface, flatten one ball till as thin as possible.
- Sprinkle some oil and dough on the flattened dough. Fold halfway through and then fold again.
- Dust the surface and flatten to a chapathi size. Not necessary it needs to be round.
- Heat a tawa and cook on both the sides till done. Serve hot with gravy of your choice.
Love Indian flatbread! This looks delicious with just a couple of ingredients.
Thank you so much Angie…
This one is made in Tamil Nadu also.. it’s kind of extra work as you said but definitely a crowd pleaser ???? But sometimes I feel it’s a bit heavy.. can’t have more than two ☺️
Yes dear.. children are certainly god’s blessing to us and more we realise that when they are away from us ????
It is really heavy… this quantity here is 2 per adult and 1 per child in my household… 😀 Thank you so much Chitra… 🙂
I tried making this yesterday and it ended up like normal chapati with more oil:( May be I rolled it a little too much. I remember my friends mom making it couple of years back and I had learned from her to make it. But now I seem to have lost touch:(
Maybe you have added too much oil while layering. Sparingly spread oil and flour, fold and roll them. Most of the time, it will be thick. Also, cook them like normal chapathis, without any oil. Better luck next time! Sometimes things are never in our favor… 😕
I totally understand your feelings,Rafee..I too left them my kids at home last vacation for a week and the house was in a standstill..never again will I give that a try,that silence was killing me.. But to my surprise,kids were totally happy with their grandparents,so am sure they will have a memorable vacation..I too make these chapathis sometimes to break the monotony of regular chapathis 🙂
It is the same with me, just a few days and the kids literally have no time to talk to me even… Hehe… Thank you so much Julie…
Yeah, back home this is made when we have guests or on special occasions. When mom says it is madaki parathiye chapati today, I used to get excited to do it for her.. flatbreads have always been my love I guess.. over here when I get dough from a new place and if I don’t get soft chapati, then I do this. But we don’t use lukewarm water… normal water.. works. I made it last night too 😛
Madakki parathiyathu is lot more colloquial! 😉 Normal water will definitely work, but I prefer a little bit warmth in the water while kneading. I don’t know why hehe… 🙂 Thanks a lot Fami…
Ohh I love this version of chapathi… as a kid, my mom used to feed me these to gain some weight because I would eat two instead of one phulka :D….
Thank you so much Anupa… 😀
I definitely need to try this – I have been trying different indian breads but haven’t quite got it right yet. This looks amazing! Thank you for sharing the recipe.
Thank you so much Phoebe for coming by…
Hey, I love this blog. Very well written and the amazing yummy recipe you had shared with us. Thanks for this information. I will definitely try this. Thanks..!