Dough → chapati
Whole wheat, water, salt — that's it. The puff comes from technique, not ingredients.
What you need
Atta
2 cups whole wheat
Warm water
~¾ cup
Salt · ghee
½ tsp · 1 tsp
Do this
Mix & shaggy
Atta + salt + a tsp of ghee. Add water bit by bit until it just holds.
Knead until smooth
Push and fold for 5 min. Soft, smooth, springs back when poked.
Rest, covered
20 min. Gluten relaxes → thin rolls without tearing.
Divide, dust, roll
8 balls. Dust with dry atta. Roll thin — turn quarter-turn between passes for a round shape.
Hot dry tawa
Medium-high. Slap the roti on. 20 seconds → flip → 30 seconds → tiny bubbles appear.
Flame puff (the magic)
Tongs, straight over gas flame. It balloons in 5 seconds. Flip once. Done.
Ghee brush, stack
Brush with ghee. Stack in a lined casserole → stays soft for hours.
If something goes wrong
Didn't puff
Rolled uneven, or tawa too cold. Both fix themselves next time.
Cracked at edges
Dough too dry → knead in a few drops of water and rest again.
Turned hard/leathery
Cooked too long on the tawa. 30 seconds each side is enough before the flame.
Try next