Happy Belated World Bread Day!: Besan Thepla (Griddle Baked Chickpea & Whole Wheat Flat Bread)

This is the bread I actually made for World Bread Day. It seemed fitting that I both stretch myself as a bread baker and choose a bread more international in scope. I chose this bread because it could be baked on the griddle, on my stove top, as opposed to a complicated simulated clay oven or deep frying, etc. I also thought all of the enhancing ingredients, for lack of what else to call them, sounded tasty. I served it with a black chickpea curry, recipe to come soon.

This bread was a huge hit with my family. it was not so much to me, but I guess here is where I confess that I suspect my Western self is having trouble with totally unleavened breads. They are a little too chewy for me. But given my family’s enthusiasm, I think it is my flaw and not the recipe’s.

Please check out 1x umrühren bitte for the World Bread Day round up in a week or so.

Besan Thepla (Griddle Baked Chickpea & Whole Wheat Flat Bread)
The Art Of Indian Vegetarian Cooking, Yamuna Devi

1/3 cup (30 g) sifted chickpea flour, sifted and toasted over low heat in a dry skillet until aromatic
1 2/3 cups (215 g) chapati flour
1/4 t cayenne pepper
1/4 t turmeric
2 t ground cumin
2 t garam masala
1 t herb or sea salt (I used a nice garlic salt)
2 T mixed fresh herbs (I used parsley, cilantro, and the last of my purple basil)
2 T melted ghee
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1/3 cup warm water

Place the flours, spices and herbs into a medium bowl and mix well. Mix in the yogurt and ghee. Add the water, pouring fast at first, and then slowing to a dribble and mixing until you have a kneadable dough. Knead until silky smooth and pliable. Roll the dough into a ball and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let sit at room temperature for 3 hours.

About an hour cooking it, to save time, I rolled out the flatbreads and stored them under layers of wax paper and tightly wrapped then with plastic wrap. To roll out, split the dough into 12 equal sized balls. Flatten each one and dip it into chapati flour. Roll it out to a circle with a 6 inch diameter. Devi says to gently knock the chapati flour off of the bread before baking, but as you can see I had trouble getting mine to come off.

To bake: preheat a griddle (I used a cast iron griddle that covered 2 burners) on medium low heat. Preheat the back burner on high or medium high depending on how hot your stove runs. gently slide/slap the bread onto the front griddle. Cook for one minute on the first side and then 30 seconds on the second side. It should form small bubbles, lighten and perhaps char a little. Then flip the bread over onto the back burner and let it inflate, 10-15 seconds. You may eventually need to turn your back burner down a bit if the bread chars before it inflates. Store the cooked bread wrapped in a towel.