I have been having so much fun in the kitchen lately, as I’ve been experimenting with gluten-free bread baking! And I’ve come up with a flatbread recipe that I have to share with you: Chickpea Chapati! Oh, you’ll love them!
These are particularly good with Indian curries, but the boyfriend and I have been nibbling on them plain, as they’re so tasty.
These are definitely doable for a weeknight: you can have your own freshly baked and gluten-free flatbread in 10 minutes. What could be better? Mix, roll, bake, eat. Done.
Ohhh, and do you want to know why I’ve been experimenting with gluten-free bread baking? Well, I’m glad you asked!
On April 30th at 11am, yours truly will be teaching a class at Meghan Telpner’s Love in the Kitchen Academy here in Toronto: Get Baked Gluten-Free Style!!! What fun!!!
Registration is now open (click here for all the details and to register). All recipes and samples are going to be gluten-free, vegan, and mightily delicious. I’m focusing on whole gluten-free grains and real foods rather than scary thickeners and stabilizers. You know you want to be there!
And in the meantime, you can make your own Chickpea Chapati. Yum.
Gluten-Free Chickpea Chapati with Cumin
Adapted from Gluten-Free Chickpea Chapati at Recipe Zaar, Makes 6 flatbreads (Serves 2)
- 150g (1 c.) chickpea flour (a.k.a. besan, gram flour, garbanzo flour) + extra for dusting
- 18g (2 Tbsp.) arrowroot flour/starch
- 5mL (1 tsp.) whole black cumin seeds
- 2g (1/2 tsp) sea salt
- 15 mL (1 Tbsp.) olive oil
- 85 mL (1/3 c.) water
In a small bowl, combine chickpea flour, arrowroot, cumin, and salt. Whisk well to combine. Drizzle oil and water over the top of the flour mixture, and combine with your hands until it all becomes one sticky ball of dough.
Divide dough into 6 golf-ball-sized balls.
Place a pan over medium heat on the stove and let it heat up while you roll out the first chapati. Your preheated pan is ready once droplets of water sizzle upon contact with the pan.
Dust your work surface generously with chickpea flour.
Take one of the balls and flatten it into a disc with the palm of your hand.
Place it on the floured work surface, and gently roll out into a circle about 15cm (6″) in diameter.
Place your chapati onto your preheated pan, and wait for 45-90 seconds, until there are bubbles all over the top surface and they stop growing.
Flip the chapati over and cook for another 30-45 seconds. Remove from the pan and set aside. If you leave them on the heat too long, you’ll get (still delicious) crispy chickpea crackers instead of soft and pliable chickpea chapati.
Repeat with the remaining dough balls. You will find that your pan gets hotter as you go, so each chapati will need less time to cook.
Eat warm with your favourite curries and pickles. Maybe Baingan Bharta, Masoor Dhal, and Curried Okra, with brown rice, lime pickle, and rhubarb chutney? Yum.
Kitchen Operas 
Oh my gosh congratulations on the class! That is such amazing news! 🙂
Thanks, Katey, I’m super stoked!!!!!! (And possibly creating an eBook about it — what fun!)
Miss Lindsay, this looks amazing! I can’t wait for the class 🙂 We’re so lucky to have such a talented baker coming to the kitchen!
Aw, thanks Meghan!!!! Just wait ’till you see what else I’ve got up my sleeve 🙂
Love the use of chickpea flour I’m going to try these tomorrow night. We have friends coming round and I’m cooking a squash curry so these will be the perfect accompaniment! Congrats on your class, wish I could be there, sounds really exciting, good luck!!
Thank you from south Florida.
I have been searching online tonight for this very specific recipe ….it looks like I have found it!
Your classes sound wonderful and if I lived close by, I’d be there.
i made those for lunch today (with turkey in a Kitchenoperas-inspired cilantro-ginger-lemon pesto and an asparagus-radishes-peas salad). They were very easy to make and very delicious. Thanks for inspiring two of our dishes today! 🙂
Glad I could help out! Sounds divine 🙂
Thanks for letting me know you liked them and that you thought they were easy!
These were a hit at my family dinner this evening. You can dry the leftovers in a warm oven (170 degrees for 20-30 minutes) to make crisp, gluten-free chapati crackers. My celiac daughter isn’t the only one who finds these delicious!
Thank you. I have PCOD and had been looking for a glutten free bread, which can be easily made. thanks.
dear lindsay, thanks for sharing …. i am going to try this real soon. Have been making capatis with ATTA and not realising that it’s got gluten … gosh.
Oh no!!!! Good luck with the chickpea version!
Made the Chapatis for luch today – loved them!
So glad to hear it!!! Thanks for letting me know!!!
This recipe looks wonderful. I have a panini maker and love to make them. However, since going gluten free I have been hard pressed to find any bread recipes without a lot of starch . . . . . until I found your blog accidently. I want to try making a panini with this recipe. Would you consider doing web based classes? Everything I read of yours makes so much sense. I am unable to get to Canada in the near future to attend any of your classes.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge!
Big news on my class coming soon… You’ll be pleased 🙂
Divine chickpea chapati’s, I agree here! Yum yum yummm! x
Not sure what I did wrong, but it was so sticky that I could not roll it into balls. It stuck to my fingers, the rolling pin and everything …
Hi Jo,
Sorry to hear this happened to you — that’s so frustrating!
Dough can vary wildly in texture depending on humidity, your flour, temperature, etc.
If your dough is so sticky, you need more chickpea flour. I’ve had this happen before. Just keep adding flour until it’s tacky, not sticky. And if you add too much, you can balance it out with more water!
Good luck experimenting!
Reblogged this on Summer Bourne, The Camper Cookie and commented:
Chapatis are just great for campervan life as they are really quick and easy. Sometimes I measure out the dry ingredients in to small freezer bags and then take these in the van so you only have to add the wet stuff (water and oil) when you want to make them up. You can use normal or gluten-free plain flour instead but the chickpea flour does give you some added protein. Glyn quite likes them cooked a little longer so they become crisp like the edge of a thin pizza crust and you can crumble them over your meal to add texture, but I prefer them soft and they are nice as a substitute for bread sometimes. Thank you, Lindsay!
You are my saviour! I was devastated when I was diagnosed as a coeliac and I miss my flatbreads! I must admit I turned away for a bit too long and did end up with crackers the first time…but that was a wonderful mistake because now I have crispy snacks to have with dip! Thank you from my tiny flat in Australia 🙂
I followed the instructions and used all said ingredients but my mixture had no chance of becoming doughy or rolled into balls. Was just a sticky mess. I’m not a very experienced cook, is there something I’m missing? Would love to make this recipe work
Hi Jasmine – I suggest adding more flour if it’s too sticky. Good luck!
Hi Lindsay,
Thanks for the recipie. I had an OK first attempt except and really enjoyed them, but I didn’t get any bubbling. Do you know why that would be?
Thanks,
Lindesay!
Hi Lindesay, I’m not sure! Sometimes I don’t get bubbles either… I’m glad they were still enjoyable!